On May 31, 2016, WWE 2K17 was officially announced by WWE and 2K, when they revealed Goldberg as the pre-order bonus character accompanied by the debut trailer featuring Goldberg. 2K also announced that the game would include the two versions of Goldberg, along with two playable arenas. On June 27, 2016, a reveal trailer was released announcing that Brock Lesnar would be the cover star for WWE 2K17. On July 14, 2016, WWE announced an NXT Collector's Edition. The set includes NXT wrestlers such as Apollo Crews, Nia Jax and Shinsuke Nakamura as playable characters as part of the NXT Enhancement Pack, a lithograph designed by Rob Schamberger and signed by Shinsuke Nakamura, an 8-inch collectable action figure of "The Demon" Finn Bálor, trading cards, actual ring canvas from the event, 50% more points in NXT for MyCareer Mode, as well as the Goldberg Pre-Order Pack. On August 8, 2016, 2K revealed the official soundtrack for WWE 2K17, which features thirteen songs from a variety of genres, curated by Sean Combs.
Roster
On June 15, 2016, WWE announced that at E3 2016, the first roster reveal would be announced at 2K's booth by portrait artist Rob Schamberger. At the event, John Cena, The Ultimate Warrior, and Sasha Banks were the first three names revealed. On July 26, 2016, IGN announced that the McMahon family will be playable characters, which will include Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon. On August 2, 2016, IGN announced the roster would be revealed every Tuesday for 5 weeks, along with in-game videos and screenshots, concluding on August 30. On August 10, the WWE 2Kofficial site released a minigame that consisted of spotting the announced superstars of the WWE 2K17 game on a picture of Brock Lesnar's Suplex City. The game revealed a roster of 136 superstars consisting of current superstars, legends and NXT superstars. 2K later revealed that there would be more than 11 extra DLC playable superstars. WWE 2K17 marks the video game debut of 26 superstars.
Game modes
There are a variety of different game modes in WWE 2K17. Unlike previous entries in the 2K series, WWE 2K17 initially didn't feature a single-player story mode in the base game.
Play mode
Play mode allows the player to jump into a quick match with their own custom settings like match types, participants, etc.
MyCareer mode
MyCareer mode allows the player to create their own superstar to compete for championships on the main roster and/or in NXT. MyCareer mode is exclusive to PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One. The mode also incorporated the new Promo Engine, so Superstars can express themselves to the WWE Universe and also call out or respond to other WWE Superstars. Backstage interviews with Renee Young take on a whole new dimension with the new backstage brawling gameplay. Now more than ever, how a player competes, reacts, what is said and even what attire is worn can make a difference in a Superstar's journey through the WWE. At some point, players are also likely to come face to face with Brock Lesnar and his advocate, Paul Heyman.
Universe mode
WWE Universe mode allows the player to create their own WWE shows and pay-per-view events, allowing them to create rivalries, promos and feuds for singles wrestlers and/or tag team wrestlers, and will let them create custom arenas and championship titles.
Creation Suite
The creation suite allows players to make their own characters, arenas, titles, and more that can be uploaded for other players to download.
Online
Players can have a variety of different matches with other players online.
Reception
WWE 2K17 received mixed reviews, according to review aggregatorMetacritic. GameSpot criticized the game for the lack of a 2K Showcase mode, which was left out in favor of improving the "MyCareer" mode, which itself was criticized for a lack of much improvement. PC Gamer gave the Windows version a 45 out of 100, complimenting the gameplay but criticizing performance and presentation.
