WWE 2K23 Cover Star and Release Date Revealed
2K and WWE have finally revealed which WWE Superstar will grace the cover of the anticipated WWE 2K23, and it will be none other than Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect himself, John Cena. The 16-time World Champion will be the cover star for the newest entry in the series, though there are actually three different covers featuring the Peacemaker star. All three covers can be found below, which will be for the Standard, Deluxe, and Icon Editions of the game. Cena isn't just featured on the cover though, as 2K also revealed Cena is the Executive Soundtrack Producer for the game and he will be the star of this year's 2K Showcase. WWE 2K23 will release via early access on March 14th and will widely release on Friday, March 17th.
"It is a pleasure to tell the story of my career through the WWE 2K23 Showcase," said John Cena. "2K's done a fantastic job capturing and invigorating the WWE 2K franchise through this concept, and I am honored to grace the cover of WWE 2K23.
"Much like our cover Superstar John Cena, the Visual Concepts team didn't back down from the challenge to prove that the quality of the WWE 2K franchise is here to stay," said Greg Thomas, President at Visual Concepts. "WWE 2K23 takes a winning formula and adds so much more. We're especially excited to see how fans react to the 2K Showcase and WarGames."
ComicBook.com had the opportunity to speak to the WWE 2K23 development team about Cena becoming the cover star for this year's game, and Visual Concepts' Dino Zucconi explained it was something pretty much locked in from the beginning.
"We knew right away that this was the right call and we had to make this our showcase. So that's what we went for. He is the face of this era. When we were planning this out early last year, he was coming up on his 20 years in WWE, which works out nicely because we're coming up on 21 years, but I believe that makes it the 20th anniversary. And so we get to keep saying number 20," Zucconi said.
See @JohnCena, beat John Cena and be #EvenStronger than John Cena in #WWE2K23, coming soon! @WWEgames pic.twitter.com/lNAfHOY9FR
— WWE (@WWE) January 23, 2023
WWE 2K23 Deluxe Edition and Icon Edition will allow early access starting on March 14th, while the Standard Edition and Cross-Get Edition will release on Friday, March 17th.
Are you excited for WWE 2K23? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling and gaming with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!