WWE 2K26 just announced a new way to handle downloadable content that has the gaming community divided. Instead of buying DLC characters and getting them immediately like in past games, you now have to grind through a battle pass system called Ringside Pass to unlock content you already paid for. Or, if you don’t want to wait, you can pay again to skip the grind. This raises an important question: Is this the new standard for DLC in full-price games, or is it just another way for publishers to squeeze more money out of players?
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What WWE 2K26 Is Actually Doing
The Ringside Pass system works like this: you buy the premium pass, which includes DLC wrestlers. But instead of getting those wrestlers immediately, they’re locked behind 40 tiers of progression. You earn “RXP” by playing matches, and slowly unlock rewards including the characters you paid for. The first DLC character unlocks automatically when you buy the pass. The rest are scattered across the first 20 tiers. If you don’t want to grind, you can pay extra money to skip tiers and unlock everything instantly. There will be six Ringside Passes throughout the year, releasing roughly every seven weeks. Each pass costs extra money and contains new wrestlers, arenas, championships, and other content.
Why This Feels Different from Normal Battle Passes
Many games have battle passes – Fortnite, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and dozens of others use this model. So why is WWE 2K26 getting so much backlash?
The key difference is that most battle pass games are free-to-play. Fortnite doesn’t cost $70 upfront. You download it for free, and the battle pass is how the developers make money. That’s a fair trade – you get a free game, they get revenue from optional passes. WWE 2K26 costs $70 for the standard edition, $100 for deluxe editions, and up to $150 for the ultimate edition. You’re already paying full price for a complete game. Then you’re expected to pay again for DLC (which is okay!) but then you’re expected to either grind for hours or pay a third time to actually access that DLC.
As one Reddit user put it: “That’s like paying for a movie ticket and being told you have to mop the lobby floors before they’ll let you see the ending.”
The “Pride and Accomplishment” Problem
This situation feels similar to the Star Wars Battlefront 2 controversy from 2017. EA locked iconic characters like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker behind massive grinds in a $60 game, then offered paid shortcuts. WWE 2K26 is doing essentially the same thing, just with a battle pass coat of paint to make it seem more acceptable because “everyone has battle passes now.” The difference is that Battlefront 2’s grind was for characters included in the base game. WWE 2K26’s grind is for DLC you specifically paid extra money to access. That’s arguably worse, and hence, there is a whole Reddit post picking up in r/gaming with players discussing how bad it actually is.
The Verdict: Bad for Players, Possibly Bad for Gaming
The real concern is whether other publishers see WWE 2K26’s Ringside Pass and think “we should do that too.” Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if WWE 2K26 sells well despite this system, other publishers will absolutely copy it. The gaming industry watches what works financially, not what players prefer morally.
WWE 2K26’s Ringside Pass is bad for players. There’s no reasonable defense for charging someone for DLC, then making them grind to unlock it, then charging them again to skip the grind you created. The arguments that “it’s just a battle pass” or “this is normal now” miss the point. It shouldn’t be normal in $70+ games.
WWE 2K26’s Ringside Pass represents everything wrong with modern AAA game monetization – taking free-to-play systems designed for free games and cramming them into $70+ premium releases. While some features like non-expiring passes are improvements, the core concept of paying for DLC, then grinding or paying again to unlock it is indefensible. If this model succeeds financially, expect sports games like Madden, FIFA, and NBA 2K to adopt similar systems, followed potentially by fighting games, shooters, and open-world titles.
