'A Disaster': WWE 2K26's Ringside Pass Led to Cuts

At least seven employees at Visual Concepts, the studio behind WWE 2K26 and the NBA 2K series, have confirmed they were laid off this week. The cuts reportedly hit the WWE development teams hardest, coming less than three months after WWE 2K26 launched on March 12 and earned a 76% recommendation rate from critics on OpenCritic. According to reporting from Insider Gaming, the Ringside Pass format was described internally as "a disaster" that led to finger-pointing among developers.

The human cost here is ugly. "After three years and some change, my time at VC is at a close," wrote a systems game designer on LinkedIn. Another game designer shared an even more devastating post: "Last week, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that will shorten my lifespan. Today, while on a sick day because of said autoimmune disorder, I was laid off." A software engineer also confirmed the cuts, writing that they were among "many very talented colleagues" affected. When contacted by Game Developer, a 2K spokesperson said the company doesn't have "anything to share or confirm at this time."

A monetisation own goal

The Ringside Pass replaced WWE 2K's traditional Season Pass model with something far more hostile: a battle pass structure that locked DLC content players had already paid for behind additional grind requirements. You bought the Deluxe edition, you paid for the DLC wrestlers, and then you still couldn't use them until you'd ground through enough of the pass. Players were furious. Some found exploits to bypass the grind, which 2K promptly patched out. A developer then publicly accused players of trying to circumvent the system, which poured fuel on an already raging fire. 2K eventually reversed course and unlocked all DLC characters outright, but the damage was done.

I've written about anti-consumer monetisation a lot, and this is one of the clearest examples of a bad decision creating a chain reaction that ends with real people losing their jobs. The Ringside Pass wasn't some experimental idea that needed time to find its audience. It was a system that charged players for content and then withheld it. The backlash was predictable from the moment it was announced. And now, according to reports, the fallout from that decision has contributed to layoffs at the studio that built what was otherwise being praised as the best WWE game in years. The people who designed the matches, fixed the bugs, and shipped the updates are the ones paying for a monetisation call that almost certainly came from above their pay grade.

This is the third round of layoffs at Visual Concepts in three years, as Game Developer noted. The studio reportedly cut staff at its Austin office in September 2023, then again at Visual Concepts South in August 2024. Parent company Take-Two's other subsidiaries have been hit repeatedly too: Cat Daddy Games in July 2025, Firaxis in September 2025, and 31st Union just a week ago. Meanwhile, the studio is still actively patching WWE 2K26; update 1.10 dropped on May 14 with a substantial list of bug fixes across Universe mode, MyFACTION, creation tools, and AI behaviour. Somebody still at Visual Concepts is doing that work with fewer colleagues and the knowledge that a monetisation scheme they likely had no say in is being blamed for the cuts.