In it, players are able to build a wrestling stable by collecting, managing, and upgrading WWE wrestlers with regular updates and weekly events.

Players can choose between Sonya Deville, Adam Pearce, William Regal, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, or a custom superstar to take control of one of WWE's four brands: Raw, SmackDown, NXT or NXT UK, determining the optional main championships for both the men's and women's divisions via either the start of a MyGM campaign or a title match during a MyGM campaign, which can have a boost a superstar's popularity or stamina, depending if a superstar is a face or a heel, if holding a championship, with an option to add the men's and women's tag team championships on Normal and Hard difficulties during a MyGM campaign via a tag team title match being added in the Version 1.9 patch on April 19, 2022, alongside the addition of the NXT 2.0 arena.

[8][9][10] WWE 2K22 was officially announced after a teaser trailer, featuring Cesaro and Rey Mysterio,[11] aired during WrestleMania 37 in April 2021,[12][13][14] with a "It Hits Different" tagline.

[17][18] During the July 23, 2021, episode of SmackDown, commentator Michael Cole revealed that WWE 2K22 would feature a rebuilt game engine and smoother controls; this was later confirmed by sources close to 2K.

[20] On November 18, 2021, a "Hit List" trailer was released, highlighting ten specific features emphasizing the game's tagline.

In the trailer, it was revealed that GM Mode (called MyGM) would be making a return to the series for the first time since 2007's WWE SmackDown vs.

The baseline soundtrack includes songs from artists such as Machine Gun Kelly, Yungblud, Bert McCracken, Wu-Tang Clan, KennyHoopla, Motörhead, Poppy, Royal Blood, Bring Me the Horizon, The Weeknd, Turnstile, Asking Alexandria, and Bad Bunny.

On May 17, 2022, the Most Wanted Pack launched, which adds Cactus Jack, The Boogeyman, Vader, Ilja Dragunov, and Indi Hartwell.

[38] Marcus Stewart of Game Informer called 2K22 "the most entertaining — and most of all, playable — WWE game in some time", and lauded its more polished, arcade-style gameplay, improved character models, smoother animations, and new modes, while taking minor issue with unstable online play, occasionally unresponsive controls, and some overly complicated maneuvers.

[41] Mitchell Saltzman of IGN stated, "while [2K22 is] far from a complete ground-up rebuild, it’s quite possibly the biggest leap forward the series has ever seen", and lauded the visual overhaul, removal of bugs, improved combat, and the depth present in the MyRISE and MyGM modes.

[44] Push Square's Ben Potter gave the title 7 stars out of 10 and wrote, "...skipping 2K21 and delaying the release by five months may have caused the roster to be largely outdated, but the game is stable, plays great, and is practically bursting at the seams with content.

"[45] Chris Jarrard of Shacknews reviewed the game more negatively and largely panned the outdated roster, half-baked modes, lack of a next-gen visual upgrade, and the Creation Suite's navigability and omissions.

[46] WWE 2K22 debuted as #2 in digital video game sales chart in the United Kingdom, overtaking Gran Turismo 7.