WWE 2K25 Interview Honouring The Late Bray Wyatt

Over the years, the likes of The Undertaker, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock have portrayed larger-than-life characters in WWE that few in the modern era have matched. However, some may argue against Bray Wyatt being placed alongside some of the storytelling greats of the pro wrestling industry.

A skilled in-ring combatant and mic skills that can captivate a WWE crowd in an instant. Outside of the ring, Bray Wyatt was also seen as a man with a heart of gold who would make any fan lucky enough to meet him, the centre of his world, if only for a brief few memorable minutes.

Sadly, after a long and gruelling battle with COVID-19, Bray Wyatt, real-name Windham Lawrence Rotunda, lost his life on 23 August 2023, leaving his wife, four children and fellow WWE performer and brother, Bo Dallas (Taylor Michael Rotunda) behind.

For Windham’s close family and friends, not to mention the fans of the WWE Universe, he has left a void never to be filled. For his brother, the aforementioned Bo Dallas, the spirit of Bray Wyatt lives on with the faction called The Wyatts Sicks on WWE programming.

In Bray’s vision, the characters in The Wyatts Sicks began as sinister puppets in a segment called ‘The Firefly Funhouse’ hosted by Bray and his alter ego known as “The Fiend”. Later, these puppets would become human characters, played by Bo Dallas, Erick Rowan, Nikki Cross, Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy.

2K)

The Wyatt Sicks exists to honour the legacy of Windham Lawrence Rotunda, and that has now been extended as a special quest in ‘The Island’, a new mode introduced in WWE 2K25.

Players who complete the ‘Wyatt Sicks’ quest will not only be rewarded with free DLC inspired by the faction but also previously unreleased audio footage of the late Bray Wyatt.

Recently, I spoke with the story producer of ‘The Island’ in WWE 2K25, Andrea Listenberger, about how and why this ‘Wyatt Sicks’ quest came to be.

“We reached out to WWE early on to use the recorded voice of Bray that we wanted to use in WWE 2K22,” Andrea explains. Sadly, due to the passing of Bray Wyatt, until now, Andrea told me that it never felt like the right time to use the unreleased audio.

“We never wanted to blindside anyone or to make anyone uncomfortable with this content by releasing it in WWE 2K25, so WWE were in contact with Bo Dallas specifically. Then we got to work with Bo and Rob Fee, the director of WWE character development, to create the content for ‘The Island’ quest. We wanted to make sure that everything was respectful from the very beginning.”

2K)

Andrea explains that this content was not only a passion project for her but all those involved at the Visual Concepts development team.

“For me as a writer, I had such a clear vision of what it could be, of what it could mean and what it could represent. The weight that I felt in both writing and execution, I didn't want to half-ass it. I didn't want it to fall short.

“I'm not ashamed to say that when editing some of the audio files, I got emotional, but I think the whole team's proud of what we ultimately pulled off, and the proof's in the pudding of the final product. I'm really proud and grateful that fans have responded in the way that they have.”

With a user-created Superstar, ‘The Island’ requires players to complete a series of quests which will eventually lead to an in-game WWE contract and a spot in the legendary faction, The Bloodline, once led by “The Tribal Chief”, Roman Reigns.

Yet, when it comes to the ‘Wyatt Sicks’ quest, how you access this content will be done a little differently. Rather than having to complete a series of quests to access it, the ‘Wyatt Sicks’ content is available now from the get-go courtesy of a free update.

Bray Wyatt's "The Fiend" in WWE 2K25 (credit: article aurthor/2K)

‘The Island’ has several hub areas inspired by The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio and more, now joined by a ‘Wyatt Sicks’ area. I won't say anything else, just in case this is all new to you.

“Even if you haven't played the other content of ‘The Island’, you can access the ‘Wyatt Sicks’ quest straight away. It features new matches, stories, and unlockable content such as a Wyatt-inspired Mad Hatter hat and a creepy doll for a create-a-wrestler entrance,” Andrea tells me with a smile. “There’s new video content for players to enjoy, too.”

As much as I enjoyed ‘The Island’ content, it does have some issues. Such as WWE wrestlers communicating with text instead of audio, and an issue that I mentioned in my WWE 2K25 review, a lot of the unlockable content in this mode feels too grindy and unobtainable, unless you’re able and willing to put in a silly amount of hours or spend real money.

I asked Andrea if any of those concerns would be addressed in WWE 2K26, should ‘The Island’ return, and she understandably replied, “I can't speak about WWE 2K26 right now, because the marketing team will yell at me, but I will say that we're always building on a strong foundation moving forward.”

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what improvements are made when WWE 2K26 arrives at some point next year. As of right now, WWE 2K25 is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2.