TL;DR: MyGM mode has improved significantly in WWE 2K23 but it’s still lacking a few highly-requested features. It seems to be on the right path for future success.
After making its long-awaited return in WWE 2K22, MyGM brought back a lot of nostalgia and fun for gamers.
However, it clearly needed more than just a makeover if it was going to succeed long-term.
A lot of essential features were missing and it needed more than just a few quality-of-life improvements.
This review breaks down the new features in MyGM 2K23 and is a bit of a 2K23 vs 2K22 comparison.
Criticisms
We’ll start off with the negatives as it’s best to get these out of the way early doors.
No matches with 6+ superstars
Despite adding new match types and stipulations, we’re still unable to put on 6-man or 8-man matches, which is a little disappointing.
Things like 3-way tag matches are pretty popular in WWE right now so it’d be cool to be able to put on matches like this.
It’d also allow us to build our own stables within the game like Imperium or The New Day, which would give the game a lot more personality and would make me a lot more invested in the storylines I was building.
As for 8-man matches, these could be Battle Royales, 4-way tag matches, and there are loads of options there to make it work.
That would allow us to put on some killer matches at War Games, which would be a really cool thing to be able to do in GM mode.
Speaking of War Games (and its absence), there are still a lot of match types missing that would be great additions to MyGM.
Having a Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event (PLE) would shift the dynamic completely and make it both more challenging and more immersive. Elimination Chambers could even be made up of three level 4 rivalries that all come to a head at once, making for a great chamber match.
I know that they’d probably have to alter the budgeting and roster sizes to accommodate this, but it’s something that I think would be incredibly fun. As money is a little easier to come by in later seasons, it would give you something to work towards as you progress through the years.
No tag team call outs
One thing that’s quite disappointing to see is that you still can’t do tag team call out promos.
This feature works really well for singles rivalries when you need to rest stars, so being able to progress your tag rivalries with them as well should really be an option.
It’s annoying that you have to constantly put stars in matches to build a tag rivalry as they need to regain stamina as well, and there aren’t many ways to do that.
This one should be a really easy addition, as it’s just another promo option, so hopefully this is added in a future update.
No triple threat or four way title matches
When I saw that there were options for putting on triple threat and fatal four way matches, I was pleasantly surprised. It adds a whole new dynamic to the game mode and much-needed variety to shows.
However, I wasn’t too impressed when I realised that you can’t have a triple threat or fatal four way title match of any kind.
It makes no sense (to me at least) that you can’t do this, surely it’s the same as having a regular title match, with the winner taking the gold? I struggle to see what’s stopping it from being possible.
I just want to remake the Orton vs Angle vs Mysterio match from Wrestlemania 22, why won’t you let me dream 2K?
No online multiplayer
A simple but heartbreaking missing feature: no online multiplayer option.
If you want to play against your friends, you’re stuck with local multiplayer or options like PlayStation Share Play.
Improvements
When looking at what 2K has improved in MyGM in 2K23, there’s fortunately quite a lot to talk about. Let’s start with the fact you can now play as many seasons of the mode as you wish.
Infinite seasons
This is something that we were begging for in 2K22 as the mode seemed so shallow and short, even with 50-week seasons. This issue is no more, and the way they’ve done it is great.
After a season is finished, there is now a re-draft for all brands where your budget is reset and you’ll need to pick your roster all over again. However, you can save 3-6 superstars for the next season depending on where you finished in the rankings.
You still have to pay for the wrestlers in this scenario, but it’s like calling dibs on them; the other brands will not be able to sign them at this stage.
This gives a small advantage to the brands that perform worse so makes it a bit more of a challenge, and makes the new drafts a lot more interesting.
Hall of Fame trophies
The addition of Hall of Fame trophies also gives the game a lot more depth.
Not only are you fighting to gain the most fans out of all the brands, but you’re looking to get the most trophies as well. They play a part in deciding who tops the leaderboard.
You can get these trophies by completing 5 small seasonal challenges, which vary every season and in every playthrough, or by achieving lifetime milestone goals like reaching a certain amount of revenue.
The trophies give you a lot more to think about than simply booking a great show and often provide more of a challenge to the mode, as you have to adapt to accommodate some of the requirements.
Lots of new match types
A huge problem that MyGM had in 2K22 was the lack of match type options and stipulations, and this has been largely fixed in 2K23.
There is now the option of triple threat matches and fatal four ways, which makes for a wider variety of matches in your shows. They’re not the most useful in terms of starting or maintaining rivalries, but it’s cool to have them nonetheless and gives you options for new matches if you have stars that aren’t currently in rivalries.
The match stipulations have also received a big makeover, with a significantly increased number of options to choose from.
Not only that, but some of the new stipulations like steel cage matches and submission matches come with additional benefits to them, such as an increased chance of a rivalry progressing, or it immediately completing any rivalry on any show.
All of these new features make the game a lot more fun to play, as you have options – something that made 2K22 so limiting.
Additional belts
Having an extra mid card belt (the men’s title, in addition to the world title) helps a lot with show quality and booking in general as now your mid card feuds actually have some meaning.
It also means that you can put on PLEs with a title on the line in every match, so that’s nice.
This, like a lot of these improvements, should have been in 2K22 from the start. Regardless, I’m happy to have them now, especially considering last year’s game didn’t even launch with any tag team belts at all.
Shake-ups
A big new feature brought in for MyGM in 2K23 was shake-up cards, which you can choose to turn on or off when setting up your save.
After every PLE, you have the option of choosing between three random cards that all give you a pretty big boost, whether it’s to stamina, popularity or something financial.
Shake-ups can help you out massively (and your rivals, be careful) and add yet another layer of depth to the mode that it was missing before.
Dialogue variety
The conversations you have with Triple H, other GMs and various superstars are usually pretty boring and are extremely repetitive. Conversations have more depth and variety this year, which is a breath of fresh air compared to last year, though still doesn’t go far enough.
However, one great new feature within the inbox is randomly-occurring events.
For example, at any time, Triple H can inform you that one of your stars has been asked to shoot a movie, and will be missing for 4 weeks if you allow it. On the plus side, you’ll get $1m added to your budget if you say yes. Little things like this make the game more fun and give you more decisions to make, it should be a game of decision making and having these events adds a lot to the overall enjoyment of the mode.
Increase from 2 to 4 players
As well as having a lot more to do in MyGM, you can now also play against up to 3 people, which changes the experience quite a lot.
Not only does it allow you to play with more friends or AI opponents, it also makes you think a lot harder about the draft, as now there are two other people that could potentially steal your next pick.
Along with this you also have more power cards to worry about as anyone could hit you with anything at any moment, and you now have a choice of who you want to use your power cards on, so it becomes a lot more strategic.
2K have accommodated the extra GM slots nicely by giving us a wider range of Brands and GMs to choose from, with most of them having new and interesting power cards to use.
Verdict
Adding all of the new features and variety to the game has definitely improved it from 2K22. Honestly, it’s extremely fun to play.
There are still things to be added that I believe would take it up another level, but for what it is, this game mode is now a tonne of fun and more importantly it’s replayable.
If you’re wondering whether or not to play it, I’d recommend that you give it a chance.