First WWE 2K18 Screenshots Feature Cover Athlete Seth Rollins

The world finally got its first look at the new and improved game engine powering WWE 2K18, courtesy of two screenshots featuring the game’s cover athlete, Seth Rollins. And a developer diary published on Thursday offers additional insight on the visual changes we’ll see in October.

Promotional materials for new WWE games are always a bit scarce. Even in the era of weekly image dumps, when fans were treated to dozens of images featuring that week’s roster additions, we’ve always wanted a better look at upcoming WWE releases than publishers were willing to provide. But even with that history, it’s felt like we’ve been waiting longer than normal to see WWE 2K18 . There have only been two teasers for this year’s wrestling sim thus far, neither of which included gameplay footage. And a recent preview of WWE 2K18 reportedly relied on content from 2K17, leading some fans to wonder whether we’d actually see substantial changes. But our patience has been rewarded with a pair of WWE 2K18 screenshots that leave little doubt this year’s roster (or at least the game’s cover athlete) will look better than ever.

The first, published on Rollins’ Twitter account, showed the former WWE Universal champion standing in the ring with the standard Business Heel costume (slacks but no shirt). The image doesn’t tell us anything about the game we didn’t already know but does confirm the substantial visual upgrades promised in July. Rollins’ outfit looks noticeably more realistic than similar outfits in previous games, which tend to look like rubber bodysuits, and the arena lights are reflected by the absurd amounts of oil and water that WWE performers still feel the need to coat themselves in before heading to the ring. A second image, published on the WWE 2K Twitter page, also shows Rollins in his usual ring gear. 2K also published a brief developer diary, with some insight on the visual changes, on its social media pages.

WWE 2K18 is in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch. The game hits PS4 and Xbox on Oct. 11 but there’s only a Fall 2018 timeline for Nintendo’s portable console.

Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more WWE 2K18 news in 2017 and however long 2K continues to support WWE 2K18 in the months after launch.