Maybe 2018 will be the year that publishers decide to scale back on plans to make increasingly expensive video game development cycles a touch bit more profitable. At least that’s what analyst Doug Creutz from financial service and investment banking firm Cowen alluded to, when he spoke to clients on CNBC .

The technology used by Yukes to create each WWE game is beginning to show its age. Aside from a stellar custom superstar suite of options and upgrades which certainly do favour certain superstars far more than other athletes stuck in the mid-card or lower, the Yukes engine is in desperate need of a rethink. Or better yet, it's time to find someone else to develop WWE games.

2K’s fifth WWE game has all the style, and none of the substance of WWE games of old. All show and no actual in-ring talent, everything new in WWE 2K18 is quickly superseded by an uneven graphics engine and a career mode that’s certified G for Grody.

Much like WWE games of old, WWE 2K18 allows you to craft a superstar who happens to bear a certain resemblance to you. That’s because you can upload your face into the game, taking the custom aspect of being a rookie superstar to the next level. So how do you do it? Let’s break down the steps.

It doesn’t take much to make a good wrestling game. Just give me a comprehensive system within which to scan Geoff’s face into a punchable wrestler, a lengthy career mode and the trendiest superstars on the roster today and I’m happier than Vince McMahon at a bodybuilding contest. While previous WWE games may not have lived up to the highs of…wow, I don’t even know which game to insert there, they’ve been consistently terrible lately.

Rightfully criticised for locking a ton of its content behind a paywall, 2K Games was lambasted for dropping a stack of microtransactions into a game that already charged a premium price. It also sounds like they haven’t paid attention to angry fans, as WWE 2K18 will be locking plenty of its gear behind the Virtual Coin paywall again.

Much like last year’s extra content that sold extra movesets and personalities, the WWE 2K18 season pass offers pretty much the exact same bonuses. Which includes keeping the recently returned extreme team of the Hardy Boyz off the main roster and behind a paygate. Is that WONDERFUL? No, not really. Not really at all. Here’s what $30 gets you.

2K Games have been releasing annual NBA games for a couple of years, games which have built on a solid system of passes and dribbles while also making players look unbelievably realistic. That’s a pedigree which continues in NBA 2K18, which releases later this month on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But before your journey from the street to the prime-time court begins for real, you’ve got to try out the Prelude.