WWE 2K24, the latest installment in the popular wrestling game series, hit the shelves just last week. However, amidst the excitement of the game’s release, a troubling trend has emerged within its community creations hub.
A new feature called Create-A-Sign empowers players to craft and share custom signs for the audience NPCs to hold during matches. While this feature was intended to add fun and personalization to the game, it has unfortunately been exploited by some users.
Rather than creating signs with the usual WWE-themed banter, certain players have been uploading sexually explicit images.
Despite the presence of a flagging system designed to identify and remove inappropriate content, these explicit images have managed to find their way to the top of the Most Downloaded and Most Upvoted pages.
Even after several days, some of these offensive images remain prominently featured. This raises questions about the effectiveness of the flagging system – whether it’s unreliable or if players simply aren’t utilizing it as intended.
It’s important to consider the broader implications of this issue. WWE 2K games are typically rated T (Teen) by the ESRB, indicating content suitable for ages 13 and up.
However, wrestling games often attract younger audiences, and the presence of sexually explicit content far exceeds the boundaries of a T rating, verging into territory more suited for mature audiences (M rating).
This isn’t the first time adult content has infiltrated WWE games.
Past instances have seen players utilizing features like Create-A-Logo to upload sexually explicit imagery, resulting in similar issues of inappropriate content rising to the top of community rankings.
Reddit threads dating back months or even years discuss these troubling trends, indicating a longstanding challenge for the game’s developers and community moderators.
As WWE 2K24 continues to evolve, addressing these issues surrounding community-created content will be crucial to maintaining a welcoming and appropriate gaming environment for players of all ages.
