14 March 2026

WWE 2K26’s RXP Farming Exploit Controversy Explained

By newsgame

WWE 2K26 is now here for all players, but the past week has already been keeping those who pre-ordered busy. The past few weeks have been filled with announcements and sneak peeks about what to expect from WWE 2K26, and a lot of fans were eager to jump into the game a full week ahead of launch. Plenty of early players have been enjoying an RXP farming exploit, but it looks like the fun is already over.

WWE 2K26‘s Patch 1.04 made some changes to how players can gain RXP, which has resulted in the popular exploit being completely nerfed. This franchise entry introduced a Battle Pass-like system called Ringside Pass. There is both a free Ringside Pass and then a premium version that includes features like DLC Superstars, Island taunts, and Personas. Adding a Battle Pass in this day and age is going to be controversial no matter what, and Patch 1.04 has already ignited plenty of negative feedback regarding how the feature is handled.

WWE 2K26 Review: Not the Best in the World

WWE 2K26 continues to build on its predecessor in many ways, but the annual cadence appears to be taking its toll creatively.

WWE 2K26’s RXP Farming Exploit Was Short-Lived, and Players Are Not Happy

Before the patch, players could tweak the game’s sliders to make submissions stronger. After doing this, they would boot up a 1v1 match with WWE 2K26‘s lowest-ranked fighter, Eric Bischoff. This would result in players winning matches in a matter of seconds, which allowed them to quickly move up the ranks of the premium Ringside Pass. Well, it looks like those days have come to a quick end, with the patch making this exploit no longer possible. What makes this change even more controversial, though, is that 2K Games made it clear that the patch was a direct response to this exploit. The official patch notes say:

If a match is completed faster than 60 seconds, players will receive completion RXP, but not additional win bonuses. We know you’re enjoying making Eric Bischoff tap out, but let’s give poor “Eazy E” a breather.

Balance the critic averages

Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)

This immediately frustrated a lot of players across social media, with many sharing the sentiment that it shouldn’t matter how they play the game if they have already paid for the premium Ringside Pass. There have also been complaints that 2K Games is almost always seemingly willing to quickly patch things that get in the way of profit. Certain bugs and glitches can sometimes take months to finally get addressed, which has many fans concluding that this patch must be tied to WWE 2K26‘s Tier Skips.

WWE 2K26’s Tier Skips Explained

It’s a pretty straightforward system, but for those not aware, WWE 2K26‘s Ringside Pass includes microtransactions to skip tiers. In other words, this is something players can purchase to advance more quickly without having to grind their way there. Tier Skips are completely optional, but fans suspect that getting rid of the RXP farming exploit in Patch 1.04 was intended to try to incentivize players to buy these Tier Skips.

Considering just how heavily monetized sports games have become over the years, it’s understandable why gamers have jumped to this conclusion. Games like NBA 2K26 have already utilized Tier Skips, so it’s not too surprising that 2K Games has brought this same method to WWE 2K26. Adjusting WWE 2K26‘s gameplay settings to help farm RXP fast was seen as really beneficial for a lot of players. Many have cited that their own busy schedules in daily life make it really hard to keep up with the grind that WWE 2K26‘s Ringside Pass demands. The tweaks Patch 1.04 made to RXP lower the number of matches needed to complete the pass, but it’s still a significant amount of work.

Patch 1.04 increases the RXP rate by 20%. Before the patch, completing a match rewarded 25 RXP, but it will now be 30 RXP. Winning a match rewards 85 RXP, but that has now been increased to 105 RXP.

WWE 2K26 Modes That Reward RXP

Play Now
Universe
MyRISE
Showcase
MyGM
MyFACTION
The Island
Custom Matches (added in Patch 1.04)

Many have cited that their own busy schedules in daily life make it really hard to keep up with the grind that WWE 2K26‘s Ringside Pass demands.

WWE 2K26’s RXP Changes Don’t Require Fans to Play as Many Matches, But It May Not Fully Make Up for the Removal of Farming Exploits

The matches now offer higher amounts of RXP, but some players are still going to see it as a grind, depending on how they prefer to play. WWE 2K26‘s rewards are one of the biggest incentives players have for coming back day after day, but having to push through match after match just to get content someone has already paid for is an understandable cause for frustration. There is one bright side, though. Unlike Fortnite‘s Battle Pass, the Ringside Pass isn’t locked to a limited time frame. As the official 2K site says,

When a new season of Ringside Pass launches, the prior season will not expire, meaning players can still continue unlocking content before moving on to the next season or players can put that season on hold, move on to the next one to unlock content there, and then return to the prior season.

Even though it can be annoying grinding through matches to unlock content that has already been paid for, there is at least comfort in knowing that it isn’t a race against the clock. One of the main reasons why some gamers think Battle Passes are bad is that a lot of them have limited timeframes, which can be unfair to players who aren’t able to unlock all the rewards before the pass expires.

This is ultimately subjective, but the Ringside Pass at least doesn’t have that problem at the moment. WWE 2K26‘s new update is disappointing for those who really benefited from the farming exploit, but the extra RXP offered in matches now hopefully makes the grind feel less burdensome.