Publisher 2K sports and developers Yuke's and Visual Concepts want to make sure players are not only pumped up by "WWE 2K18's" life-like visuals and the exciting signature wrestling moves, but by heart-pounding accompanying tracks as well. That is why the upcoming professional wrestling video game has chosen actor and professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to be the executive producer to curate the soundtrack for the game.
"Over the years we have collaborated with some of the world's most popular artists, including Florida Georgia Line, Metallica, The Weeknd and Diddy to name a few, but partnering with one of our own is always special," said WWE Music Group Senior Vice President and General Manager Neil Lawi. He also added that working with Johnson is always a "creative and inspirational experience."
Some of the highlights of the 11-song soundtrack include Kanye West's "Black Skinhead," Boston's "Smokin'," "Down With the Sickness" by Disturbed, and Bruno Mars' "Runaway Baby."
"Music is one of my soul's anchors," said Johnson in a report by Comicbook. "All genres. I'm excited to celebrate my WWE roots by partnering with the 2K and Apple Music teams and share some of my favorite hardcore training songs with fans all over the world."
Johnson also tweeted about the soundtrack, saying that he had fun putting his personal training tracks together. He also mentioned that "many weren't cleared due to that explicit language thing."
Had fun putting my personal training tracks together for @WWE 2K18. Many weren't cleared due to that explicit language thing." data-caption="null" data-credit="null">
The rest of the soundtrack feature a diverse selection, including Blues Brothers' "Soul Man," Eazy-E's "Boyz-N-The-Hood," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" by George Thorogood & The Destroyers, "Rocky Mountain Way" by Joe Walsh, Kid Rock's "You Never Met a White Boy Quite Like Me," "Last One Standing" by¡MAYDAY!, and Tech N9ne's "Straight Out The Gate."
"WWE 2K18" will be released worldwide on Oct. 17 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
