Bryan Williams, a developer working on WWE 2K25 and a former member of the team behind AEW: Fight Forever, recently spoke with The Pro Wrestling Shoot about the highly anticipated game. During the interview, Williams expressed his desire to introduce thumbtacks as a weapon, along with additional visual effects such as scars and body-wide bleeding.

Discussing the topic, Williams stated:

“Thumbtacks, we’ve been talking about that for a while now and I think once we crack that nut, that’s the perfect opportunity to then go into, as you, as you pointed out, getting scarring, bleeding on the back, the chest, the arms, even.

“I think introducing that as a new weapon. Obviously, just like peanut butter and jelly, it coincides with bleeding on the bodies as opposed to just the face.

“So it is something that we are hoping to eventually get to sooner rather than later. So, yeah, I would just say we hear you, and it’s something that we want to do as well, especially just having thumbtacks in the AEW game.

“I know I worked on it [AEW: Fight Forever], but it, you know, it sticks in my craw that the AEW game has one over on us when it comes to the thumbtacks. I don’t like that. We’re going to make it right.”

Williams' comments suggest that the development team is actively considering new ways to enhance realism in WWE 2K25, with thumbtacks and expanded bleeding mechanics potentially on the horizon. However, no official confirmation has been made regarding their inclusion in the final product.