WWE 2K15 Leaked Roster Includes CM Punk

The highly anticipated WWE 2K15 roster has allegedly leaked online. The big news is that CM Punk is in the game, alongside a range of NXT stars. There’s 92 wrestlers in total, including Mick Foley who had been in doubt after not signing a WWE legends deal earlier this year.
The leak surfaced on GameFAQs, where it was claimed that the list came from the August edition of Game Informer Magazine. The post has since been removed.
The official roster reveal will be on August 16th in Los Angeles. 2K will be working in partnership with WWE’s SummerSlam event which takes place on the same weekend. That timing ensures maximum publicity for the video game’s content.
Is there any validity to this apparent leak ahead of time? The list certainly looks plausible. Punk’s contract may have expired, but he would have been under a deal when production of the game started. There was a situation in 1998′s WWF Warzone video game where Bret Hart was on the roster, despite having debuted in WCW sixth months previous. Perhaps Punk will be retained in a similar way, offering a final opportunity for 2K and WWE to exploit his star power.
A bigger red flag on the leak’s validity is the inclusion of Mankind. Mick Foley had made clear he was unhappy with previous game pay-offs, leading him to refuse a WWE legends deal earlier this year. Something may have been worked out for 2K15, but it had certainly seemed unlikely given Foley’s previous criticisms of video game pay.