Players may want to pack their sunscreen when the head to “The City” when NBA 2K24 launches this September.
The makers of the video game NBA 2K have announced a brand new location for “The City” in NBA 2K24 when the game drops later this year. For the latest iteration of the game, players will be transported to a vibrant beachfront city with new game modes, features and experiences.
Since its introduction in NBA 2K21, the “My City” feature has become a critical hub for players. This mode allows players to access some of the game’s key features in an immersive, customizable experience. It’s now a staple part of the game, and a key element of the experience specifically for next generation gamers.
For NBA 2K24, 2K Sports went with a completely remodeled City. This time it’s a seaside location complete with “white sand beaches” and “breathtaking views in every direction.” Here players will be able to experience new features like “Streetball Side Quest” and “Starting 5,” along with all of the familiar portals that make “The City” a key part of the game.
Rookie Wire got an early peek at “The City” in NBA 2K24. Check out some of these screen grabs, courtesy of NBA 2K.
2K and Visual Concepts built NBA 2K24’s MyTeam mode with community feedback at the center, producer Jon Smith tells GLHF
NBA 2K24’s MyTeam is shaping up to be a more streamlined, user-friendly version of the sports game‘s popular mode, built with community feedback at the center. Everything from the player marketplace to how you earn special rings is getting an overhaul, all to help you stay on the court more often with the players you want.
“As one of our most engaged player bases within the series, we innovate MyTeam every year by working with our community to deliver one of the most all-encompassing card-collecting modes in the industry,” Erick Boenisch, VP of NBA development at Visual Concepts, said in a statement. “Ushering in long-requested features, such as the new Player Market, increased MTP earn rates, and an overhaul of the XP system, are only a few of the ways we look forward to fans experiencing MyTeam in NBA 2K24.”
Producer Jon Smith says the NBA 2K24’s MyTeam mode includes more chances to earn more currency, and buying cards in NBA 2K24 is more transparent for the first time in a bid to cut down on auction house woes. Nearly every card is available in the market for set prices, either in VC or MT Coins. Fan-favorite card packs return as well, with guaranteed pulls and improved odds for rare cards.
NBA 2K24’s MyTeam has a brand-new salary cap mode that Smith says fixed what didn’t work when 2K and Visual Concepts tried salary cap before. You earn XP even if you lose a match, so everything you do leads to progress of some kind. The goal is building a team under that round’s salary cap using cards whose salary ratings change weekly depending on how popular they are.
Clutch Time also returns in NBA 2K24, and this time, you can play as many times as you want using any lineup and players without any restrictions on match numbers.
New-gen versions of the game include crossplay support, so you can play with your friends if they own a platform that supports crossplay. Smith said the team believes crossplay will shorten matchmaking time, but if you’re unable to team up with friends, you can use the new “looking for group” feature to join a team of strangers and fill a missing spot on their team.
NBA 2K24 launches for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC on Sep. 8, 2023. If you’re looking for more about the upcoming game, check out our coverage of its new features, the Mamba Moments mode, and how WNBA has changed this time.
NBA 2K24’s Mamba Moments aim to encapsulate the finest details of Kobe Bryant’s career in the sports game
NBA 2K24’s Mamba Moments aim to be the definitive representation of Kobe Bryant’s career, 2K senior producer Ben Bishop tells GLHF. The team at Visual Concepts dug into Bryant’s biggest games to recreate everything in the sports game, from stat overlays and scoreboards, to insightful match commentary, and even Bryant’s signature gestures and characteristics.
The result is what Bishop calls a set of “games to savor… [a] special Kobe package that’s unique to him and gives you an idea of who he was.”
The Mamba Moments mode divides its seven games into three major eras of Bryant’s career:
The Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal phase
Bryant’s “scoring machine” years, which Bishop called “Kobe against the world”
The end of his career with the Lakers
Each game offers unique ways, with a set of challenges tied to Bryant’s performance in that match. You get themed rewards that carry over into MyCareer and MyTeam if you manage to clear them.
Then there’s everything surrounding the games. Bishop says commentary provides key context for what was happening off the court at the time, including personal stories from the players and even how the match fits into the league’s history.
He also says that Visual Concepts put a lot of effort into recreating how the court, stat overlays, and, most importantly, Bryant’s animations look. Bishop used one example of how Bryant, fresh off a scoring streak, blew on his fingers to metaphorically cool them off. Visual Concepts captured that as realistically as possible.
NBA 2K24 launches for PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on Sep. 8, 2023. For more on NBA 2K24, check out our coverage of what’s new in the skills department and for the WNBA league and what to expect from MyNBA this year.
NBA 2K24 will allow players to revisit the most iconic games from Kobe Bryant’s career with a new “Mamba Moments” mode.
The makers of the video game NBA 2K are honoring the late Kobe Bryant with the latest iteration in the series by releasing not one but three distinct editions of NBA 2K24, each centered around the five-time champion. As the game’s marketing frontman Ronnie 2K recently told USA TODAY Sports Media Group, pairing Bryant with 2K24 was a no-brainer.
Bryant’s impact on this version of the game will run deeper than cover art. NBA 2K24 will launch a new game mode called Mamba Moments, allowing players to recreate some of the most iconic games from Bryant’s career. Erick Boenisch, the vice president of NBA development at the game’s parent company, Visual Concepts, explained in a press release that this process was centered around showcasing the very best from Bryant’s career.
“The Mamba Moments were selected to celebrate Kobe and remember how he was the most unique competitor the world had ever seen,” Boenisch said. “Our team took great care in building a realistic and authentic experience to inspire and educate a new generation of basketball fans on the legacy of the lifetime Laker that left his mark on the sport.”
Visual Concepts is making some big changes in NBA 2K24’s WNBA league, with more career options, deeper context, and some slick new rewards
Visual Concepts is making some big changes in NBA 2K24’s WNBA league, with more career options, deeper context, and some slick new rewards as well. Producer Felicia Steenhouse told GLHF during a recent press conference that this year, the team wanted to immerse players as much as possible in the sports game.
One of NBA 2K24’s biggest changes is the Pursuit of Greatness path, which Steenhouse called the ultimate positional battle for your player as they go up against the best player in their position in the league. Posters on social media and even your fellow teammates will follow your rivalry’s progress and how you’re stacking up as you win and lose your way across the season. If you end up outperforming your rival, your reward is a historical sleeve that boosts your attributes, and it can follow you outside of career mode.
You also get a second career path, Undiscovered Gem. These Gems are talented and start with an 85 OVR rating, but never get drafted. You return from overseas after a few years for a fresh start and absolutely no buzz. Buzz meters measure how much, well, buzz there is about your player – on social media, in the news, even the number of deals you have – so there’s definitely a disadvantage to playing this route at first.
Then there’s Prospect, the traditional approach, where you start as a talented college player, get drafted with a 75 OVR rating, and start with your buzz meter at 4.
You’ll get off-day options as your career progresses, where you can play outside the WNBA against your teammates,, the team your rival belongs to, and even historical players. Each match category has a unique badge that you get after the first win. If you win a second time, you level up the perk, and if you win the season, you can get all three perks leveled up to the maximum.
NBA 2K24 launches on Sep. 8, 2023, for PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with new features in MyNBA as well.
NBA 2K24’s MyNBA mode is the sports series’ biggest and most detailed yet, 2K VP of NBA development Erick Boenisch told GLHF
NBA 2K24’s MyNBA mode is the sports series’ biggest and most detailed yet, 2K VP of NBA development Erick Boenisch told GLHF at a roundtable conference. 2K24’s mode is all about the LeBron James era and the rise of the “Heatles” – or their imminent downfall, depending on how you play.
Historical depth is one feature that particularly excites Boenisch. The team worked to make the historical experience as authentic as possible, he says. Everything from the floors and changes in uniform style to rules and penalties – the number of free throws you get when fouled, for example – is recreated with extensive attention to detail.
You’ll see yourself in newspaper headlines and clippings as your career picks up steam, and that coverage gradually migrates to Web 1.0. and then social media and Twitter.
On the league side, Boenisch says the team took feedback that league play was too overwhelming to heart and implemented approachability changes, similar to 2K’s new philosophy for skill ceilings. League admin can delegate tasks and roles now, without having to take on everything themselves or give up complete control.
The goal is making league mode less time-consuming with MyNBA Lite Mode, which includes paring back some of the more complex features such as salary matching and team sentiment. Lite Mode only takes place in the modern era, but if you’re after a real challenge, you can expect even more detail in the regular League Mode on New Gen consoles. Some of the features from this year’s collective bargaining agreement that made their way into the game are:
Luxury tax brackets scale with the salary cap.
Cap smoothing prevents more than a 10% increase per year
Increased value from the Mid-Level Exceptions (MLEs)
Increased the number of two-way roster slots from two to three
Restricted Free Agent (RFA) qualifying offers increased by 10%
Adjusted the RFA Right of First Refusal period to 24 hours
Rookie-scale extensions last five years
Teams can always sign second-round picks
Teams can have any number of Supermax contracts, only limited by the salary cap
All-NBA teams are positionless
NBA 2K24 launches on Sep. 8, 2023, for PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
NBA 2K24 will allow players to travel back to the 2010s and enter the “LeBron Era” to either team up with the King or try and take him down.
Fans of the hit video game NBA 2K will be able to mix it up with Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James in an updated version of the game’s Eras mode.
When NBA 2K24 launches this September, fans will be able to enter the “LeBron Era” by teaming with James to take on the 2010s and the decade’s most formidable foes.
NBA 2K first launched the Eras feature last season as part of the game’s MyNBA mode. This allowed users to take on Magic Johnson or Larry Bird in the 1980s, try and compete against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, or join this year’s cover athlete Kobe Bryant in the early years of the “Kobe Era.” In 2K24, players will have a chance to join the iconic Miami Heat team from the early 2010s or try and play spoiler and stop the “Heatles.” This feature will be available only on next generation gaming consoles.
According to the makers of the game, the “LeBron Era” is one of the most exciting times in NBA history. In particular, 2K entreats players to take on LeBron rather than joining him in South Beach by teaming with the rising stars of the early 2010s such as “lockdown defenders Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, and ankle-breaking specialist Kyrie Irving.”
One of the biggest things to look forward to during every offseason is the arrival of the individual player updates for the popular basketball simulation game NBA 2K during the so-called doldrums of August.
With the release comes debates over the fairness of each assessment by fans and even the players the game represents. For all of the vitriol (and, occasionally, jokes) about the ratings from the players themselves, not many fans of the game (and sport) know how those ratings are created and adjusted — to say nothing of how the ire of said players is (usually) placated.
To learn more about that process, the hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast linked up with the face of the 2K series, Ronnie 2K, to talk about this year’s offseason update, how they get made, what they do when players are irked and plenty more.
Check out the clip embedded above to hear the interview in full, as well as some news about the state of the Eastern Conference midway through the offseason.
NBA 2K24 launches on Sep. 8, 2023, and 2K lifted the lid on new skill-based and approachability features in the sports game
NBA 2K24 launches soon, and 2K lifted the lid on new skill-based and approachability features in the sports game. Game director Mike Wang told GLHF during a roundtable interview that the team’s goal this year was implementing feedback from fans who wanted higher skill ceilings, but in a way that doesn’t alienate newcomers and players on lower difficulty levels.
There’s a whole suite of new features to help create a balanced experience, including new shot timing animations and features that let you choose your timing cue and release points. Wang says the idea is to teach you how a player shoots and when the ideal release timing is, so you don’t have to just guess anymore.
2K wanted to make dribble moves more interesting and easier to pull off this time as well, so they came up with dribble breakdowns. These include over 100 new dribble moves you can pull off just by flicking the stick, completely doing away with the need for complex inputs.
Takeovers got an overhaul in 24. They borrow from MyCareer and let you boost stats such as finishing and shooting when you trigger a takeover. Plan well, and Wang says you can change the course of a match and bring your team back from the brink.
Visual Concepts included several other features, big and small, to help improve NBA 2K24’s realism, including better steal and collision logic, but the new ProPlay technology is one of the more significant changes. Wang said relying on motion capture for animations often led to inaccurate results, not to mention challenges in recreating styles for retired or deceased players, including NBA 2K24’s cover star, Kobe Bryant. Pro Play takes footage from actual NBA games and recreates it as authentically as possible in NBA 2K24.
NBA 2K24 launches on Sep. 8, 2023, for PC, PS5 and PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.
It may be the dog days of August in the NBA’s 2023 offseason, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty of Boston Celtics-related things to talk about.
It may be the dog days of August in the NBA’s 2023 offseason, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty of Boston Celtics-related things to talk about in the depths of the summer doldrums.
From training camp signings and Miami Heat rivals being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to James Harden threatening to hold out on the Philadelphia 76ers and a hefty helping of what went into the latest Celtics player ratings in NBA 2K24, we have a stacked docket of topics to address on the latest episode of the CLSN Media “Celtics Lab” podcast.
We kick things off by breaking down Boston tendering a camp deal to Duke alum DJ Steward along with Celtics alumni heading overseas and assess the potential impact of a Beardless Sixers on the East. We wrap things up with a chat with NBA 2K frontman Ronnie 2K, so be sure to tune in.
The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Fan Duel.
