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NBA 2K22 improvements to MyCAREER, The City & more detailed

Visual Concepts spills the beans on what to expect.

A host of improvements to NBA 2K22 were recently detailed by developer Visual Concepts, and we’ve got the skinny for you below.

Executive Producer Erick Boenisch opened a recent hands-off preview session with confidence.

NBA 2K22 gameplay

“Even today… eight months after the release  [of NBA 2K21] you know we’re still one of the only games to create a truly next-gen experience and we’re going to be doing that again this year with NBA 2K22,” he asserted as he and his team began to detail changes fans can expect.

First, on-court gameplay has been tweaked to give players more control both offensively and defensively.

“We want defense to be engaging and fun,” Gameplay Director Mike Wang said. “That extends to everything… on the defensive end of the floor from steals to movement, to our body of collisions, to blocking.

“Everything was re-architectured and feels much better on the defensive end of the floor,” Wang continued. “It’s also caused us to rethink a lot of things on the offensive side of the ball — how to make things more engaging in there as well — so you can see  a new emphasis on stick skills and IQ, being in the right place.”

“If I can say one thing about gameplay that [Mike] and his team have done — making more actions of the game skill-based puts the controller in your hands even more; there’s less randomness there’s less dice roll. It really comes down to you as a player your style — your skill — competing against other people… so the game feels much more satisfying this year,” Boenisch added.

MyCAREER and The City

Current-gen versions of the game will include a new narrative experience that combines MyCAREER and The City. The City will also be expanded, adding more life to the region.

“One of the key components of it, is that it’s living and breathing,” Boenisch said of NBA 2K21‘s City. “If I had to stay there was a fault in City it’s that it felt a little bit lifeless. As you kind of roamed around it, the only people you would see where other other MyPLAYERS, driving around their skateboards or the their BMX bikes. You didn’t you didn’t really get the sense of people kind of living their lives in the City, and it just felt a little off.

“This year, you step into an all new City that’s teeming with life; there’s activity, there’s interactivity. The NPCs, they populate the fresh city layout. They are throwing the football in the park, there’s kids riding their bikes and scooters, there’s people just walking around going shopping, walking down the sidewalks. It’s a little more lived in this year, and it feels a whole lot more believable.”

On PC and current-gen consoles, a new Neighbourhood comes in the form of a cruise ship.

“It’s an all new dedicated basketball community; it’s a neighborhood built on the spacious decks of a cruise ship,” Boenisch said. “It sounds silly, but we like to say you get to hoop in nautical luxury this year. It has all the features you’re used to and more — all the 3v3 courts, 2v2 courts, the trampoline ball — all of that is there.”

Special events will be held off-boat, giving players the sense that it’s “always cruising”.

As for MyCAREER itself? Boenisch asserted that an all-new narrative has been prepared for both last- and current-gen consoles, and that it will be “intertwined” with the City on current-gen.

“Making the MyCAREER and the City one; they’re intertwined so when you start your career this year on [current-]gen consoles, you’re going to be in your starter apartment in the City,” he said. “You’re going to leave your apartment and you’re going to go out there and run to the practice facility, you’re going to talk to your agents, coaches, sponsors.

“It’s a completely new way to play MyCAREER, while still allowing us to deliver our very powerful narratives that we’ve become much better at over the years.”

MyTEAM and continued reveals

MyTEAM will also evolve, offering more ways to build and compete thanks to new events, challenges and rewards.

Viscual Concepts has promised further information on NBA 2K22 in the coming months as we inch closer to release.

Expect NBA 2K22 from 10 September on Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5 and Switch.


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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.