Will there be an NBA 2K22?

William Davis Published 01/08/2021

Following the success of the NBA 2K21 game, a lot of fans have been questioning when the release of the 2K22 game will be. Though it has been announced, it is likely to be a very long way off from the release of the game.

Improvements to graphics

Some of the first improvements will inevitably come in the form of the graphics used. A game released each year always has a lot of pressure on the developers to ensure that the games look better than the ones that came before them. With such a relatively short turnaround time between their games, it can be difficult to implement new changes.

However, this development is incredibly important. One of the major criticisms of the NBA 2K games can be that the graphics and animations behind them can feel a little clunky, especially compared to other game franchises that they will be actively competing against. Given some of the criticisms that arose around the 2K21 game, it is likely that Visual Concepts will take their time to properly develop new animations and graphics to better meet demand.

Multiplayer changes

Another big criticism of previous NBA 2K games is that the multiplayer functions need some development. With 2K21, the options appeared to be either grind through the story mode to earn improvements or pay through microtransactions to get them earlier. Many also thought that the setup of multiplayer games could have been streamlined and made much easier to manage.

Here, the developers could take inspiration from platforms that deal with online traffic being arranged in certain digital rooms, such as what you might find at a poker site like GGPoker. The ability to create an online, digital space that certain people can come into – such as a particular friendship group who all want to be able to play the same game – is one that could work very well in this game.

Cover stars

One of the big factors that many wait for with the announcement of a new NBA 2K game is who will be the cover athlete for the various editions of the game. Last year, a deluxe edition featured Kobe Bryant, called the Mamba Forever Edition, and this could open to the possibility of other themed special editions this year.

For now, there are several names already in the mix for the honour of gracing the cover. This includes Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo amongst others. Could we potentially see a Raptor make the cover athlete one day? While it might not be for the 2K22 game, there is the possibility that we might see one in the future.

Keep an eye out for the announcement of the cover athletes – it is always an exciting preview of what we might expect from the rest of the game.

The NBA 2K games are usually released around September. Fans have already begun to see a few sneak peeks emerging on the internet as to what the game might look like. As it gets closer to the end of the year, players will no doubt learn more about what to expect from the game’s mechanics.

NBA 2K21 was well-received by fans but critics had some issues with it. It will be interesting to see what improvements have been made from the previous title.

William Davis

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