The Neighborhood has been one of NBA 2K’s most popular game modes for many years, but for the Next Gen release of NBA 2K21 – it’s getting a huge makeover, and a new name.
The City is many, many times larger than the Neighboods of old, and is controlled by four rival affiliations.
What is the City?
Just like how the Park morphed into Neighborhood, the City is next iteration of NBA 2K’s virtual basketball community – just this time, it’s much, much bigger.
Expect a variety of building and basketball courts that you can strut your stuff in.
The City Trailer
Rookieville
Sitting just off the water’s edge on the southern side of The City lies the Rookieville docks.
Rookieville is exactly what it sounds like; this is where your NBA 2K21 City journey will begin.
MyPLAYERs looking to dive into The City and all that it has to offer must first prove their skills amongst other rookie MyPLAYERs in this isolated cluster of basketball courts.
Meet the requisite actions in Rookieville, and the gates of The City will open before you.
Boroughs
Affiliations make their long-awaited return in NBA 2K21. Each has a dedicated space in the North, South, East, and West boroughs of The City.
Each borough has its own vibe and collection of basketball courts - decked out in the Affiliations logos and colours.
Each Affiliation area houses a unique Warehouse basketball court, where new MyPLAYER progression features await.
Event Center
The heart of The City is the brand new Event Center.
All new and returning Events will be held inside the glittering Event Center, and special intra-Affiliation competitions will take place here as well.
Garage Hoops
Sprinkled around The City, you will find basketball hoops attached to the side of some buildings - if you look close enough.
If you happen to see one, try pulling out your basketball and shooting some hoops with it.
If another player passes by and sees you shooting, they will have the ability to step on the court and shoot with you.
From there you will have the option to quickly and seamlessly launch into 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, HORSE, and many other game types. Its simplicity is its strong point.
As an added bonus, there are large VC multipliers you can earn on these courts each day for your first five games played.
This is a great place to start your day off as you warm up for the main event at your affiliation’s courts.
People of the City
Scattered throughout The City are quest/objective giving NPCs – people with coloured exclamation points above their heads.
Every 4-6 weeks, new quests/objectives will be added to the People of The City to keep the game fresh.
The first line of quests involves a series of single player 3v3 games you will be challenged with in the Warehouses found in the court area of each affiliation.
The other line of quests will encourage you to get out and play games in The City, and reward you for doing so.
Complete all of the quests and you will earn some unique clothing items/accessories that are not sold in stores.
Gatorade Training Facility
The Gatorade Training Facility has now expanded to two floors, where on the first floor, MyPLAYERs will find their usual array of training equipment that’ll help beef up their abilities.
The second floor houses a great new feature in The City: Rental Courts.
Want an uninterrupted run of games with your friends or other ballers you just met? Rent a court in the Gatorade Training Facility and play games however you want.
Special Courts
There are a couple full-sized (one 4v4, the other 5v5) courts available in The City.
One of these courts was built to commemorate and celebrate the late Kobe Bryant.
The surface is textured beautifully with Kobe’s signature snakeskin design, and his numbers 8 and 24 mark the restricted areas at the opposite ends of the court.
Overlooking the grounds is a gigantic mural of an iconic Kobe moment, where he stood triumphantly on the scorer’s table as he celebrated his 5th NBA championship.
Fire Ball
On occasion, you will see a Fire Ball being used on the courts...yes, literally.
When your team wins 10 games in a row on Affiliation courts, the ball used in your game will immediately catch on fire and stay lit until you lose.
Expect crowds to gather around your court when this happens - you already know that everyone seeing the fire ball will be like a bat signal for the best ballers to start lining up to dethrone your reign.
Pink Diamond Plaza
Decked out in fluorescent lights and with music orchestrated by a resident DJ, Pink Diamond Plaza hosts the entirety of the MyTEAM Triple Threat Online experience.
Apparel Stores
While some of your favourite shops from the old Neighborhoods will be returning, The City has been built to feature an even wider variety of apparel locations for you to express your style.
Nike, Jordan Brand, adidas, Under Armour, Puma, and many more can be found in the City.
Two new stores are Alter Ego and Drip Brothers, and be on the lookout for all of the new self-expression items we will have available at launch and beyond!
Affiliations
The City is big. The return of Affiliations, however, may be just as big - if not bigger.
For some years now, one of the most requested features from the NBA 2K community has been Affiliation-based gameplay.
The power of the Next Gen consoles has given 2K the opportunity to execute on this fully.
The four Affiliations are:
- North Side Knights
- South City Vipers
- Beasts of the East
- Western Wildcats
Each has their own dedicated borough and set of Affiliation courts within The City.
Rep up to Pro 1 by winning a few games in Rookieville, and you’ll be assigned to one of these four rival factions.
If you didn’t land in your Affiliation of choice, you can always head to City Hall of the Affiliation you are interested in joining and file a transfer request.
The penalty for changing your Affiliation is your Rep level will reset all the way down to Pro 1 (what you had when you graduated from Rookieville.
Here is what’s in-play as you represent your Affiliation:
Player Rep
Playing on your own Affiliation’s courts has its advantages; specifically, you can only achieve your full Player Rep by balling on your home court.
Playing on the courts of your rival Affiliations will earn you much less rep per game played.
Rival Day Conquest
The final two weeks of every Mayor term (see below) will feature the culmination of a series of events to crown which Affiliation runs The City.
Rival Day Conquest is a key event where all rep-earning restrictions are removed from The City and you are encouraged to invade every other borough with your teammates and take hold of the courts.
Keep a close eye on the leaderboard located in each court area; at the end of Rival Day Conquest, the four Affiliations will be ranked by score and seeded for the culmination of the season, the Rival Day Championship.
Rival Day Championship
Taking place in the Event Center, this is the final piece of the puzzle in confirming your Affiliation as the true champions of The City.
Battle head-to-head with teams from other Affiliations as you engage in this culminating experience.
For the Affiliation that comes out on top of this head-to-head championship, the spoils of The City await you.
You’ll be able to head to your Affiliations City Hall and pick up your winner’s cheque but the real prize is your Mayor will also be able to deck out your entire borough and make your Affiliation the envy of The City.
Mayors
Each Affiliation will be represented by a Mayor; they will be very influential in your day-to-day experience within The City.
Mayors are responsible for:
Affiliation Videos
Mayors will be creating assorted videos during their term that will appear in-game on the jumbotrons in the court areas.
You can expect your Mayor to emit rallying cries and motivate the members of the Affiliation to perform at the peak of their abilities.
Custom Playlists
Mayors can curate custom music playlists that only play within their respective borough/affiliation boundaries.
This is actually a great feature in that each Affiliation court area will have its own vibe based on the musical selections of the current Mayor.
As you move away from one court area, you will hear the music slowly fade away as you get further away, and pick up as you approach another.
Court & Mural Design
There will be events during a Mayor’s reign where if their Affiliation comes out victorious, they will have the responsibility of designing what the courts look like for their borough.
Unform Selection
When it comes time to formally battle the other Affiliations head-to-head, the Mayor will have the unique opportunity to select the uniform that all members will wear as they stream onto the courts of their rivals.
Election
For the launch of NBA 2K21 2K has hand-selected the initial candidates for mayors
These four big-time community influencers will be leading the charge for our Mayor program.
Every six weeks, an election week will be held in the game where you and the community representing your Affiliation, will have the final say on who becomes the next Mayor to represent the cause.
READ MORE: The W arrives on NBA 2K21 for Next Gen