NBA 2K22 made an initial impact last week by revealing the cover athletes and teaser trailer, but we've now learned a lot more about gameplay and new features coming this year.
From next gen upgrades to The City and a current gen revamp of The Neighborhood with a cruise ship involved, here's everything new coming to NBA 2K22.
NBA 2K22 finally reveals this year's new features
Last week, we got our first look at NBA 2K22, but it centered largely around the cover athletes and the mere fact that the game is on the way.
The above trailer was the first dropped for NBA 2K22, and while exciting, it doesn't actually give us much information about this year's game.
That's all finally changing, as 2K Sports has revealed new details to us about upgrades coming to core gameplay and several different game modes in NBA 2K22.
While some of these new details come from today's Courtside Report reveal, we also got to participate in a Q&A with developers and got some extra information from that chat.
Core On-The-Court Gameplay Changes
Core gameplay is the beating heart of a sports game, and we've gotten our first taste of what's being improved this year.
On offense, it's now become more skill-based to break down defenders using combos, precision jump shooting, dunking in traffic, and pulling off alley-oops.
In NBA 2K22, players should expect knowledge of the game of basketball and pure stick skills to make even more of a difference in separating the absolute best competitive players from the pack.
On defense, NBA 2K22 will have a completely revamped shot contest and blocking system, which aims to highlight and utilize several new defensive tools.
This should make the best defenders even more impactful, allowing them the ability to truly influence the outcome of a game.
Seasons comes to all of NBA 2K22
In the past, the Seasons labeling was primarily used to signal each phase of MyTEAM, but it looks like they'll have a much bigger impact on the entire game that is NBA 2K22.
While we should learn more about Seasons later in August, we already know that they're planning to link the additional content and rewards of Seasons to MyTEAM, MyCAREER, The W, MyPLAYER, The City, and The Neighborhood.
That will surely also mean the return of Locker Codes in NBA 2K22, which we're hoping could benefit MyTEAM and other areas of the game this year.
MyTEAM: Draft will finally return
2K Sports has listened to the fans this time, and we now know that MyTEAM: Draft is returning to the ultimate team mode in NBA 2K22.
MyTEAM: Draft allows players to select their entire lineup from a frequently updated pool of players, which aims to level the playing field as you compete against others while also giving users the chance to try out cards they haven't yet collected.
While crossplay isn't coming to NBA 2K22, we are getting some cross-gen progress support, specifically with MyTEAM, as all MyTEAM progress and collections, the VC wallet, MyTEAM points, and MyTEAM Token balances will transfer within the same console family (PS4 to PS5 or Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S).
The City goes big, The Neighborhood goes cruise ship
On the next gen side of things for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S users, The City is being completely revamped with a new layout and an all-new quest system to go along with it.
In a link to MyCAREER, each MyPLAYER will have a house in The City as a home base which will continue to grow and upgrade as you level up your MyPLAYER.
The City is also getting new matchmaking options, allowing sessions for several different game types which will all contribute to MyPLAYER progress.
Meanwhile, current gen players are receiving a new version of The Neighborhood, but this time it's built on a cruise ship.
Players on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC will get to enjoy the ship and have new excursions to exotic locations throughout each season with unique shoreside events.
We know that more details are still coming for The City and Neighborhood, and 2K Sports is expected to dive deeper on these in early September.
MyCAREER moves away from the cinematic style
After criticisms in recent years that the cinematic style of MyCAREER felt too restrictive to some players, NBA 2K22 will be changing things up for next gen.
In what is still being described as a narrative experience, your journey to the pros will be more linked to The City than ever before, and will even add the ability for players to pursue side ventures in areas such as fashion or the music industry.
As mentioned above, players will have a home base in The City, and it will continue to level up and grow as you work your way through to the NBA and improve your career.
Unfortunately, players on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC will only be getting a more traditional MyCAREER experience that won't tie into The Neighborhood like it does with The City on next gen.
MyNBA & MyWNBA remain next gen exclusives
While many players will be excited about the return of MyNBA and MyWNBA, anyone not on PS5 or Xbox Series X|S will once again be out of luck and unable to play the game modes.
The team management game mode has been a hit since launching last year as a version of Franchise in the NBA 2K series, but it's not one they've chosen to translate to current gen players on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Instead, those players will still have have past game modes of MyLEAGUE and MyGM to work with, neither of which we've heard about any upgrades for.
However, MyNBA and MyWNBA is aiming to look even better this year, and 2K Sports plans to share more details in early September about how these game modes will improve and expand for NBA 2K22.