2K Sports have all but killed off their rival NBA Live, and now NBA 2K20 has finally arrived. You can read our review of the basketball sim here.
EA Sports kicked off sports season with Madden 20 and they are ramping up the hype for FIFA 20.
They have some competition though. Japanese rivals Konami are creating the biggest Pro Evolution Soccer release in years with PES 2020 by locking up exclusive rights to Juventus.
And now 2K are getting in on the act. They gave us a first hint at WWE 2K20 last month, but the real hype has been around the next installment in their excellent NBA franchise. NBA 2K19 was praised as a high point of the series but still had some nagging issues. So what will NBA 2K20 bring to hoops fans everywhere?
NBA 2K20 Release Date
This years game will be released on 6 September on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
It has also been confirmed for google's new gaming platform Google Stadia which should drop in November.
NBA 2K20 Cover Athlete
Cover athlete Anthony Davis, who recently made a blockbuster move to join LeBron James at the LA Lakers, will front this years game. Or at least part of it. He will be on the Standard and Digital Deluxe Editions, but someone else will be on the Legends Edition.
Miami Heat icon Dwyane Wade, who retired at the end of the 2018-19 season, will grace the front of 7the Legends Edition this year.
READ MORE: Top 10 NBA 2K20 players revealed
NBA 2K20 Pre-Order
You can pre-order NBA 2K20 on their official website and most traditional game retailers.
Pre-order the NBA 2K20 Standard Edition for $59.99/£49.99 to receive the following digital items:
- 5,000 Virtual Currency
- 5,000 MyTEAM Points
- 5 MyCAREER Skill Boosts
- MyPLAYER Clothing Capsule
- 10 MyTEAM League packs (delivered one a week)
- 5 Heat Check packs (delivered one a week beginning at the start of the NBA season)
The NBA 2K20 Digital Deluxe Edition ($84.99/£74.99) includes the following digital items:
- 35,000 Virtual Currency
- 10,000 MyTEAM Points
- 10 MyCAREER Skill Boosts
- MyPLAYER Clothing Capsule
- 10 MyTEAM League packs (delivered one a week)
- 5 Heat Check packs (delivered one a week beginning at the start of the NBA season)
- 1 Sapphire MyTEAM Cover Athlete Card
The NBA 2K20 Legend Edition ($99.99/£89.99) includes the following digital items:
- 100,000 Virtual Currency
- 50,000 MyTEAM Points
- 20 MyCAREER Skill Boosts
- MyPLAYER Clothing Capsule
- MyPLAYER Apparel Collection
- MyPLAYER Shoe Collection
- 20 MyTEAM League packs (delivered one a week)
- 20 Heat Check packs (delivered one a week beginning at the start of the NBA season)
- 5 MyTEAM Theme Packs (one per theme release across the first five releases)
- 2 Sapphire MyTEAM Cover Athlete Card
NBA 2K20 Next Is Now Trailer
2K often play their cards very close to their chest, and we had only seen a brief teaser of the game until this Next Is Now trailer dropped. There is a lot of emphasis on new faces and the recent flurry of players moving around the NBA.
Unsurprisingly, cover star Anthony Davis and new Lakers’ teammate LeBron James are the first to be seen, with the Clippers All-Star pairing of Paul George & Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Nets Kyrie Irving & Kevin Durant, Golden State’s ‘Splash Brothers’ Steph Curry & Klay Thompson and Rockets point machine James Harden & Russell Westbrook all featuring heavily.
READ MORE: 5 features we really want to see in NBA 2K20
NBA 2K20 Gameplay
You do get a little taste of gameplay from the "Next Is Now" trailer, including new animations of players like Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, and Buddy Hield.
2K have touched up their player motion engine and improved player footwork by adding smarter foot-planting allowing for more explosive movement from a stationary position.
The devs explain "you’ll quickly feel the difference between a lumbering big vs. a quick, explosive guard."
They have analyzed real life motion patterns and emulated them into NBA 2K20:
"We wanted sprinting to be a valuable resource and not something that everybody automatically does everywhere they go. This year, you’ll notice a flashing yellow effect around the Stamina bar when your energy level drops below a certain threshold.
"Once hit, you’ll quickly ramp down to a run speed and get tired much faster. So it’s important this year to pick and choose when you want to explode with your first step and not abuse the Sprint trigger all game long."
READ MORE: NBA 2K20 gameplay & improvements
NBA 2K20 New Features
2K's tight-lipped strategy over this year's release means we don't know a whole lot about it just yet. We know that Ronnie 2K will be making an appearance in cut scenes in MyCareer while some improvements to the off-ball system are coming. There will be the usual step up in graphics too but we expect tweaks to the AI behavior to come this year too.
One new feature we do know about is the WNBA...
NBA 2K20 WNBA
The WNBA made their virtual debut on EA's NBA Live 18, and with FIFA continuing to push the Women's game on their platform it is about time 2K caught up and included the WNBA. This year the will.
How 2K integrate the WNBA into this year's title is unknown. It is unlikely to be as fully as FIFA are, where their new Volta mode allows men & women to compete on-pitch together. I suspect that we will see some MyCareer interaction with the WNBA stars as well as at the very least a playable exhibition mode. A complete MyGM version of the WNBA would be unlikely this year.
MyGM 2.0
Speaking of MyGM, in a recent blog post 2K lifted the curtain on the renovations the game mode will see in 2K20.
Accessibility is high on the agenda this year for 2K, as well as a focus on the player making meaningful choices.
With that in mind the introduction of Action Points is set to limit how much you can get done in one day as a general manager and force you into tough decisions that will have a noticeable impact. You can't explore trade options, talk to players, and scheme with staff all at once.
Different difficulty settings will choke off your AP supply, making life even trickier for you. Why should you up the difficulty? Well, a new scoring system and leaderboard adds to the competitiveness of MyGM, allowing you to see how your performance compares to friends.
There's a brand new skill tree that will shape your style and open up abilities as you grow in your role.
Your five starting options are Leadership (L), Diplomacy (D), Insight (I), Finance (F), and Facilities (FC) and these branches should provide a lot of playability as you try and find multiple ways to forge your dynasty.
Leveling has seen a revamp, so are relationships, as well as goals & tasks.
The core menus and user interactions are the same, making it easy for players to find what they need.
MyGM 2.0 sounds like it will bring a new challenge to experienced players and provide them with a reason to keep coming back.
NBA 2K20 Soundtrack
The soundtrack of a sports game is crucial as it sets the tone and tempo for players in the menus. 2K games often have a diverse and superb soundtrack and NBA 2K20 is no different.
You can listen to the whole playlist on Spotify already and 2K will be adding tracks over the year from both mainstream and underground artists, as well as offering unsigned artists a chance to get on the game from August 1.
This years soundtrack already includes:
- Sandra's Rose - Drake
- Wow (Remix) - Post Malone
- Uptown Vibes (Feat. Fabolous & Anuel AA) - Meek Mill
- Live Wire - Motley Crue
- Legacy (Feat. Travis Scott & 21 Savage) - Offset
- Whoa (Mind in awe) - XXXTENTACION
- Play Wit Ya - Dreezy
READ MORE: Predicting LA Lakers 2K20 ratings
NBA 2K20 Player Ratings
2K have released some player ratings already. The top stars are in Los Angeles, where LeBron James of the Lakers and 2019 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers both get a 97 OVR.
Hot on their heels are Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Giannis Antetokounmpo have a 96 OVR while Steph Curry is a 95 OVR.
Top rookie Zion Williamson comes in with an 81 OVR, higher than former MVP Derrick Rose. Fellow rookies Ja Morant has a 79 OVR while RJ Barrett comes in at 78 OVR and both Darius Garland and De'Andre Hunter are 77 OVR.
NBA 2K20 The Prelude
The Prelude is NBA 2K's name for their demo. This will drop on 21 August this year and will allow you to get an early start on your MyCareer while testing out the new MyPlayer builder and hitting the court two weeks ahead of the game’s launch.
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