NBA 2K25 – Everything You Need to Know

2K’s champion-level selling NBA series is back September 6^th with NBA 2K25. Annual sports titles tend to receive incremental changes every year, with 2K25 no different. Wholesale changes aren’t expected, but refined versions of The City at least hint that 2K are listening to ongoing player grievances.

Returning game modes

Back for another round in 2024 is 2K NBA’s most popular game mode MyCAREER, the card collect-a-thon MyTEAM (with King of the Court included), plus sim mode MyNBA, and women’s league basketball The W. Note: MyNBA and The W will only be playable on new-gen versions of the game, as will divisive The City contained within MyCAREER. SEASONS is back too, of course, consolidating MyCAREER and MyTEAM progression to earn up to 40 levels of in-game rewards.

MyCAREER

Giving opportunity once again to pay homage to the greats of the sport, MyCAREER is 2K NBA’s single player mode and this year’s iteration presents a new The City to wander through. Available on current-gen hardware only, The City isn’t everyone’s cup of tea given it takes more than a moment to load up a game. Condensed The Neighbourhood returns on prior-gen consoles; both locales present a proving ground to prove your prowess via competitive streetball across a multitude of fresh courts.

All new The City

As already mentioned, NBA 2K25 presents a new The City and whilst we said earlier this mode is divisive, it seems more players detest this version than appreciate it. Still, it’s 2024 and 2K have another trudge through backstreets and b-ball court plazas in store. Last year’s iteration was a coastal affair akin to Venice Beach and whilst this year’s design hasn’t been revealed just yet there’re rumours it’ll resemble the burbs of New York. It’s expected to be a more refined and compact environment, either way. Again, for those on last-gen consoles, The Neighbourhood will be returning too.

MyTEAM

The chance to construct your own team of current and former legends of the sport returns in MyTEAM, and it’s expected 2K will make some changes to this mode for NBA 2K25. Collecting cards, assigning positions, adjusting line-ups depending on match type, challenging rivals, pitting your ultimate dream line-up against others, competing weekly via King of the Court; the basics of MyTEAM have merit and reward. Let’s hope the pay-to-win grind isn’t as heavy this year. 

MyNBA

Now a staple of the franchise, NBA 2K’s dynasty mode will be upon us once again, and whilst MyNBA isn’t as well played as MyCAREER or MyTEAM it receives significantly less discontent from fans. Overseeing an NBA front office, rising through the league to win multiple championships, and become the greatest team the sport has ever seen – that’s what it’s all about. This year there are six Era’s to choose from including an all-new Era.

The W

Join the pantheon of WNBA legends in NBA 2K25’s woman-focused The W. Create your own WNBA player, control an entire team, or play a quick matchup, The W has numerous sub-modes which are expected to return. 2K themselves say 2024’s version will give you chance to create legendary moments and honour all-time greats of the woman’s sport. Pitting your female stars against others across the globe will be possible via The W Online.

ProPLAY overview

Amongst NBA 2K25’s gameplay innovations are the additions to ProPLAY, their suite of animation and gameplay mechanics developed to inject a deeper sense of realism to 2K25’s action. 9000 new animations derived from real-life player actions, including 1500 dribble animations, 1100 signature shots, and 1300 off-the-ball actions will provide the most authenticity in years. Also, music to many a player’s ear, dribbling has been reworked via an all-new Dribble Engine, promising dynamic motion, and lifelike feel. Offense and defence receive innovation via ProPLAY too with signature move sets inspired by real-world athletes.

Seasons

All-new rewards, consumables, and content will refresh every six weeks in NBA 2K25’s Seasons. Points accrued in MyTEAM and MyCAREER can be combined to level up the Seasons reward ladder, with rewards thematically emulating specific game modes such as skill boost cards for MyTEAM. Each season will offer up to 40 levels of rewards, with another 40 possible via Pro Pass and the Hall of Fame Pass.

MyPLAYER Builder

Receiving incremental changes every year, NBA 2K’s Builder might find a way to better assign attribute points for player heights given it’s been easy for the community to discover meta heights for their builds. There were a lot of differences in the MyPLAYER Builder last year, but there’s more 2K can do to introduce a wider variety. Assembling your ideal player is a key feature for many, whether they opt to fine-tune or start from scratch.

Mamba Moments not returning

Recreating some legendary moments in Kobe Bryant’s dazzling career was a highlight of NBA 2K24, but alas Mamba Moments is not expected to return. Instead, hopefully we’ll find a replacement mode celebrating the greatness of some other legends of the sport, LeBron James, Stephen Curry or Celtics legend Jayson Tatum perhaps.

Team 2K

The NBA 2K franchise has history partnering with the greatest players in the sport to form Team 2K. Of the 17 featured athletes, three are gracing the covers of this year’s entry. Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics adorns the Standard and All-Star versions of 2K25’s covers, whilst two-time WNBA champion A’ja Wilson features on the WNBA and All-Star edition. NBA legend Vince Carter will occupy the Hall of Fame Edition.

Crossplay overview

Exclusive to newer gen versions of the game just like prior iterations, crossplay will indeed be available in NBA 2K25. However, despite PC receiving the newer gen version of the game this year crossplay unfortunately won’t be an option for players on that platform. To confirm, crossplay is for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players only. Presumably, 2K haven’t been able to figure out a way to stop PC hackers cheating the game.

Cross-gen progression capabilities

NBA 2K25 will feature MyTEAM cross progression and a shared VC wallet across the same console family – for example, PS4 and PS5 or Xbox Series One and Xbox Series X|S. All MyTEAM points, cards, and progress will be shared across both old and newer versions of the game so long as it’s not PlayStation to Xbox or vice-versa. Similarly earned and purchased VC can be shared between consoles from the same family.

Current-gen version includes PC for first time

So, yes, finally, NBA 2K will be current-gen on PC for the first time since the series went next-gen in 2020. All the game modes included on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S – MyNBA, The W, plus The City inside MyCareer and all the bells and whistles of ProPLAY will be available to PC players on NBA 2K25.

PC requirements

To play NBA 2K25 on your PC the minimum requirements are as follows: 8GB RAM memory, an Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 processor, and a GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon RX570 GPU. For 2K’s recommended experience you’ll need 16GB RAM, Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, and an RTX 2070 8GB or Radeon RX 5700 8GB GPU. 150GB storage is required, plus dual-analog SSD, and 64-bit processing. Of course, a gamepad is much preferred to keyboard and mouse.