A few hours ago, 2K and Visual Concepts released the first concrete details on the gameplay enhancements planned for NBA 2K23. Shooting, defense, AI, and Pro Stick are some of the areas that received the most attention this year, as you can read in the overview below.
- Shooting: This year’s major change is the addition of shooting attributes, which give each signature jump shot its own unique shooting stats that help determine its effectiveness. There are also five new shot meters to choose from, with 15 more that can be unlocked through Seasons over the coming year;
- Pro Stick Enhancements: New Gesture Combos have been added to the Pro Stick, introducing a lot of new weapons for both shooting and ball handling for playmakers. Dunking also received new commands, ensuring players dunk exactly how they want without accidentally firing off an unexpected skill dunk;
- Skill Moves & Adrenaline Boosts: New gesture combos give players even more ball handling and shooting options for their offensive arsenal in NBA 2K23. Additionally, a new feature to prevent overdribbling is the concept of Adrenaline Boosts. Boosts are consumed every time a player performs a hard go or explosive sprint launch, and once their three boosts are gone, players will notice their speed and acceleration decrease significantly for the remainder of the possession;
- Defense: Defensive gameplay in NBA 2K23 includes major updates aimed at creating more realistic on-ball defense and shot blocking, as well as steals and ball strips. This year, blocks have been tuned to a more realistic level, leading to more predictable outcomes, with the right players making appropriate stops when timing their block attempts well. There’s also a distinct improvement in ball security for good dunkers, and much more;
- Badges: Introducing a brand new tiered badge system for players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, there will be 16 badges per attribute category: eight in Tier 1, four in Tier 2, and four in Tier 3, with the basic idea being that players need to equip a certain number of badges in the lower tiers before they can equip badges in the highest;
- Takeovers: While the primary and secondary Takeovers remain the same from previous games, Team Takeover has been redesigned for NBA 2K23. Team Takeover works as a cooperative team system with the entire team sharing a single meter. The new design makes a lot more sense and does a better job representing what it means to be hot as a team and to take over the game as a unit;
- AI Gameplay: PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players will notice improved AI ball handling, pick and roll execution, defensive tendencies, and coaching decisions.
Check out the official blog post for a much more in-depth explanation of each updated feature. As a reminder, NBA 2K23 will be released on September 9th for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Sadly, the PC version will still be tied to the old consoles instead of the next-gen ones, unlike EA's FIFA 23.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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