WHEN 2K and Visual Concepts revealed the new beach-side neighbourhood for NBA 2K21, no one would have expected what was about to be revealed for next-gen. Many changes have been detailed in Courtside Report’s in the lead up to the launch of the Xbox Series X|S and Playstation 5. And just when we think nothing can top what’s already been revealed they drop a whole City’s worth of excitement, literally.
In the next-gen version of NBA 2K21, The Neighbourhood is being replaced by The City. This is not only an expansion of the Neighbourhood’s size but also a greater social experience for players. Executive Producer Erick Boenisch continues to cover what’s in store for next-gen in the latest Courtside Report saying, “The City is our most ambitious execution of a virtual basketball community…ever. The sheer amount and variety of buildings and basketball courts that we were able to create and fit into the map still amazes me to this day!”
The city is built of many components we’ve already seen including the return of Affiliations as well as new game changing features. Along with the already existent seasonal content, Affiliations is also set to continue bringing back players more regularly. The City features four different Boroughs and is where the core of Affiliations take place. Each Affiliation will have their own Borough at their corresponding cardinal points which are named accordingly: North Side Knights, South City Vipers, Beasts of the East and Western Wildcats. Affiliations will obviously have rivalries between each other but only one can rule The City.
However you can’t just walk into any Borough and join as your journey into The City starts off at the aptly named Rookieville. From here you’ll basically be given the Sorting Hat treatment once you reach Pro 1 rep and randomly thrown into one of the Affiliations. You can request to transfer to another but that will require you to visit that Borough’s City Hall while also penalizing you back to Pro 1. It’s a system that’s confusing not in the sense that I don’t get it but why not just let people choose from the outset if that’s the case? Penalizing players seems fair but not giving them an initial choice if Pro 1 is both the starting and penalty rep is a little annoying.
While the idea of rivalries between Affiliations is exciting, they’ve added an interesting ingredient into the mix. Affiliations will also be represented by Mayors, which according Erick there’s already four huge influencers in the NBA 2K community who are already in talks to become the first elected. They’ll be in charge of all kinds of aspects in regards to Affiliations including Affiliation Videos, Custom Playlists for their corresponding Borough’s and designs for Courts, Murals and Uniforms. Like any other political race, they’ll only spend a limited time “in office”. Every 6 weeks the community will elect their next set of mayors. How this will be executed or whether current mayors can gain “Six more weeks!” is unknown.
Leading up to the end of this office period Affiliations will take their rivalries very seriously during a two week long Rival Day Conquest. It’s like gang wars but without the violence. Each Affiliation will invade rival courts to take top spot on the leaderboards. This will conclude in a Rival Day Championship where the winning Affiliation will not only gain a plethora of VC but your Borough is said to become the envy of your rivals as it gets decked out by your mayor. I’m guessing this means the winning Borough will become the effluent side of town.
A plethora of other new additions and returning improved components have been added throughout The City. Components expanded upon/improved include the Gatorade Training Facility, Apparel Stores and Cosmetics. As seen in the trailer, The Gatorade Training Facility has made some sizable improvements and have even added a second floor.
Plenty of new Apparel Stores are coming to The City along with old favourites. There will also be plenty more variety to choose from. And thanks to player feedback, 2K and Visual Concepts are once again listening to the community on how they look. More hairstyles are apparently what the community have wanted and and that’s what we’re going to get.
Filling the rest of the city are multiple gameplay selections further broadening player experiences. The Event Centre will take centre stage in The City which will hold new and returning events. Sharing the space with the Event Centre in the heart of The City is the Pink Diamond Plaza. This is the new home of Triple Threat Online in MyTEAM and as always looks so aesthetically pleasing!
New Garage Hoops are scattered around The City on different buildings. Here you can simply just shoot some hoops by yourself however it’ll instantly turn into a casual multiplayer match of 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, HOURSE and more when others join you. Special Non-Affiliation Courts are also available in either 4v4 or 5v5 in commemoration of the late Kobe Bryant. These courts are specially detailed in his signature snakeskin design. To top it off, a special giant mural of the man himself overlooks the small number of courts.
And finally in a complete turn of gameplay, new RPG like quests have been scattered around The City. Talking to select NPC’s will give you objectives to complete in the form of masketball matches. Completing these quests will reward you with unique items. There won’t be a large bulk amount available to binge on with quests changing every 4-6 weeks.
We’ll see you in The City when NBA 2K21 for next-gen launches on October 10 for Xbox Series X|S and October 12 for Playstation 5.
