For developers of sports games, PC gamers are often second-class customers. After 2K Games spent years treating PC gamers with the last-gen version of the basketball simulation “NBA 2K” developed for PS4 and Xbox One, there is now a change of strategy with “NBA 2K25”: For the first time since the launch of the Xbox Series X/S and Playstation 5, the PC version is technically on par with the new console generation.
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Publisher 2K announced this in a Steam post. This also shows that the PC version has been optimized for the Steam Deck. It’s surprisingly good news for basketball fans on the PC who had more or less resigned themselves to getting a worse product than the current consoles. For four years, starting with “NBA 2K20”, the best technology and the new modes were only available on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 – even though high-end PCs are significantly more powerful than the game consoles.
The current-gen versions of “NBA 2K” not only offer better graphics and animations than the last-gen version for Xbox One, PS4 and, so far, PC. New game modes were also available exclusively for the new console generation, including the women’s career mode “The W” and the men’s career mode “MyNBA” in “NBA 2K24”, which also allowed players to replay the NBA’s past.
EA also ignores the PC
The PC version of “NBA 2K25” is almost completely brought up to the level of Series X/S and PS5 in terms of technology and scope. However, PC players still have one disadvantage: crossplay is only possible between the two consoles. An FAQ for the PC version does not explain why 2K does not let PC players compete against console owners. The suspicion is that 2K wants to avoid contact between console players and cheaters on the PC. “NBA 2K25” will be released on September 6th.
2K is not the only developer of sports games that tends to discriminate against the PC platform. EA has also often maintained a two-class society with its “FIFA” games in the past, to the detriment of PC owners. After all, EA only needed two years after the launch of the new console generation to restore parity: Since “FIFA 23”, the PC version has been on par with the next-gen consoles. Annoying for PC gamers, however, is that the upcoming “College Football 25”, which brings back college football after a ten-year break, has been completely redesigned, and is not even being released for the PC.
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