2K Games' long-awaited new addition to its beloved basketball video game franchise,NBA 2K25, is promising to be an ultimate, authentic, and exciting experience for all. With the inclusion of various features like new game modes that revisit historic NBA moments, an incredibly dynamic new dribble engine, a completely redesigned City, and the ability to play asvarious star NBA athletes, there is a lot that players can be excited about. However, one returning system has been altered, and the discovery of these changes has led to some negative reactions online.
The game’svirtual currency, also known as VC, isthe primary medium of exchange within the NBA 2K franchise. It can be earned by playing in online matches or by completing achievements incertain game modes, and can be used to buy various cosmetics, animation packages for stylish moves, and unique basketball team equipment. Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of dissatisfaction with the changes made to earning VC, and these issues might spell trouble for theNBA 2Kfranchise if it continues to be implemented in future installments.
NBA 2K25 Quests Offer Substantially Less VC
Players Must Now Work More For Smaller Rewards
Compared to the previous franchise entry,NBA 2K24,the amount of VC that players can receive from daily, weekly, and seasonal quests has dropped significantly. This has unfortunately increased the amount of time that is required to grind for currency. Players will need to spend hours completing quests to acquire even the simplest cosmetics from the game’s shop, when it would have taken a much shorter amount of time to do so even as recently as last year’s title, and this has started to lead to outrage online.
NBA 2K25 Review: A Deep Sports Sim Triple With An Almost Perfect Arc
NBA 2K25 exceeds the expectations of an annual sports game release thanks to its notable gameplay innovations, but it falls just short of perfection.
According to a recentRedditpost made in r/NBA2k:
Such a significant decrease in numbers is startling, to say the least, asplayers are now earning far less for completing quests despite putting in hours of work. With such a wide variety of useful assets available for purchase, players will want to acquire the best equipment and animations, and yetthe gamerequires hours of gameplay sessions in order to get anything substantial. Despite the outcry, 2K Games seem to have stood by this decision leading up to its release.
NBA 2K25 Players Are Being Incentivized To Spend More
They Must Pay Real Money To Get Ahead
Players are able to bypass the need for hours of reward grinding, but doing so willrequire them to pay real money for more in-game currency. Considering the fact that the standard version of the game itself is already $70 (or more, if the All-Star or Hall of Fame versions were purchased), adding further purchases on top of the initial one can lead to some ridiculous spending. Many players are not able to pay for more than just the base game, meaning that they will be stuck grinding for a long time, far behind anyone who paid extra cash.
The All-Star Edition’s cost is listed at $99.99 on Steam, whereas the Hall of Fame Edition costs $149.99. Both of these prices are the cost before tax is calculated, which makes these high costs even larger.
Even with all thenew features inNBA 2K25being introduced, this is one aspect cannot be overlooked. Charging players even more money so they can have a better in-game experience will mean thatmuch of the playerbase misses out on the parts of the game they actually want to enjoy,because they are stuck grinding for currency. Fortunately, adjusting this rewards system would be a quick fix, and would provide a more positive experience for all participants.
Should this trend continue with future installments of theNBA 2Kfranchise, its playerbase will continue to receive only minimal amounts of VC, with further increases in the amount of playtime required to get those rewards. It is ultimatelya high amount of effort in exchange for small, unsatisfying rewards. IfNBA 2K25is to thrive after its release, then 2K Games should look into making adjustments to its rewards system so that it is far more satisfying and rewarding to complete in-game quests and achievements.
