NBA 2K23 is a deeply conflicted entry into the long running 2K series, having dethroned EA’s middling NBA LIVE series many moons ago, it has established itself as the premier point of contact for fans across the world. And with good reason; the 2K series is an outstanding visual feast which, combined with some of the most realistic and engaging gameplay, make for some of the most compelling gaming in sports. However, being the sole offering, 2K now have full authority to include whatever they want without fear of losing a player base to a competitor. As the old addedge goes, with great power comes great responsibility, and I don’t think 2K care much for the latter part of that saying.



Out of the box NBA 2K23 serves up a very complete package, this is, without a doubt the most expansive and impressive sports titles on offer to date. A huge single-player experience can be found in MyCareer alongside the popular MyTeam offering, coupled with numerous online modes, there is a LOT to do here. But it is the Jordan Challenges where I really found NBA 2K23 started showing it’s chops. The Jordan Challenges allow you to revisit pivotal moments from the great’s career, starting all the way back in the 1980s as a young hot college prospect looking to make his mark in the world of basketball.

But it is the Jordan Challenges where I really found NBA 2K23 started showing it’s chops.

This isn’t a new development, we’ve seen multiple sports games take swings at various legends, but what makes this so compelling is the attention to detail within. Era specific filters and broadcast graphics are overlayed to really turn back the clocks and create immersion, alongside muted 2-band audio that hearkens back to a bygone era in broadcasting. The attention to detail on the titular legend are impressive too, with Michael gesturing on court and a visible age difference as time goes on. Numerous sports figures are present and share their thoughts on what made these moments so important to Michael’s career. The gameplay itself is not particularly compelling: shoot so many hoops, score x points, but the way the whole package is presented is admirable and serves as a great supporting mode to an already packed content offering.



On court, NBA 2K23 is at the top of its game. Movement, passing, and presentation all come together to creating what is easily the best looking and most realistic sports title on the scene. Character models are dangerously close to life-like and the attention to detail on and off court have us stepping into uncanny valley territory. It is also the least forgiving NBA title in recent memory, which, depending on how new you are to the series, could be seen as a good or bad thing. The effort required to drain a shot is much more focused and requires you to green the meter to pull of those magnificent 3-pointers from range. While this can be frustrating, it’s clear the game wants you to master it and not rely on dumb luck to put points on the board.

NBA 2K23’s MyCareer mode is where things start to drift a little, no, a lot. The game presents a pseudo-open world experience through The City, a free roam area packed with tons of people to talk to, agents to schmooze and activities to engage in. In theory, this is a great idea, but in practice, it’s awful and it is here where the egregious microtransactions start to become most apparent. NBA 2K23 has a currency called VC, and it is unfortunately the lifeblood of the experience, in more ways than one.



If it wasn’t bad enough to spend horrendous amounts to get your avatar threaded up in the latest drip, you can also (and I hate that I am saying this) spend VC to improve your stats. Your baseline rating is around 60 when you start the campaign; you can then spend VC to improve skills and increase your rating, which quite literally makes it a pay to win model. This is made ten times worse when you consider the base price of a game like this is R1199. In essence, in order to play with the top dogs, you need to grind out the hours in order to make marginal improvements to your player rating... or drop the cash.

It’s almost as if the game is infected with microtransaction malware that you just cannot remove. It is an incessant and constant annoyance that truly takes you out of the experience.

I have never seen such an egregious and blatant use of microtransactions in a game. It’s not just the campaign this is limited to either. On nearly every menu in this title, the push to get the player to buy VC is present; main menu, sub-menus, all of it is littered with the stuff. It’s one thing to buy a game to enjoy the content, and don’t get me wrong, the actual basketball, is outstanding, but at nearly every touchpoint there is a nagging drive to buy something. It’s awful and it leaves a deeply bitter taste in your mouth. I remember a few months back talk of permanent advertising in games, this is about as close as we’ve come to making that a reality. The ad exposure is painful. It’s almost as if the game is infected with microtransaction malware that you just cannot remove. It is an incessant and constant annoyance that truly takes you out of the experience.



On paper, NBA 2K23 is a really REALLY good basketball game, the best in town. But in practice, it serves up a broth of greed that preys on players. If you’re willing to bypass the constant nagging from ads to buy currency, you will find a great selection of modes with depth and hours of enjoyment. But it is hard to ignore the glaring and bleak future the microtransactions paint for the future of the series.