"NBA 2K25": PC version at console level for the first time
Basketball fans on PC finally get an upgraded version with "NBA 2K25" after years of last-gen editions.
Screenshot from "NBA 2K25": After four years, the PC version also gets next-gen features such as better graphics and revised game modes.
(Image: 2K Games)
PC gamers are often second-class customers for sports game developers. After 2K Games has spent years treating PC gamers to the last-gen version of the basketball simulation "NBA 2K" developed for PS4 and Xbox One, "NBA 2K25" now sees a change in strategy: for the first time since the launch of the Xbox Series X/S and Playstation 5, the PC version is technically on a par with the new console generation.
Publisher 2K announced this in a Steam post. It also reveals that the PC version has been optimized for the Steam Deck. It's surprisingly good news for basketball fans on 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 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 compared to the last-gen version for Xbox One, PS4 and previously PC. New game modes were also available exclusively for the new console generation, including the women's career mode "The W" in "NBA 2K24" and the men's career mode "MyNBA", which allowed players to replay the NBA's past.
EA also leaves the PC out in the cold
The PC version of "NBA 2K25" is almost completely raised to the level of Series X/S and PS5 in terms of technology and scope. However, PC players still have one disadvantage: cross-play is only possible between the two consoles. Why 2K does not allow PC players to compete against console owners is not clear from an FAQ for the PC version. The suspicion is that 2K wants to avoid contact between console players and cheaters on the PC. "NBA 2K25" will be released on September 6.
2K is not the only developer of sports games that tends to disadvantage the PC platform. EA has also frequently cultivated a two-tier 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 back on par with the next-gen consoles. Annoyingly for PC players, however, the upcoming "College Football 25", which brings college football back after a ten-year break, will not even be released for the PC.
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