NBA 2K21
NBA 2K21 is a 2020 basketball video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. Based on the National Basketball Association, it is the 22nd installment in the NBA 2K franchise, the successor to NBA 2K20 and the predecessor to NBA 2K22. The game was released on September 4, 2020, for Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Google Stadia, and the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S versions were released in November 2020, as well as a different version of the main game featuring Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans. The NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition was released for Apple Arcade on April 2, 2021. Most versions were released to heavy criticism, citing the lack of originality in the gameplay and many microtransactions and bugs.
Promotion
A teaser of the game was released on June 11, 2020, during the PS5 reveal event and featured the player model of New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson. It showed a few seconds of pre-alpha, in-engine footage, and showed many effects, such as ray-tracing and shadow details. On June 30, 2020, NBA 2K announced Damian Lillard, of the Portland Trail Blazers, would be the cover for the standard edition on the previous-generation consoles. On July 1, 2020, NBA 2K announced Zion Williamson as the cover athlete for the standard edition of the next-generation consoles. The last covers were released on July 2, 2020, honoring the late Kobe Bryant. The demo for the game was released on August 24, 2020Gameplay
MyCareer
MyCareer, a major part of the series, returned as one of the available game modes. MyCareer is a career mode in which the player creates their own customizable basketball player and plays through their basketball career. Players may make a male or female player, although female player creation is exclusively available on next-gen consoles. The Neighborhood also returns to MyCareer, as 2K Beach, in which players can customize their wardrobe, get haircuts and tattoos, and purchase boosts. They can also do workouts and run drills to improve their character's attributes at their current team's practice facility. Progress in MyCareer may not carry over across generations, due to some changes made exclusively for next-gen.MyTeam
In MyTeam, players collect cards of NBA players to put on their team. This game mode has packs that can be purchased with Virtual Currency or My Team Points. Players can also buy cards from each other at the auction house using VC or MT.Ninth generation changes
In the next-generation release for the game, The MyCareer online staple The Neighborhood mode was rebranded into The City with the return of affiliations from NBA 2K16. Players start in Rookieville where they play similarly low-leveled players before they can choose an affiliation to enter The City. MyRep, the level system exclusive to The City mode, is shared across all MyPlayer builds, so players only have to level up out of Rookieville once for all their characters. Once a player levels out of Rookieville, they are automatically assigned without choice to one of four of The City's affiliations, ranging from the North Side Knights, South City Vipers, Beasts of the East, and the Western Wildcats. Players are free to switch their affiliation, however they are penalized for doing so by their level being reset down to Pro 1, the same level the player was upon leaving Rookieville. Although the player can play in affiliations that they are not a member of, there is a penalty by reducing the amount of MyRep experience gained in matches. Players can participate in quests given by NPCs, which are either single-player 3v3 games against famous basketball players, or playing games against other MyPlayers in The City. The rewards are typically VC and customizations.Every affiliation has elections for a Mayor, which are typically community influencers who are responsible for making videos that display in-game, court designs, in-game playlists, design of murals, and uniform selections. Each mayoral term lasts 6 weeks.
Franchise mode
NBA 2K21 features both MyLeague and MyGM from previous games, where the player can take the helm of a franchise and fully simulate an NBA season while making trades, drafting, and playing games with their teams. Compared to prior titles, eighth-generation console releases of NBA 2K21 were left with little changes for their staple franchise modes, MyLeague and MyGM. Outside of roster changes, the main changes focuses with MyLeague Online where certain users can be given different admin controls. WNBA teams were also given more representation as players were now able to play through a whole season with all 12 teams.Ninth generation changes
In the game's Xbox Series X/S and PS5 release, MyGM and MyLeague were combined and rebranded into MyNBA. Instead of the role-playing aspects such as cutscenes, player morale, and tasks being locked solely to MyGM, they are now individually toggleable under role-playing elements before one starts MyNBA. NBA G League games are also playable as well, however playoffs and the championship for the NBA G League are not featured. The boom/bust system was also revamped, giving more unpredictability to draft prospects and young players in terms of how their career will turn out.Reception
NBA 2K21 received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic, and "generally favorable reviews" on the ninth-generation consoles.Michael Higham from GameSpot gave the game a score of 6-out-of-10. He states "NBA 2K21 shows that the lone basketball sim we have now has largely stagnated. It's a full package, for sure, but one that demonstrates little-to-no motivation to meaningfully improve upon itself. That doesn't take away from the strong foundation that makes NBA 2K a fun and rewarding time. However, when you go through the same grind and the same process with only superficial changes, you just get burnt out faster than years prior."
Ben Vollmer from IGN gave the game a score of 6 out of 10, stating "More of the same isn't good enough anymore, especially when it includes such obtrusive microtransactions." Vollmer also says "At the same time, it's a shame that 2K's focus isn't on the fun you can have on the court, but instead the money that can be extracted from your wallet off of the court in the MyCareer and MyTeam modes, whist aren't fun to grind through without paying. Maybe the new set of consoles on the horizon will bring a fresh start for the NBA 2K franchise, but right now I feel more pessimistic about the series’ future than ever."
The PlayStation 4 version of NBA 2K21 sold 8,541 physical copies within its first week on sale in Japan, making it the seventh bestselling retail game of the week. The game had sold more than 8 million copies by the end of December 2020.
It was nominated in the category of Best Sports/Racing Game at The Game Awards 2020, as well as Sports Game of the Year at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.
Soundtrack
The NBA 2K21 in-game soundtrack uniquely featured songs from cover athlete Damian ‘Dame D.O.L.L.A.’ Lillard, global artists such as Stormzy, Roddy Ricch, Little Simz and more, giving opportunity to independent artists to be featured in connection with United Masters.Current Gen Soundtrack
Added Songs
On November 12, 2020, rapper 2 Chainz premiered five songs from his upcoming album So Help Me God in the game.| Artist | Song | Other Games |
| 2 Chainz ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Lil Duval | Can't Go For That | |
| 2 Chainz ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again | Save Me | |
| 2 Chainz ft. Latto | Quarantine Thick | |
| 2 Chainz | Lambo Wrist | |
| 2 Chainz ft. Lil Uzi Vert & Chief Keef | Free Lighter | - |
Next-Gen Soundtrack
The Next-Gen soundtrack features 150 different songs, more than 100 songs distributed by UnitedMasters.| Artist | Song | Other Games |
| Lil Baby Feat. Lil Uzi Vert | Commercial | |
| Dreamville ft. J.I.D | Big Black Truck | |
| Digable Planets | Rebirth of Slick | True Crime: New York City, Forza Horizon 4 |
| Lee Bezel | OFF THE LEASH | |
| Pop Smoke | Invincible | |
| CHIKA | INDUSTRY GAMES | |
| A Tribe Called Quest | Buggin' Out | Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 |
| AG Club | Columbia | |
| Calid B. ft. Jay Swifta | A.D.E.N. | |
| Dave | Professor X | |
| REASON | Show Stop | |
| Dribble2much | One and Done | |
| GHSTLY XXVII | Trust | |
| IDK & Juicy J | SQUARE UP | |
| James BKS feat. Q-Tip, Idris Elba & Little Simz | New Breed | MLB The Show 22 |
| Jay Critch | Dreams in a Wraith | |
| Juice WRLD ft. Marshmello | Come & Go | |
| KILLY | OH NO | |
| Koteri | Riot | |
| Lil Wayne ft. Big Sean & Lil Baby | I Do It | |
| Maniscooler x Kamakaze | Shanghai | |
| Ocean Wisdom x Ghetts | LOWRIDER | |
| pineappleCITI | Believe | |
| Popcaan | Promise | |
| Rich Brian ft. Guapdad 4000 | BALI | |
| Run The Jewels feat. Greg Nice & DJ Premier | Ooh LA LA | |
| Russ ft. Rick Ross | GUESS WHAT | |
| SAINt JHN | All I Want Is a Yacht | |
| Stormzy | Handsome | |
| Sky Katz | Back At It | |
| Tame Impala | Breathe Deeper | |
| Tame Impala | Lost In Yesterday | |
| Travis Barker, Wiz Khalifa | Drums Drums Drums | MLB The Show 21 |
| Trampolene | Born Again | |
| Tyla Yaweh ft. Post Malone | Tommy Lee | |
| Yinka Diz ft. Calid B and Jay Beato | On God | |
| .shy | Break The News | |
| 2xSammy | Ball Harder | |
| 2xSammy | 2 Official | |
| 451 | BEST INTEREST | |
| AB ft. YDtheBest | Home From the N.O. | |
| A.G Roid | ON ME | |
| Alexander Charles feat. Bij Lincs | These Days | |
| Alexis Renee | Racks | |
| Anonymuz | Unless | |
| Ariaa | 661 | |
| Ayo Breeze | OverTime | |
| B1uan | BETTER | |
| BK Fire feat dzyre | Armageddon | |
| Bryce Oliver | Living Legend | |
| Byrd the Voice | Motivation | |
| Chief Armand | Talk Game | |
| Chosen Music | Summit | |
| Christof Hunte | Break Time | |
| CHRYS THOMPSON | Aerials | |
| Craigy F. | Up Now | |
| Create the Culture | Don't Want Me Winnin' | |
| Danny Cisco | daze | |
| Decarlo Tatum Jr. | On Go | |
| Dot Cromwell | MOOD | |
| Dre nello | All Hype | |
| Edo 100 | OVERTIME | |
| Epthemars | Zoom | |
| Erick Lottary | Word | |
| Figuero Jones | Chief Spinner | |
| First Name Shayne | The Motive | |
| Fourtee | Talk to Me Nice | |
| Geechi Da Don | Want It All | |
| Gene Gray | How You Should | |
| Glory | That Boy Good | |
| Hadar Adora | Patience | |
| Holt | Dance With Me | |
| Htiekal | Fast Life | |
| I Am Tonka | I Might Flex | |
| iivrson | Pressure | |
| iivrson | Money Callin | |
| ill Nicky | California | |
| Iman. | Hello | |
| iZZE | Porsche Dreams | |
| JAY VOSS | Take It From Me | |
| JAY VOSS | They Gonna Follow | |
| Jaywop | Carousel | |
| Jevon Alexander | Mamba Mentality | |
| Josh Dominguez | DOUBT | |
| KC Carter | Someday | |
| Kai Ca$h | Ghost | |
| Kai Ca$h | $tunna | |
| Kamau Jahad | The Wait | |
| kj feeds | WORK | |
| Kruize | LALA LAND | |
| KUMAR | Fanatic | |
| KuuL | WIN | |
| Lando Ameen | KAMS REVENGE | |
| Lil Nemo | Run It Up | |
| Loovy. | I DO THIS. | |
| Loretta Mars | Post Up | |
| Lstnite | Bando | |
| Mille Manny | ALL IN | |
| Neo Sohl | Big Dreams | |
| Niko Slim | Solitary | |
| Nique | UP HIGH, DOWN LOW | |
| Noah Sims | Theatrics | |
| O Fresh | Hype | |
| O Fresh | WWW | |
| Orrin | HARLEY | |
| OTW Kilo | Juice | |
| OTW Kilo | Stack That Money | |
| Ponce De'leioun | Be About It | |
| Project88icon | Go Viral | |
| Ron Suno | Ball | |
| Runup Rico | Life or Death | |
| SNUBBS | Masked Up | |
| Solo da Honcho | Black Mamba | |
| SONNY NITEZ | NO TOMORROW | |
| Splash Zanotti | VIBRATE HIGH | |
| Swoosh God | Main Topic | |
| Tariq Lloyd | You vs. Yourself | |
| Tariq Lloyd | Championship Rings | |
| The Royal Waev | Passport | |
| The Siege | Run for Your Life | |
| Tizzy Stackz | Red Light | |
| Trapp Rg | 80's | |
| TRVP BRAZY | Every Season | |
| Vonchi | Finish Lines | |
| Vuccini | Watch | |
| Wes Blanco | Gimmie That | |
| X Nikko | Rendez-Vous | |
| Xpress | Keep Ya Head Up | |
| YSB Tril | Do The Most | |
| YUNG CORY | Movie | |
| YUNG CORY | Hustle | |
| Yurms | I Spy | |
| Yurms | Back in Action | |
| Zachary Jordan | Toy | |
| I.T. Official | China Bulls | |
| Davante FRE$H | Run Up | |
| Kiiing Leo | 2 Step | |
| Carl'eone | I Got Next | |
| Warcub | My World | |
| CRUEL HEARTS CLUB | HEY COMPADRE | |
| Remiri | The Rise | |
| Vinnin | Top of The Game | - |