Getty Luka Doncic
It’s July, which means we should be hearing some hardcore details on NBA 2K22 very soon.
Usually, we hear about the cover athlete(s), release date and pre-order options at once, and then the details associated with the game start to roll in.
I won’t call this article a wish list because it is too late for any suggestions to make it into this year’s game. However, this is a list of the 10 features I hope made it into NBA 2K22.
Cross-Platform Play
So many games–including Rocket League, Fortnite, MLB The Show and others have embraced and supported cross-platform play. It is time for 2K to follow suit.
We even have NBA 2K League pros like Josh “Choc” Humphries campaigning for it on social media.
NBA 2K22 HAS to be cross platform… Please
Let’s hope 2K grants Choc and most of our wishes and allows PlayStation and Xbox players to compete against each other online.
Cross-Generation Play
While we’re at it, 2K22 will hopefully support online competition between players on the current and next-generation systems. Again, The Show has this capability, so it’s a feature 2K’s peers have already begun supporting.
Carryover Saves in MyNBA
For hardcore franchise mode folks like myself, the MyNBA feature is a godsend. It’s not perfect, and we’ll get to that in a second, but it is still far and away the best franchise mode in existence.
We’d love to see 2K embrace carryover saves, or at the very least, carryover rosters. Gamers like myself and others like SkillzFromDa6, Professor2K, Peregrino and others work insane hours to create these roster for the community. It’s a shame to have to put the entire thing together each year.
The Show supported it all the way up to their first next-gen iteration, and there is hope it will return for MLB The Show 22. For now, we’d love to see it in NBA 2K22.
Tighter Under the Hood Mechanics in MyNBA
MyNBA has an unprecedented number of options for franchise mode gamers. Unfortunately, last year’s version has some issues with crashes, and some of the mechanics didn’t work well.
Player progression, in-game injuries and a few other seemingly minor, but pretty significant problems lingered. MyNBA has so many awesome features, it would be totally acceptable if they didn’t add any new ones for this version, and simply made sure every thing currently in the mode worked as designed.
More Hairstyles for Created Players
The NBA is league with a diverse set of hairstyles, yet NBA 2K has far too many popular styles that you don’t have access to in the game. Creating MyPlayers or players for offline rosters would be much more fun with access to more hairstyles.
Face Uploader Option for Created Players and/or a Better Sculpting Tool
This is sort of a compound wish.
WWE 2K has long had a tool that allows its creation community to upload the image of someone’s face to use it on a created player. For years, the NBA 2K creation community has been asking for this same tool, but hasn’t it gotten it yet.
Even if that tool doesn’t make it in, it would be nice if creators had access to a sculpting tool on par with the one available in MLB The Show. With the sculptor in The Show, you can make just about anyone’s face if you’re good enough with the tool.
Having something like this in NBA 2K would be amazing.
Salary-Cap Mode in MyTeam
Madden Ultimate Team has a salary cap mode. It offers a necessary balance for a collector mode experience that can get out of control. 2K has resisted bringing this feature back to its collector mode since the ill-fated SuperMax a few years back.
It’s time for the concept to make a return.
Draft Mode in MyTeam
Literally, every other collector mode has a draft feature.
2K:
Me waiting on @NBA2K_MyTEAM to add a DRAFT MODE….
The Return of Euroleague Play
If the rumored cover leaks with Luka Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki are true, this seems like a good year to bring back the Euroleague.
The league hasn’t been in the game since 2017, but with two of the biggest European stars in NBA history potentially front and center for the game this year, this would be a great time to celebrate the hoops scene and rabid 2K fanbase in Europe.
Commissioner Tools for Pro-Am
The NBA 2K League desperately needs a minor league of sorts, but one of the major impediments is structure. The leagues that have run such as: WR and MPBA have had to keep their own statistics, records, etc.
2K doesn’t allow its users to organize leagues within its Pro-Am mode, despite the fact that the 2K League concept stemmed from the user-created organizations. This feature would allow for a more structured and trackable feeder league to function more smoothly.
It would be a beautiful thing to see that kind of tool added to aid the up-and-coming players, coaches, announcers and content creators who could arise.
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NBA 2K22: 10 Things Needed in the New Game’s Feature List