Athletes who will appear on the cover of NBA 2K22 include Candace Parker, who will be the first WNBA cover star in the game's history and will appear on special editions of the game. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with executive producer Erick Boenisch, gameplay director Mike Wang, and MyTeam producer John Smith to discuss the game's new features, which will be released on September 10. While no gameplay footage was shown, a slew of new details about The City and The Neighborhood were revealed, including the lessons learned from the previous year's installment.

"For NBA 2K22, we're putting together two completely different experiences," Boenisch says. The majority of our users engage in MyCareer mode, followed by the City and Neighborhood modes, and it is undoubtedly an area in which we place a great deal of emphasis. The city is completely new in NBA 2K22; it was completely new in NBA 2K21 as well, and we gleaned a great deal from our time spent developing it as well as from watching how people interacted with it. We took all of our lessons learned and applied them to 2K22 MT. The completely redesigned city is brimming with interactivity. There are NPCs that populate the new city layout. If you look back at last year, it was dead in many ways because there were no NPCs, isn't that right? The only people you ever saw were other people blowing by you on their skateboards or jogging by you.

The buildings were there, and you could interact with them, but there was nothing really going on with them. In a way, it was all part of the plan. It takes many years to develop a complex system involving a large environment such as a city, and NBA 2K22 represents a significant step forward in realizing the vision of what that is. There is a brand new quest system that engages my players with original content while also providing them with a variety of ways to level up and earn rewards for their MyPlayer. It's a complete re-imagining of what it means to be in The City. Another thing we heard from fans about next gen in The City was, "I only have an hour, I just want to hop on, I just want to get some games in NBA 2K22 MT Coins, then go do whatever it is we have to do in our lives."We've heard you, and as a result, we'll be offering some matchmaking services in the city this year. There will be specific buildings in the city where you can roll up to and play a quick game.

As was the case last year, this version of The City is only compatible with current-generation consoles, namely the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. On the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC, players will have access to a lighter version of this game mode that takes place on a cruise ship. While the ship sails closer to different landmasses, it will host a variety of daily events, allowing you to jump off and shoot hoops in various locations around the world. You'll start to see an island off in the distance, and it'll get closer and closer every day, according to Boenisch. You can get off the boat and travel to various locations around the world - we have an event in Egypt, and we have events in Iceland in the later seasons. It's just a really cool way to keep the experience fresh and really show our passionate support for the current-generation console base, which is still very much alive and well in our community.

While the emphasis of the preview was on the game's systems and modes rather than on the court play, there were a few new details about the game's gameplay, with more to come before the game's release. Wang believes that the aspect of the game that he is most enthusiastic about is defense. The main objective for 2K was to achieve a good balance between offense and defense, as well as to emphasize skills and counters. We've completely redesigned our blocking system, steals, our body system, and our shot contest system. Almost everything you do in the game as a user is more skill-based than anything else. What you take away from the experience is one that feels significantly more rewarding. It recognizes and rewards IQ, stick skills, and making the right plays. This year, we want to give the defense the tools it needs to completely change the game. However, as is always the case for us, offense is extremely important, and there is a lot going on there as well. There's a lot to talk about with some of the new skills we've been adding to the game, things that in the past may have been more animation based or even dice roll based, but have now all been moved into more skill based elements. So if you don't make the right play on the offensive end, you're going to be held accountable. I find it to be a lot more entertaining and engaging, and it truly rewards veterans who have invested the necessary time and effort to become proficient at the game. And, at the same time, we remain reachable.

Wang went on to say that NBA 2K22 will have improved movement this year, a system that was partially introduced in 2K21 with specialized dribbling styles, but was unable to reach its full potential due to COVID-induced time constraints.

We're going to expand the mode, and we're going to do it right from the beginning. We will be delivering the long-awaited return of the draft to MyTeam. The MyTeam draft mode will allow you to select an entire lineup, and it will have a constantly updated pool of players, because as everyone knows with MyTeam, the roster and the players we put out all year long evolve significantly from season one to season two to season three and beyond. This is an online mode. The rewards that you receive as a result of your draft team are for your permanent MyTeam collection. Every season in MyTeam will bring new challenges, new rewards, and new events, all of which will help to keep each season feeling fresh and unique.

« Going into your two seasons in MyTeam, we have all of the experience to build on, which is a fantastic foundation for this mode. One thing I can hint at, and even tease a little bit, is that we will be adding another new mode to the game outside of draft mode in one of the upcoming seasons during this holiday season. It's a very unique and enjoyable experience, and I can't wait to share more details with you. That includes your VC wallet, your MyTeam points, your MyTeam tokens, all of your balances, and the mode progression. Everything remains and progresses between the two generations.