NBA 2K25’s gameplay trailer premiered on Thursday with developers at Visual Concepts promising that dribbling itself has changed dramatically in the biggest game engine update the basketball sim has seen in years.
Sports video game simulations frequently make this claim, but NBA 2K25 illustrated it in the first of a series of videos coming over the course of the month that will explain what 2K Sports’ powerhouse franchise has in store. Developers call it ProPlay, borrowing a page from EA Sports (and others) who like to give new developments buzzy names.
ProPlay seems similar to EA Sports FC’s Hypermotion player animation system in that it adds new animations to the game (more than 9,000) using real-life NBA footage. In addition to remaking basic things such as dribbling, the new game will also include more than 1,100 “signature shot animations” giving the game’s biggest stars a distinctive look and feel for players.
“NBA 2K25’s dribble engine generates dynamic motion from real-world NBA footage to create a new and more authentic feel,” 2K Sports said in an official blog post. “It goes beyond animations, and turns movement with the ball into one holistic, dynamic piece of motion, one-to-one with how players dribble in real life.”
In another tinker with the game’s shooting mechanisms, there’s a new set of Shot Timing Profiles that will give players a “Low Risk-Reward” option that emphasizes good fundamental play on offense, such as getting a player open and giving him a good look at the basket rather than relying purely on shot timing and release on the stick or face buttons.
Conversely, “High Risk-Reward” is for those who have stronger feel for the game’s more determinative shot-release mechanics, and if they’ve mastered it, they will see more shots go in regardless of where and how they are taken. This seems to be a gesture to very competitive multiplayer gamers, who prefer success or failure based on what they themselves do on the gamepad rather than relying on ratings and other background factors.
There’s a lot more in the base gameplay serving all modes, and the blog post explains it. 2K Sports also charted out how it will be previewing the game over the next month.
NBA 2K25 launches Sept. 6 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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