14 DAY TRIAL // Our Incoming 2015 series focuses on the most important game launches of the next 12 months and next up we talk about NBA 2K16.
What we know
NBA 2K16 has not received any official information from the development team at Visual Concepts or from publisher Take Two, but the launch of a new basketball simulation from the two companies is inevitable, given that it’s the only sports where they have the upper hand when compared to EA Sports.
The series has managed to build a set of solid mechanics over the year and fans have always been satisfied with the way it managed to introduce a small sliver of innovation while keeping most of the modes familiar.
NBA 2K16 might be the title which sees more changes than usual, mostly in order to make sure that the mild disappointment associated with the currently available version of the game does not have time to take hold.
One major question at the moment is which basketball star the publisher will convince to appear on the cover and handle promotional duties and whether the high profile soundtrack selection process will return.
NBA 2K16 will probably arrive in early October and will probably be offered on the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4 and older generation devices, although the publisher could drop them in order to focus on higher quality graphics.
Why it matters
NBA 2K16 has been the go-to basketball simulation for years now, but the coming installment will need to deal with competition from NBA Live 16 from EA Sports, which only has room to grow after a mediocre reboot of the series last year.
Visual Concepts can choose to simply slightly expand the mechanics it is already relying on, while delivering improved graphics and rosters.
At the same time, the company has the option of introducing an entirely new take on basketball simulations in order to make sure that it stays at least one step ahead of its rival.
NBA 2K16 could also try to borrow some ideas from EA Sports-owned titles in order to cement its status as the number one sports sim from Take Two.