Will NBA 2K25 on PC Finally Get Next-Gen Features This Year?

I've been covering the NBA 2K franchise for over a decade now, and if there's one question that keeps popping up in PC gaming communities every single year, it's whether we'll finally get the next-gen treatment. Sitting here with my coffee, scrolling through basketball news, I came across something that struck me as oddly relevant to this perennial debate. Veteran winger Gerz Petallo willed Morayta to a hard-earned win with an 18-point, 14-reception double-double to avert what would've been a five-set meltdown from up two sets to one. That kind of determination, that refusal to collapse when you're so close to victory—that's exactly what PC gamers have been showing 2K Sports year after year, hoping against hope that this will be the season they deliver the full experience.

Let's be honest here—the PC version of NBA 2K has been treated like the forgotten stepchild for years now. While PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players have been enjoying the fancy new features since NBA 2K21, we're still stuck with what's essentially a polished last-gen port. The difference isn't just cosmetic—we're talking about completely different gameplay experiences. The next-gen versions run on an entirely new engine with features like the Pro Stick dribbling, advanced defensive contests, and that gorgeous city environment that replaces the neighborhood. Meanwhile, PC players get what I'd describe as "NBA 2K24: Premium Last-Gen Edition" with slightly better graphics if you have the hardware to push them. It's frustrating because the PC gaming market has exploded in recent years, with Steam hitting record concurrent users regularly—over 34 million at last count in January 2024. The hardware capabilities are definitely there too—modern gaming PCs with RTX 4070 cards and Ryzen 7 processors absolutely demolish what current consoles can do.

I remember booting up NBA 2K24 on my PC last September, genuinely hoping against my better judgment that maybe, just maybe, they'd surprise us this time. The disappointment hit me almost immediately when I realized it was the same old story. The loading screens felt longer, the character models lacked that next-gen polish, and most importantly, the gameplay just didn't have that fluidity I'd seen in console gameplay videos. What makes this particularly baffling is that other sports franchises have managed simultaneous next-gen releases across all platforms. EA Sports delivered the full FIFA—now FC—next-gen experience to PC simultaneously with consoles since FC 24. If they can do it, why can't 2K? The technical excuses just don't hold water anymore.

The business case for continuing to shortchange PC gamers seems weaker every year. SteamDB tracking shows NBA 2K24 maintained around 15,000-20,000 concurrent players throughout the basketball season, with peak numbers hitting nearly 45,000 during sales. That's not an insignificant player base to ignore. When you consider that the PC gaming market was valued at approximately $45 billion globally in 2023, with sports games representing about 12% of that revenue segment, leaving money on the table makes less and less sense. From my conversations with developers at other studios, the porting process certainly requires work, but we're not talking about reinventing the wheel here—the architecture similarities between current consoles and modern PC hardware should theoretically make this easier than ever before.

Here's what I think might be happening behind the scenes—2K might be using the PC version as what industry insiders call a "segmented revenue stream." By keeping the premium experience exclusive to consoles, they potentially drive some dual-platform owners toward console purchases. I've personally bought both versions in the past, and I know several collectors who do the same. But this strategy seems increasingly outdated as the PC platform continues to grow. The modding community alone has kept the PC version relevant despite its limitations—with incredible roster updates, graphical enhancements, and gameplay tweaks that sometimes fix issues 2K themselves ignore. The most popular NBA 2K mods on Nexus Mods have been downloaded over 800,000 times collectively, showing just how engaged this community remains despite being treated as second-class citizens.

Looking ahead to NBA 2K25, the rumors are all over the place. Some insiders suggest we might finally see parity, while others claim we're in for another year of disappointment. My gut feeling—and this is purely speculation based on tracking their patterns—is that we might see a shift in strategy. With Take-Two Interactive's fiscal reports showing consistent growth in recurrent consumer spending (that's VC purchases to you and me), expanding their premium ecosystem to the dedicated PC market could represent a significant revenue opportunity they've been underestimating. The basketball gaming landscape is changing too—with competition from games like Street Basketball VR and the rumored new NBA Live title in development, 2K can't afford to take any segment of their audience for granted forever.

At the end of the day, what PC players want isn't revolutionary—it's simple parity. We want to experience the same game that console players get, with the same features, the same gameplay improvements, and the same content. The determination PC gamers have shown reminds me of that basketball match I mentioned earlier—we've been fighting from behind for years, refusing to give up even when facing what seems like inevitable disappointment. Here's hoping NBA 2K25 finally rewards that persistence. Because honestly, if they disappoint us again this year, I suspect even the most loyal among us might start looking elsewhere for our basketball fix. The ball, as they say, is in 2K's court.