Flagship product of 2K Sports, NBA 2K21, launches sept. 4. Although 2K only offers two editions – a standard copy and a special edition in honor of the late Kobe Bryant – PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions, plus pre-order content incentives, complicate the picture of what is on offer.
NBA 2K21 will be available on Google Stadiums, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One at launch in September. Pre-orders for these platforms are now available.
NBA 2K21 standard edition
The basic edition of NBA 2K21, on PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One, goes for the regular price of $ 59.99. It’s the one with the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard on the cover.
“Basic Edition” just means that, no extra freebies, though 2K Sports hangs a line of virtual goodies for those who pre-ordered the game. They include:
- 5,000 in virtual currency, the money in the game that applies to your progression, wardrobe and other lifestyle of your MyCareer player.
- 5,000 MyTeam Points, which is a virtual currency used to receive card packets and other items in MyTeam mode. Unlike VC, this is not for sale in the game for real money.
- 10 MyTeam Promo packages, delivered once a week for 10 weeks.
- Nine MyCareer Skill Enhancements: These are time-limited rating enhancements, perhaps just for one game, for use in your MyCareer games.
- Five pairs of virtual shoes for your MyPlayer avatar (s) to wear.
- Damian Lillard Digital Collection. Here you get the cover star in MyTeam, plus a virtual T-shirt and look for your MyPlayer to wear.
Critical is this standard edition does not include any upgrade to the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 versions, if you purchase it on one of the predecessors of those consoles.
Get it here: Amazon | Best buy | GameStop | Walmart | 2K Store
NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition
This is the only special edition available this year NBA 2K21; it is available for Switch, PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The late Kobe Bryant, who had a close promotional relationship with 2K Sports over the past decade, is dying on the cover. It costs $ 99.99.
This edition starts players with 100,000 virtual currencies and gives them the Zion Williamson Digital Collection, which is the same thing as the Damian Lillard Digital Collection above, just swapped with the young New Orleans Pelicans star.
It also gives owners a code to download NBA 2K21the standard edition on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X (as purchased on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One respectively). This FAQ on the page of 2K Sports says that buyers of Mamba Edition will get another 100,000 VC in their account when the next-generation version launches (it is expected in November, but 2K has yet to announce anything official). Those customers will need to launch their next-gen version of NBA 2K21 and redeem the code there to get the bonus currency, but that bonus will be useful in both versions of the game. Progression in MyTeam will also go back and forth between the current and next gen versions.
Pre-order of the Mamba Forever Edition of NBA 2K21 adds another edge to digital content incentives. They are:
- 10,000 MyTeam points
- 10 MyTeam tokens. This is a special coin in that mode that unlocks upgraded versions of star games.
- 60 MyCareer skill increases.
- 40 MyTeam Promo packages, with 10 nights at launch, plus three per week for 10 weeks.
- Sapphire versions of Damian Lillard and Sion Williamson for MyTeam. These are upgraded versions of the same players (otherwise purchased with tokens).
- The Kobe Bryant Digital Collection: Same items as the Williamson and Lillard digital collections, just Kobe-branded.
- The MyPlayer shoe collection.
- A backpack for your MyPlayer avatar to carry.
For big Kobe Bryant fans, pre-ordering the game via GameStop provides a physical premium – a medal commemorating the two jersey numbers (8 and 24) that the Los Angeles Lakers retired on December 18, 2017 for Bryant.
Get it here: Amazon | Best buy | GameStop | Walmart | 2K Store
NBA 2K21 PS5 and Xbox Series X Editions
Zion Williamson is the cover star for the next-gen version of the game, starting this fall. NBA 2K21 on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X costs $ 10 more than usual – $ 69.99 – though the Mamba Forever Edition is still $ 99.99. However, buying the Mamba Forever Edition for a next-generation console will not lose your virtual currency bonus. If you know you will buy and play NBA 2K21 on a next-generation machine, it makes more sense to get the Mamba Forever Edition on PS4 or Xbox One, and pack all the goodies that go with it (including the total of 200,000 VC).
The physical and digital versions of the PS5 and Xbox Series X Mamba Forever Editions include a code for the basic copy of the previous generation console of NBA 2K21, plus the Damian Lillard collection, but that’s it. Pre-orders of the next-generation version of NBA 2K21 also do not include pre-order incentives.
2K Sports has not yet said how NBA 2K21 will be different on next generation consoles. When the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched in 2013, developer Visual Concepts NBA 2K14 for those consoles a separate story-based mode that became the basis for MyCareer, as well as the first MyGM mode. The versions of the next gen then had the LeBron: Path to Greatness Challenge series which was a centerpiece of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.
Get it here: Best buy | GameStop | Walmart | 2K Store
