The Best On Court Ever
I’ve been playing the NBA 2K series for years at this point, and with an annual sports series like this, I’m never really looking for Visual Concepts to completely reinvent the wheel. NBA 2K already does a fantastic job of recreating the sport, so for me, each new game is more about whether the developers can meaningfully improve what’s already there and give me enough reasons to move on from last year’s release. Thankfully, NBA 2K27 does exactly that, with some of the biggest improvements being found where they matter most: on the court.
ProPLAY has once again been expanded, bringing even more real-world animations into the game, and while that sounds like the sort of thing you hear every year from sports developers, I could genuinely feel the difference this time around. Players transition between movements more naturally, dribbling feels smoother, and controlling different NBA stars continues to become increasingly distinctive. Playing with someone like Stephen Curry doesn’t feel remotely the same as taking control of Giannis Antetokounmpo, and that’s exactly how it should be.
You have to understand what the player you’re controlling is capable of, as creating space with a point guard requires a completely different approach to overpowering someone in the paint with a bigger forward. NBA 2K27 does an excellent job of translating those differences into the gameplay, while also feeling much more responsive than previous entries. There have always been moments in NBA 2K where I’ve changed direction or attempted something, only to feel like the game was waiting for an animation to finish before listening to me, but that happens considerably less often here.
Defense has arguably received the biggest improvement of all, which is something I really appreciated throughout my time with the game. Anyone who has played enough NBA 2K will know how frustrating defending could sometimes be, where you could position yourself perfectly, stay in front of the attacker and contest the shot, only for them to seemingly glide past you or trigger an animation that made everything you’d just done meaningless. NBA 2K27 finally feels like it rewards you much more consistently for playing good defense.
There is more physicality when trying to cut someone off, shot contests feel more effective and simply staying between your opponent and the basket actually matters. If you get caught out of position against an elite offensive player, they can still punish you, as they should. However, when I defended a possession properly, I generally felt like the outcome reflected what I had done. It creates a much better balance between offense and defense than I’ve felt in the series for quite some time.
Offensively, the new Dynamic Layup Engine is another welcome improvement and makes attacking the basket feel far less predictable. Players now react more naturally to where defenders are positioned, adjusting their bodies and finding different ways of getting the ball towards the rim rather than constantly falling into the same handful of animations. You’ll see players twist around defenders, extend towards the basket, or somehow get a shot away from an awkward position, and it helps make driving into the paint feel considerably more natural.
Shooting remains as satisfying as ever too, because release timing, creating space, and understanding the player you’re controlling still matter. NBA 2K27 isn’t going to stop you from attempting a ridiculous contested three-pointer, but when it misses, most of the time you’ll know exactly why. When all of these improvements come together, this is simply some of the best basketball NBA 2K has produced in years.
MyCAREER remains one of the biggest reasons I come back to NBA 2K every year, and there are some genuinely interesting additions this time around. MyCAREER Eras is easily one of my favourites, allowing you to take your created player into different periods of NBA history and see how they would fare alongside some of the greatest players to ever step onto the court. There’s something incredibly cool about taking your own player into an era featuring Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James and essentially rewriting basketball history around yourself.
It completely changes the fantasy behind MyCAREER, because instead of simply asking whether your created player can become the best in the current NBA, you can now see how they stack up against some of the best to have ever played the game. The presentation changes depending on the era as well, helping sell the illusion rather than simply putting classic players into what otherwise looks like the modern game. It’s the kind of addition that could have easily felt gimmicky, but I ended up enjoying it far more than I initially expected.
If historical basketball isn’t your thing, there is also the new Fire & Concrete storyline, which sees your MyPLAYER attempting to rebuild their career after a serious accident. You begin in the G League before eventually trying to make your way into the NBA, with Vince Staples appearing as your cousin along the way. It still has plenty of the personality and slightly over-the-top flavour you would expect from a MyCAREER storyline, but it gives players another reason to become invested in building their character from the ground up.
Perhaps even more exciting is the introduction of co-op MyCAREER, something players have wanted for a very long time. There is a fairly significant limitation right now, because whoever joins the host isn’t able to bring their own MyPLAYER into the experience, and I would much rather both players be able to take their own characters into a shared career. Even so, I see what we have here as an important first step, and hopefully Visual Concepts continues to expand on the idea because a fully cooperative MyCAREER has enormous potential.
The City naturally returns alongside MyCAREER, although this is probably one area where NBA 2K27 feels like it has taken less of a step forward. I don’t necessarily mind that The City has been scaled back compared to some previous entries, but I do miss some of the personality it used to have. Things like fashion, music and some of the stranger side activities might not have appealed to everyone, but they helped make The City feel like an actual place rather than simply a hub connecting different activities.
One very welcome addition is the ability to create a female MyPLAYER, which is something that should probably have happened a long time ago. It gives female players far more freedom to represent themselves properly within MyCAREER and The City, and it’s great to finally see it included. Hopefully Visual Concepts continues to build on that inclusivity in future entries rather than treating it as a one-off addition.
Outside of MyCAREER, NBA 2K27 once again contains an almost ridiculous amount of content. MyTEAM remains incredibly addictive if you enjoy building your own squad, as there’s always another player you want, another lineup combination to experiment with or another upgrade that could potentially transform your team. Taking that squad online against other players can quickly consume hours, especially once you start becoming attached to the team you’ve put together.
Then there’s MyNBA for people who would rather control everything behind the scenes, with trades, contracts, rotations, drafting and franchise management offering enough depth to consume just as much time as actually playing basketball. MyNBA Legacy is particularly interesting this year because it combines a player-focused experience with franchise management. You choose a player to become your Legend and can build their career while simultaneously controlling the organisation around them, eventually carrying that legacy through future generations across a dynasty that can span as much as 100 years.
Personally, I tend to gravitate more towards MyCAREER because I prefer concentrating on my own player rather than managing an entire roster, but I can absolutely see franchise players losing hundreds of hours to Legacy. That really sums up one of NBA 2K27’s greatest strengths, because whether you want to create your own player, build a fantasy team, run an entire organisation, play with current NBA teams or mess around with historical basketball, there is an enormous amount here that is bound to please much of its audience. .
Of course, you can’t really talk about NBA 2K without eventually getting onto VC and microtransactions. They’re still here, they’re still heavily integrated into certain parts of the experience and spending additional money can obviously speed up progression considerably. I completely understand why this bothers people, especially when NBA 2K is already a full-priced game that releases every year, but personally I’m not nearly as bothered by it as it is unlikely to change for the better any time soon.
Maybe I’ve simply become accustomed to how NBA 2K operates at this point, but I never felt like I needed to continually spend money in order to enjoy myself. The option is constantly there, and someone willing to spend additional money can obviously progress much faster, but I was perfectly happy playing naturally. I certainly wouldn’t complain if VC was less prominent, but it also didn’t negatively impact my enjoyment of NBA 2K27 enough for me to consider it a major criticism.
Visually, NBA 2K27 is once again one of the most impressive sports games available, particularly when you’re actually out on the court. The biggest NBA stars look remarkably close to their real-life counterparts, arenas are packed with detail and the combination of lighting, animations, crowd reactions, commentary and broadcast presentation can sometimes make it look incredibly close to watching a real NBA game. Naturally, not every background character receives the same level of attention as the superstars, but when everything is moving it looks fantastic.
I played NBA 2K27 on PC for this review, and performance has been superb throughout my time with the game. Everything has run incredibly smoothly, and I haven’t encountered any performance issues significant enough to negatively impact my experience. Considering how good the game looks, I was extremely happy with how consistently well it performed.
The other improvement I noticed almost immediately on PC was the loading times, which feel considerably better than they did in NBA 2K26. Last year’s game could occasionally leave me waiting longer than I wanted when moving between certain areas or modes, whereas NBA 2K27 feels noticeably snappier. It might not sound like the most exciting improvement in the world, but in a game where you could potentially spend hundreds of hours jumping between different parts of the experience, those shorter loading times add up and make the entire game feel better to use.
Ultimately, NBA 2K27 doesn’t completely reinvent the series, but I honestly don’t think it needed to. Visual Concepts has instead concentrated on improving the actual basketball itself, and that was exactly what I wanted from this year’s game. Player movement feels smoother, defending finally feels genuinely rewarding, and attacking the basket is much more dynamic, while MyCAREER Eras and co-op give the series some genuinely interesting additions away from the core gameplay.
The City could do with regaining some of the personality it has lost over the years, and the microtransactions are obviously going to remain an issue for some players, but neither of those things came close to outweighing how much fun I’ve had actually playing NBA 2K27. Throw in the superb PC performance and noticeably improved loading times over NBA 2K26, and this is probably the most impressed I’ve been with an NBA 2K game for quite some time. Annual sports games will always face the question of whether there’s enough here to justify buying another one twelve months later, and in the case of NBA 2K27, my answer is yes. It might not revolutionise basketball games, but when the basketball itself feels this good, it really doesn’t need to.
Developer - Visual Concept
Publisher - 2K
Released - August 20th, 2026
Available On - PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Rated - (E) - No Descriptors
Platform Reviewed - PC
Review Access - A review code for NBA 2K27 was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
I’m Jordan I have a background in game design and am deeply passionate about accessibility in gaming. My favourite games/franchises include Shenmue, Red Dead Redemption 2, Plague Tale: Requiem, Metal Gear Solid 3, Yakuza, Splinter Cell, and Assassin’s Creed.