Even as the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs fight it out to see who will be redecorating their arena with a “World Championship” banner, 2K Sports is thinking towards the future. The last few offerings of the NBA 2K franchise have been impressive. Beginning with the Michael Jordan-infused NBA 2K11, 2K Sports set out to offer annual titles that each had their own unique flair. The year after Jordan featured some of NBA’s greatest, while the year after that was co-produced by Jay-Z. So how do you top that?
With LeBron James.
2K Sports has confirmed that the cover athlete for NBA 2K14 will be King James. And as with the previous titles, that means that James will be more than just the face on the box, he will be involved in the creation of the game.
So far the only James-specific feature announced is the “King James Bonus Pack” for people that pre-order, containing: 10,000 in virtual currency, James will be unlocked in the “Blacktop” mode, and you’ll have access to LeBron James’ “Signature Skill.” There will also be bonus content for the “Path to Greatness” mode, but 2K is keeping quiet about that for now.
Simply adding a pre-order pack and having an athlete endorse its game isn’t 2K’s style, so you can expect to hear more about how James factors into the game in the coming months. This is also the first time that James has agreed to represent a game, so hopefully the integration will bring us plenty of surprises.
NBA 2K14 will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 1. It will also be a launch title for both the PS4 and Xbox One, and 2K Sports is promising that the nex-gen version of the game will differ from the current-gen versions, but we’ll have to wait to hear more about that.
