NBA 2K launched a teaser for NBA 2K26 featuring Carmelo Anthony, and the reactions-from fans and critics, to developers, and scores in between-objectively, were mixed. The official NBA 2K tweet showed Melo sporting his Knicks jersey, but gamers said something felt off. Like, super off.
Firstly, the graphics. Some gamers just outright called it PS3 graphics, which is a pretty harsh statement in the year 2024. Others noticed that the colors of the jerseys were wrong-the blue on the side was supposed to be white. How can they get it wrong when they have access to the actual NBA archives?
Now, defenses about the face scan. One person joked, “They put him on the cover and didn’t even improve the face scan?” Another gamer said the roughness map (essentially another texture in layman’s terms) was extremely glossy, producing a bizarre effect, as if the face were a low-poly mesh. And don’t get me started on the player models; somebody even bitched about how 2K players have “awful looking bodies,” especially in those skin-tight jerseys!
The real drama? The $150 edition that only gives you 135K VC (for the uninitiates, this is Virtual Currency). Gamers called it out-and outright-a scam, with one even proclaiming, “Scums 😭😭.” Then classic 2K calls of, “It’s the same game as last year.” One user even engaged in that global expression of anger by tweeting, “Es el mismo juego del año pasado” (transl.: It’s the same game as last year), and honestly? Mood.
There’s something, though, in the frenzy of reactions: Some veterans like Tony Grant assured they had been day-one fans all the way back from the Visual Concepts days-who begged the developers to patch textures before release. Some just wanted Melo to be unstoppable, like Dirk in the game.
That may probably be the funniest one. “Just take a year off.” Ouch.
Now, it’s unclear whether this is the final one or just an early render. What is clear, NBA 2K26 is already raising serious doubts in the eyes of gamers. Will they iron all this out before launch? Or is it another “same game, new cover” act once again? We shall see.
Meanwhile, you should check out the madness with your own eyes in the replies beneath NBA 2K’s tweet. I promise, it’s a mess and pretty entertaining.
So yeah. NBA 2K26 may need several patches before it can manage to get the crowd back. Or maybe they are just gonna jump into another $150 edition and call it a day. Who knows.
