NBA 2K24 is already the second-worst reviewed game on Steam

GTA 6 leak: Video games have become an extremely popular form of entertainment in the last few decades, not just for kids, but for adults too. It seems incredible that Michael Moon, an official representative of the board game maker Milton Bradley, famously claimed in 1977 that video games were “just a passing fad”. However, the ‘fad' has grown exponentially instead and the video game industry was estimated to be well worth over $200 billion in 2022, according to a Grand View Research report.

Payday 3 is finally here, and that means that the long-awaited third entry to Starbreeze’s beloved series is out and about in the exciting wild that is the gaming community. While the game’s reception has thus far proven mixed, it’s undoubtedly selling well. The Steam statistics speak for themselves, showing that the highly anticipated Payday sequel is already the platform’s top seller after not even one full day of being out.

Visual Concepts continues to provide the most authentic simulation in sports gaming, but the in-game economy is on a fast break to the bottom.

Visual Concepts came to an important but necessary conclusion with NBA 2K24: it needed to dial back the superfluous aspects of the series back. For the past two years, on PS5 specifically, the release’s popular MyCAREER mode has wanted to touch upon all aspects of basketball – including the cultural stuff, like fashion and music. This year’s game, however, is focused fully on the court, and as a solo experience it’s all the better for it.

NBA 2K24 is the brand new basketball simulation from 2K Sports, developed by Visual Concepts. Inspired by the 2023-24 NBA season, the game features all of the official teams and players from the National Basketball Association, as well as the WNBA. In addition to the usual MyPlayer and MyTeam modes, this year's game also features a full campaign inspired by LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the virtual basketball franchise. Developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Games, is known for creating the most authentic NBA simulation games every year. This year the newly added ProPLAY feature takes actual NBA footage and applies it to many of the animations in the game, which adds a lot to immersion, particularly when combined with the fun commentary and cutscenes that are smooth and polished.

NBA 2K24 continues down the path the series has been taking for a long time. It takes a few more steps toward capturing the real on court action in digital form, making some more realistic tweaks to the gameplay, but at the same time it remains mired by almost everything off court. I’ve previously called out how virtual currency (VC) is chipping away at the NBA 2K experience, and that has not changed in NBA 2K24.

Less than a week after NBA 2K24 hit Steam, the latest annual instalment in the basketball game series is competing for an unwanted title: the worst-reviewed PC game on Steam.

Bad news for NBA 2K24, as a botched PC port has put it squarely in second place for the worst-reviewed Steam games of all time.

Sports games are one of the genres in the video game industry that can be both easy to make and yet difficult to maintain over the years. It can be easy to make because the game is simply recreating the sport of basketball, which, by this point, has been done in various ways across gaming generations. You can get people to try it out as long as you keep things looking good and playing as they should. But the more titles you make of the sport, the harder it is to keep players coming back, as NBA 2K24 is finding out the hard way.

The basketball game now sits as the second-worst-rated title on Valve's service, only behind Overwatch 2.

NBA 2K24 is currently the second-worst reviewed game on Steam.