Why NBA 2K24 Should Have a Demo

NBA 2K24 is coming around quicker than you think, and a feature reveal roadmap was released showing which weeks certain features would be shown to gamers. Whether it’s the new ProPlay system, info on The W and MyCareer, MyTeam or City/Neighborhood info, all will be revealed over the course of August. However, one thing that remains absent from these roadmaps is a demo and so it looks like we definitely won’t be seeing one for 2K24.

The last time 2K had a demo was back in 2K21 for old gen, but we haven’t seen one since the series made the leap into the new generation of consoles. And honestly, it stinks. Not only with NBA 2K, but I feel basically every major game should put out some kind of demo for people to try the games out and 2K is no different.

This would obviously allow gamers to give the game a spin before deciding on purchasing it. It also can introduce gamers to the series for the first time, which in turn can lead to more sales so it would be smart marketing for 2K.

On top of all this, demos are just exciting. They’re great ways to get gamers hyped up for a new game well before the full experience drops. They also come in clutch when you are unable to get the full game yet. Some of the most hyped NBA 2K releases on OS were powered by the demos. If you go far enough back in the vault, the NBA 2K7 demo (Heat vs. Mavs) was something so many of us played and truly sold us on the Xbox 360 and NBA 2K at the time. That was a monumental moment of hype, and between that demo and the NHL 07 demo, those demos were proof of both EA’s new control scheme and NBA 2K’s confirmed dominance in the hoops arena.

Beyond that, NBA 2K is a basketball game so it’s much more straightforward than a game that has an open world and deep storytelling (though the Final Fantasy XVI demo is a good example of how demos even help those games a ton). In other words, I’d think it would be easier to put out a demo featuring a Play Now game featuring a Finals rematch between the Nuggets and Heat and to toss in the MyPlayer Builder like in past demos. Then again, I’m not a developer. But it still makes too much sense to have a demo or prelude, especially for a game as huge as NBA 2K.

Also, it’s the 25th Anniversary Edition for NBA 2K. 25 years is a long time for the iconic franchise. So with such a big milestone, you’d think they’d throw everything at the community but that won’t necessarily be the case and that also goes for a demo. A trial would’ve been great as well but 2K doesn’t have a subscription service that offers trials.

We still see demos get dropped, but not frequently, and NBA 2K doesn’t seem to be hopping back into making demos again anytime soon.