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NBA 2K23 ‘The City’ Details Revealed, New Travel, Affiliation Zones, and Arenas


We’re mere hours away from the release of NBA 2K23 on September 9th, 2022, and NBA 2K has left pièce de résistance ‘The City’ details to the last minute ahead of #2kday. The new city is 30 per cent smaller than before, with reduced travel times, and seamless integration of MyCAREER mode. We know first-hand just how annoying travelling around The City was in 2K22 and we’re pleased to see the development team make the necessary changes in improving the user experience. We’ve detailed changes to NBA 2K23 ‘The City’ below.

RelatedLooking for more on NBA 2K23? Check out our guide to the game right here.

Nba 2k23 knights courts
Image: NBA 2K

NBA 2K23 ‘The City’ Changes

The biggest change to NBA 2K23 ‘The City’ is travel time thanks to two new implementations.

1. The City is 30 per cent smaller with fewer ‘useless’ objects to run into and empty buildings.

2. Fast travel has been included (finally) with Subway Stations making their triumphant return after bugging the heck out of the game in 2K18. We’re going to give the devs the benefit of the doubt here, but if squad issues arise once again we’d expect the community reaction to be aggressive. You can find the nearest subway station by hitting R1 on Playstation 5 controller and it will ping the nearest station. Travel is instantaneous with no loading time.

2k23 the block
Image: The Block | NBA 2K

New Areas to Play in NBA 2K23

The Block

The centre of the City has now become ‘The Block’.

  • The Theater (all-new for NBA 2K23, details below).
  • Pro-Am (an all-new building featuring unique 3v3 and 5v5 experiences).
  • The REC (an all-new building exterior and interior).
  • Ante-Up.
  • Club 2K.
  • Black Lives Matter court (new design and now a 3v3 experience).
  • Kobe court (new design and now a 3v3 experience).

You can think of the Block as an addition to the ‘Events Centre’ that remains for 2K23 and brings some of the most popular game modes into one place. NBA 2K Executive Producer and VP, Erick Boenisch, is optimistic that changing the BLM and Kobe courts to a 3v3 format will encourage players to utilise these courts. If rewards aren’t offered for playing we tend to disagree, so we’d fully expect these to become as defunct as before.

Nba 2k23 the theater
Image: The Theater | NBA 2K

The Theater

The Theater replaces warehouses for NBA 2K23 and introduces arcade-style game modes into the franchise for the first time. Posters on the outside of the Theater will indicate what games are going on inside, including those that we’ve outlined below. Boenisch has made it clear that the development team will be taking feedback into consideration on what events the community likes, dislikes, and those they want to see a return.

The Theater Game Modes Include

Every Friday morning (Pacific Time), the four event playlists will be swapped out for four new events.

  • Loser’s Out: 2v2 game, the opposing team gets possession after making baskets.
  • Hustle – 3v3 game, 12-second shot clock to keep a non-stop lightning pace of play.
  • Comp: Squads Only – 3v3 game where you bring your own crew. Sweats only.
  • Rooks: No Squads – 3v3 game where squads aren’t allowed. 75 overall and under.
  • Double or Nothing: Earn Double XP when you win. Losing teams earn 0.
  • Pulling Weight: Every player on the team must contribute to their offense equally.
  • Living The Dream: Attributes and badges are maxed for that build during this event.
  • In The Bank: Shut down your opponent and a point is added to the vault. The first team to hit a shot from beyond the arc will collect the current balance.

More game modes are to come, “There are actually a LOT of game types and I’m keeping some of my personal favourites under wraps until their week arrives. The flexibility of The Theater is something we’ve never had before and really opens up an experience we can all work on together to bring the community together,” said NBA 2K Executive Producer and VP, Erick Boenisch.

Nba 2k23 the arena
Image: The Arena | NBA 2K

The Arena

A full-scale NBA Arena has been introduced into the City to bring a seamless integration like we haven’t seen. You can walk past the rafts of people in a sprawling plaza and straight into the Arena through a Player Only Entrance to start an NBA game. Walking down the corridor will allow you to prepare for your upcoming NBA game, perform a Russell Westbrook-Esque fashion walk in front of the waiting media, complete any quests if applicable.

After you’ve finished your game, you’ll travel through the underbelly of the arena to meet with the press in the Press Conference Room and more. In a media session with Erick Boenisch, he confirmed to Man of Many that the Arena entrance will be skippable for more efficient player ‘grinding’.

Nba 2k23 knights courts castle
Image: The Northside Knights | NBA 2K

New-Look Affiliation Boroughs in 2K23

The new look affiliation boroughs instantly remind us of NBA 2K17 where travelling between affiliations felt more meaningful and 100 per cent unique. While we’re excited to jump into these new cities, concerns have already arisen around game loading speeds and input delay for servers that have been historically awful – let’s not forget that Fall event Witch in 2K20 that made a whole side of the park unplayable due to lag.

We’ve included screenshots of all the new affiliations below.

Nba 2k23 beasts courst
Image: The Beasts | NBA 2K
Nba 2k23 knights courts
Image: The Northside Knights | NBA 2K
2k23 wildcats courts
Image: The Wildcats| NBA 2K
Nba 2k23 vipers courts
Image: The Vipers | NBA 2K

What’s Returning to The City in NBA 2K23?

A number of 2K22 features will return, including.

  • Seasons will return with the same six-week rotating format, with no news on rewards.
  • Legend Status will return but will be far harder to achieve.
  • The Jordan Challenge Building grants instant access to the game mode.
  • The Events Center Returns with expanding and shrinking capability and fireworks.

More information on additions to the City in NBA 2K23 can be seen in the full courtside report linked below.

Check it out

Nba 2k23 beasts courts 2
Image: NBA 2K
Nba 2k23 wildcats courts
Image: NBA 2K
Nba 2k23 dreamville studios
Image: NBA 2K
Nba 2k23 the arena tunnel
Image: NBA 2K
Nba 2k23 the jordan challenge arena
Image: NBA 2K
2k23 events center
Image: NBA 2K

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