If you’re aiming to take a break from Fallout 4 at some point this week, you may want to consider trying out NBA 2K16. The game will be free to play for all Xbox One players with an Xbox Live Gold membership starting at 9:00am PST on Friday November 20 all the way until 11:59pm PST on Sunday November 22.
One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the MyCareer mode, which filmmaker Spike Lee wrote and directed. MyCareer mode allows players to create their own basketball star and watch them progress through high school and college, all the way to the NBA. Players who try the game out this weekend will be able to test out MyCareer mode.
Players who like what they see of the game over the weekend will also be able to purchase it at a discount shortly afterward. This free-to-play strategy is probably a good approach to marketing the game, given how saturated this entire season has been with AAA releases. As Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg expressed last month while discussing Tomb Raider’s simultaneous launch with Fallout 4, scheduling releases becomes difficult and if a company waits too far into the season, their targeted audience will have already spent their money on Fallout 4, Star Wars Battlefront, and Call of Duty Black Ops 3. But NBA, unlike its competitors, was one of the first major releases this fall, which comes with its own unique set of challenges.
NBA 2K16 dropped on September 29 and is available for PS3, PS4, XBox 360, XBox One, PC, and Mobile.