As many sports fans will tell you, while it’s great to have simulations of their favorite sports leagues in the gaming space, they aren’t always the best reflections of the sports. First off, there’s only so much you can do with the graphics. Second, the gameplay loop is the same for the sports in question, so getting the game “remade” repeatedly over a set of years is a challenge. Finally, while many do their best to make it feel as “accurate to the real game,” there are hurdles to be cleared. NBA 2K24 is aiming to clear some of those hurdles before next month’s launch, and using new technology will help with that.
The technology in question is called ProPlay, and ComicBook.com got a breakdown of it thanks to gameplay director Mike Wang. The concept behind it is to use real-life footage of NBA players and then integrate the footage into the video game so that the simulated version of the player will act and move just like the real-world version.
This is a stark contrast to how 2K did it before. In past versions of the game, they would bring in NBA players to make some of their moves or poses so that the game could accurately reflect it. But now, they can literally cut out the middleman and use the footage that is available to them via games that are played in the NBA.
We’ll explain further if you’re not seeing how this will improve things. Before, even when they had the NBA stars doing animations, they were still using other people to show how Steph Curry shoots a 3-pointer or how someone would do a dunk or steal a ball.
Those mocap artists would do their jobs well, but it wouldn’t always make the game look accurate to what fans see in the NBA. But now, by using ProPlay, NBA 2K24 could boast that they’re depicting these players’ motions based on what they’ve done in games.
2K isn’t solely relying on that to make its new entry shine. They’re also looking to improve how shots are taken and how “forgiving” it can be, and they’re trying to make you understand how big men play by adding some “weight” to their movements.
It’s hoped that when all is said and done, the game will both feel and look accurate to the NBA players and their games. We’ll find out next month if 2K made the right call.
