Sports games are unique ones to balance and tweak both before and after launch. If you think about it, the developers not only have to ensure that the gameplay loop works as intended and “feels like the real thing,” but they have to tweak the individual players and teams so that they’re accurate enough to their real-life counterparts, while also feeling different from other squads out there. After all, no one plays the exact same way, even if you have “similar players.” Then, once you do launch, you have to keep an eye out for things you missed or that “doesn’t feel right” in the hands of players. NBA 2K26 knows this, as it’s getting another update drop.
As you’ll see in the tweet below, there are a bunch of tweaks and adjustments coming to the game that you’ll want to keep an eye on, including one that many people actually aren’t happy about.
The first change is about the “height mismatch” metric when a tall player is being defended by a smaller one. Now, the game will have it so that the smaller player can actually play better defense, and thus reduce the likelihood of the tall player’s shot going in. That got a LOT of reaction from fans, who either praised this and mocked people who only used tall players, or noted that it was actually accurate that shorter players have a harder time against taller talent, with plenty of gifs to prove the point.
Another shift was made on defense, but this time, it was for the “strong contests,” where players are evenly matched, or you have a really good defender. Once again, the shoot bar will be lessened when such contests are going down.
Arguably the biggest thing, though, is not what’s being tweaked, but what’s NOT being tweaked. NBA 2K26 will NOT be adjusting the shooting mechanics for the update, and that’s gotten some people talking about why that needs to be the most important thing the 2K team focuses on. One person even posted clips from their game showing how the most basic of shots sometimes don’t go in, even when hitting the green bar precisely. If that doesn’t get fixed, it skews the results of play!
Granted, the team did mention that they would go and adjust things down the line based on community feedback, but it’s already become clear that the community has spoken out about this, and yet, no changes have been made.
