NBA 2K23’s new MyNBA Eras franchise mode sends everyone back in time

Jordan Challenge anchor NBA 2K11The sports title was given honest game-of-the year consideration. You can return to the mode. NBA 2K23, but last week’s reveal also invited an elephant into fans’ living rooms: What about “NBA’s Greatest”?

NBA’s Greatest was the historical mode for NBA 2K12, He also appeared in the game. For many fans, it was an even richer experience than 2010’s Michael Jordan tribute. Visual Concepts has not forgotten about their fans, according to a Monday media presentation.

The key elements of NBA’s Greatest have been folded into the MyNBA franchise mode, now called MyNBA Eras, in NBA 2K23. Players can travel to 3 distinct periods in league history. Then, they have the chance to write it again while managing a period-authentic team over several years. They may start with the current NBA season.

“We’ve put in a feature set that we have been talking about for my entire duration” at developer Visual Concepts, said executive producer Erick Boenisch, a 20-year veteran of the NBA 2K series, and the lead designer of its franchise mode for 15 years. “This year, we’re asking our fans the question, ‘What if you could go back in time and change the course of NBA history?’”

The MyNBA Eras have three possible historical start points: 1982, 1991, or 2002. For example, players could take control of the Portland Trail Blazers, and draft Michael Jordan as the No. Sam Bowie would have been the 2nd pick. In real life, that fateful selection would come back to haunt the Blazers in 1992, with Bowie long gone from the team and Jordan’s Chicago Bulls stopping Portland in a six-game NBA Finals.

“Total control unlike everything we’ve ever done in this mode,” Boenisch said. The mode will give players an end-of-year summary telling them what’s going to happen in the next season, like rule changes or franchise relocations. “You can say, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want the Hornets to move between their eight cities they played in for, like, five years. The truth can be denied [Seattle] SuperSonics’ relocating” to Oklahoma City in 2008.

“Created rosters are available here, and user-created draft classes are available for those die-hards out there who want to, maybe, fill the holes where we couldn’t [get] certain players,” Boenisch emphasized. Yes, MyNBA Eras can be played for as many seasons starting at the beginning point, much like Franchise/The Association/MyGM.

“Everything is available for people to build your own universe,” Boenisch said. This includes the possibility of expanding the league to 36 teams at any time.

Visual Concepts picked the three historical starting points to mark the time of the NBA’s most dominant stars. 1983 represents the Larry Bird/Magic Johnson years; 1991 begins Michael Jordan’s reign; 2002 is the Kobe Bryant era. Wrapping all of this won’t just be NBA rosters and draft classes accurate to each year; the same broadcast presentation and gameplay elements that are going into an impressive Jordan Challenge will also be part of MyNBA Eras.

Mike Fratello and Kevin Harlan will be the play-by-play commentators for all games from 1983 through 2000. After that Greg Anthony will be joining the broadcast booth. Present-day games will use the same variety of commentators the NBA 2K series uses for five years. MyNBA Eras will also use the same period-accurate rules, playing styles, and strategies that gameplay director Mike Wang described last week in the Jordan Challenge’s preview.

Image by Visual Concepts/2K Sport

And, for sports fans who are somewhat inured to playing “classic” teams and players in settings that are anything but — looking at you, MLB The Show — Boenisch noted that the arenas themselves have era-specific looks. “I’m sure you saw from the screenshots, and the Jordan Challenge trailer, it really grounds the environment,” Boenisch said. “There’s nothing weird; [the viewer isn’t] seeing, you know, AT&T 5G in 1983. It doesn’t make sense; it’s dumb. We made sure none of that happens.”

If historical detail such as switching between two referees and three in 1988-1989 (or non-expansion Divisional Realignments) will appear in the game, serious basketball fans may be wondering. A six-year period (1997-2002), saw players wear individual uniforms to the NBA All-Star Game. Boenisch said that all those questions are answered yes.

Visual Concepts as well as he anticipated some skepticism among the core franchise-playing players of the NBA 2K. Changes to the rookie contract scale and team finances will impact the financial position of each player. By introducing historic draft classes or players who are well-known in their rookie years, you will be adding players that must continue developing the way they were. The draft shouldn’t be disrupted by removing a historical player.

Image by Visual Concepts/2K sports

“Creating a roster for every single year, re-rating guys, doing the badges; creating draft classes, doing the badges on those guys, testing their potential, making sure they develop correctly — it’s a significant amount of work,” Boenisch said. “Sitting there, tweaking and tuning those, and simulating and adjusting, and simulating again. It’s an incredible amount of work.”

As with the Jordan Challenge, MyNBA Eras looks like a blue-sky sports game designer’s dream come true, to say nothing of fans who had seen MyGM and MyNBA seem to struggle for depth and new features, taking a back seat to the MyCareer and MyTeam modes. MyNBA Eras, at face value, more than overhauls a sports title’s most-iterated mode — it sets a standard for other developers to either envy or live up to.

“I feel really, really proud of what the team has accomplished,” Boenisch said. “And I feel strongly, it’s exactly what our audience has been clamoring for, for so many years.”