2K Answers 4 Crucial Questions About MyLeague, MyGM And MyTeam For Current And Next-Gen

Earlier in the week, I had an opportunity to participate in a live stream Q&A with several members of NBA 2K’s development team. It was great to see and hear so many of the people who have been instrumental in the development of the game speak about the current-generation version of NBA 2K21, and to touch briefly on certain elements of the next-generation version.

There were several members of media on hand and many of us had more questions than there was time to answer on the call. 2K was kind enough to take the questions we had that didn’t get answered back to the dev team for answers.

On Friday, 2K responded to four questions I asked during the session. Here are the questions and official answers on topics related to MyLeague, MyGM and MyTeam.

I’ve also added some insight behind my question, and my takeaways from 2K’s answers.

Q: Was Carryover Saves added for current-gen, and is it planned in any way for next-gen, if not why?

2K: No. MyTEAM progression and VC do transfer between current and next-gen for NBA 2K21. While we take learnings from each release of NBA 2K forward, we view each new game as separate and distinct. 

• Takeaway: I’ve found that the carryover save concept (which is only available from MLB The Show) is something that shows great appreciation for the offline, franchise mode community. Tons of work goes into roster creation each year, and it would be great if some of the custom rosters could be used in future versions. I understand that allowing this transfer means player attributes and renders can only change so much if the rosters are going to remain compatible. However, it could be argued that would be an acceptable sacrifice for what carryover saves would provide.

Q: Was there any discussion about a draft mode in MyTeam, if so is that something that will make it into current or next-gen?

2K: That’s something interesting, but we don’t have anything to share on this.

• Takeaway: It sounds as if there is a chance some sort of iteration of the draft concept could still be on the way to MyTeam on current and/or next-gen. 2K is particular about the concepts it borrows from other series, so despite the fact that Madden, MLB The Show, NHL and FIFA seem to have had great success with their collector mode drafts, 2K is holding off a bit. I’d argue basketball is perhaps the best sport for the draft concept. Hopefully, this is something 2K revisits as it could be great in NBA 2K21.

Q: What are the details surrounding the use of Team USA? That licensing was indicated in the credits of the NBA 2K21 demo?

2K: Stay tuned to our NBA 2K social channels in the days up to launch!

• Takeaway: With the game coming out on September 4, we should be hearing something about this between Monday and Wednesday. Take a look here to see some of the ways the Team USA license could be used in the game.

Q: What are some of the other additions to MyLeague and roster creation (tattoos for offline CAPs, the ability to expand or decrease the size of the league, injury presentation, halftime show, etc)?

2K: This year’s MyLEAGUE features plenty of new additions, ranging from quality of life improvements to major new additions. One of the most notable additions to the mode in NBA 2K21 is the boom-bust progression system, where player progression is now dynamic! This ensures every session is unique and it overall offers a more engaging MyLEAGUE experience. We’re also making some changes based on community feedback, like the ability to customize current arenas (vs. having to create completely new ones) and making original uniforms available after redesigning them. WNBA fans will also be pleased to hear that we’ve added the Edit Player functionality, allowing fans to further create and customize their WNBA experience.

• Takeaways: The things mentioned here didn’t appear in the initial write-up that was distributed on Friday. They’re great additions that hardcore MyLeague people will appreciate. However, because there was no reference to the Create-A-Player and presentation elements in the answer, it seems safe to say those improvements didn’t make it into the current-gen versions. Hopefully, we’ll see expansions on the concepts from next-gen.