NBA Playgrounds is an officially licensed basketball game developed by Saber Interactive and released for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in May 2017. At launch, the game received very mixed to negative reviews due to technical difficulties and simply being a bland game. It has a 63-68 on Metacritic, IGN gave it a 7.4 while GameSpot gave the game a solid 6.
Not even a year later, Saber Interactive have announced that
NBA Playgrounds 2 will be hitting shelves in Summer of this year. According to an
official post on the PlayStation Blog, CEO of Saber Interactive Matthew Karch goes into detail about what's new in
NBA Playgrounds 2, as well as correcting some of the wrongs with the first game.
When talking about the sequel, Karch mentions that they had to meet high expectation due to working with an official NBA-licensed title.
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On release day – and the weeks and months that followed – we were delighted to find out NBA Playgrounds was a hit for our indie game company. High-flying basketball arcade action was back in a big way! So how do you follow that up? You have to get that much better and you need to be responsive to what fan requests. NBA Playgrounds 2 is coming this summer, and it’s essentially everything you asked for. And more."
One of the things Karch says they wanted to focus on was Online play because of some "epic online games on YouTube". All this because they wanted to enrich the experience for players.
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That’s why we created Playgrounds Championship for NBA Playgrounds 2. It’s a worldwide online league with several divisions where you can climb the ladder to the top. You’ll always know exactly where you stack up against other Playgrounds 2 players online and see yourself progress as you acquire skills."
Karch says that they made sure to include co-op leagues so players can climb ranks with friends, as well as going it alone in solo mode. They are also adding dedicated servers to
NBA Playgrounds 2, for fast online matchmaking and responsive gameplay.
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We know lag was a problem in the first game for some and this should address the concern. We also listened to community feedback and have added four-player online games where you can have each player be a human player online or any combination of human and AI opponents."
Since they didn't solely on Online mode, Single player is also getting some of the spotlight as they have now added a new
Season Mode where players will be able to take their team through the playoffs and win the NBA Championship with special players depending on the team. "
For all you collection fans, we’ll have more than 200 current and retired NBA players to unlock in card packs."
So far we've only got confirmation that a Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions of the game are coming but it is highly likely that the game will not be skipping Windows or Xbox One.
The smash hit is back! NBA Playgrounds 2 takes street balling to the next level with a host of new additions and improvements, including a new Season Mode and a new Playgrounds Championship ranked mode. The high-flying arcade action also features a massive roster of over 200 current and retired NBA players with new player models and animations. Pick your team, get ready to jam, and play without limits!
NBA Playgrounds 2 will be available for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch this Summer, 2018.