NBA 2K20 is currently in the midst of a public relations crisis. The latest iteration of the successful basketball game franchise launched just one week ago, but is already facing backlash due to bugs and frustration with the game's microtransactions. Moreover, the #FixNBA2K20 hashtag is trending on social media and review bombs have pushed NBA 2K20 to the second-worst game rating on the entire Steam platform. Today publisher 2K confirmed it's taking steps in response.
Speaking with IGN, a representative of NBA 2K20's publisher 2K confirmed that a patch is in the works. "We can assure you that our Dev team is working around-the-clock to prepare a soon to be released patch that will address other significant issues," reads the statement. The representative refers to "other" issues, as they mention that "many of the issues seen during the first couple of days after launch have been fixed." Frustration with NBA 2K20 has notably remained high even after these fixes.
The 2K representative is likely referring to the two post-launch patches released for NBA 2K20. The launch day patch reportedly fixed many crashing issues experienced by reviewers, but most player frustrations came after this patch was released. Patch 1.02, which was released several days ago, is speculated to have improved some issues but 2K never released patch notes for the update, despite it being 7GB.
The biggest issue for fans, and the biggest issue that 2K has yet to acknowledge or address remains NBA 2K20's microtransactions. It's not just that the game's VC premium currency is spread throughout the whole game, but also some bugs in the game are denying players the content that they bought. NBA player statistics in MyCareer mode purchased with VC can at times disappear, for example.
Barring a full turnaround regarding NBA 2K20's microtransactions comparable to Star Wars Battlefront 2's loot box changes, heavy criticism of the basketball game is likely to persist. And given that NBA 2K19 and 2K18 were both remarkably successful for 2K, specifically with regard to microtransaction revenue, nothing is likely to change. While NBA 2K20 may be getting review bombed, it's still getting bombed by people who have purchased and continue to play the game. 2K could surprise fans with major microtransaction changes, but that seems unlikely given the company's current silence on the topic.
NBA 2K20 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: IGN