Xbox Game Pass subscribers still have roughly a couple of weeks to get hold of the likes of The Witcher 3 and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night before they're removed from the service. Microsoft has already announced a couple of games that will be taking their place, like Madden NFL 21 (which is now available on the service) and it will soon be joined by another current iteration of a long-running sports simulator series, NBA 2K21.
According to the announcement on Xbox Wire, NBA 2K21 will be available to play on console and on the cloud through Game Pass from tomorrow, March 4. Since the game is currently in its fifth MyTeam season (which began a couple of weeks ago), the blog post also helps any new players thinking of getting the game catch up with what exactly is going on and what Season 5 is all about.
Called Age of Heroes, this season of NBA 2K21 features new hero-themed cards that depict the players in a comic book-like art style and very dramatic poses. Michael Jordan, for example, can be seen about to receive a ball glowing purple and crackling with lightning, with bolts of it swirling around his arm (no superhero costumes though).
Players can start off with redeeming a LeBron James Sapphire Evo card, which can be evolved into a Diamond card by completing unique challenges. More cards depicting modern and golden age players can be collected and further rewards can be earned by completing sets. The blog post is even offering a gift code for a Michael Jordan card for anyone who doesn't have it yet. Players can then take on The Last Shot challenge to earn a Diamond Jordan shoe and Hall of Game badge.
At the bottom of the post is a link to NBA 2K21 on the Xbox Store, which is currently discounted from $59.99 to $19.79, which is a pretty sweet deal for non-Game Pass subscribers. However, it does also show the game's user rating: two out of five stars, which could put off anyone who may have been interested.
While the game received average reviews from critics, fans have been much less kind to the game. Its user scores on Metacritic are abysmally low and some would argue that it's the worst entry in the NBA 2K series so far for a number of reasons. And that's not getting into the controversies that have come about since its release, like the unskippable ads.
Some of the responses to the announcement online have been positive, but others quickly lost interest once they realized that the version being offered isn't the Xbox Series X version; it's the Xbox One version. The Xbox Series X version not only benefits from better visuals, but also has an exclusive open-world multiplayer City area.
NBA 2K21 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.