NBA 2K18 Review – The VC Sales Funnel is Real

As a fan of both basketball and the NBA, I typically look forward to the release of a new NBA 2K. As the only real basketball game on the market, the NBA 2K experience is typically lacking due to there being no market competition. However, this year really shows how little work is being put into the series. Check out my NBA 2K18 review below.

What is NBA 2K18

NBA 2K18 is an NBA simulator/sport game that is available for PC, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch.  In the game, players control every aspect of the NBA experience. You can be a player on an NBA team, be a GM, or create your own dream team to compete against others.

NBA 2K18 is a VC Sales Funnel

NBA 2K18, like previous NBA 2K titles, centers heavily on acquiring VC (virtual currency). Players can earn VC by playing the game or buying it with real money. While I don’t mind microtransactions when handled well, NBA 2K18 seems designed to push players toward purchasing VC. The experience reminded me of the monetization strategy in GTA Online. Since both games are owned by Take-Two Interactive, this approach appears to be the publisher’s new ‘gaming recipe.’

Funnel in Action

To highlight the VC sales funnel in action, I will point out a few of the major instances where the push is especially prevalent. The first and most egregious has to be the entire MyCAREER system. Centered around the idea of hitting 99 overall, the MyCAREER mode tasks you with creating your own NBA character. This character is used for playing both multiplayer and single player modes. It sounds fun and could be fun, but the entire VC system completely destroys the process.

MyCareer

I started MyCAREER as an OVR 60, slashing Point Guard. At OVR 60, you are basically useless. This means when you are out on the NBA court, you have to deal with hours of frustratingly boring play. This stems from being a bad player. The first 10+ hours in NBA 2K18‘s MyCAREER mode feel specifically designed to push you towards buying VC. If you do grind it out, the experience becomes slightly better. However, this requires hours upon hours of playing.

I played 41 hours (basically 90% of all season games) and made it to OVR 71. No matter how I played, or what I did in the game, the amount of VC I earned during my playthrough remained relatively constant. I found I earned roughly 750 VC per 20 min game. Having VC be ‘fixed’ makes the game feel so incredibly gated and unenjoyable. There’s little incentive to actually play the game. Each overall point feels like such a marginal player improvement versus the time needed to invest in that point. Instead of playing the game, 2K and Take Two want players to dump money into VC as a way to circumvent the grind they have created.

The second VC issue with MyCAREER is that everything costs money and most items aren’t cheap. As the NBA is all about shoes, tattoos, and haircuts, you will understandably want to swag out your MyPLAYER. 2K also realizes this and has made a number of customization items available for that sweet VC. Again this isn’t a bad thing, but the price of most of the items just makes them unappealing to purchase. Want to buy a pair of Jordan XX8 Lows? That will cost you 4,000 VC (about 5 games, or $1.99). 2K has also made it so that items unlock as you level. So things like custom T Shirts (unlocks at 80), won’t even be an option for most players who are just playing the game.

Conclusion

While I thought about creating a complete review on NBA 2K18, I figured it was easier to simply charge $1.99/$2.99/$120.99 for HTRC. This can be used to unlock other sections of this review that should be already accessible to readers. If purchasing points doesn’t intrigue you, there is an option to grind out articles for me at a fixed 0.0001 HTRC per 20 mins. Regardless of your choice, I look forward to profiting off of your support of my website!

*Serious* As NBA 2K18 has a monopoly on the NBA video game market, they have begun to venture into predatory practices. From the standpoint of a consumer, this year’s version of the game is easily the worst I have played. If you enjoy grinding for hours upon hours with little advancement or opening up your wallet to get that tasty new pair of sneakers, this game is for you. If you want to play basketball and have fun, maybe take the $60 you would’ve spent on NBA 2K18 and buy an actual basketball (it will be way cheaper).

Score: 3/10

Thoughts on my NBA 2K18 review? Let me know in The Pit below.