Video game publisher 2K Games recently announced that all 12 teams in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), a basketball league in the United States, will make their debut in NBA 2K20, the latest iteration of the publisher’s annual basketball game series set for release later this year.
Players and fans of the NBA 2K franchise will be able to take control of the WNBA players for the first time in the franchise’s history. 2K Games claims that new gameplay animations, visuals and play-styles were built exclusively and specifically around the women’s game.
In a development video uploaded to NBA 2K’s official YouTube Channel, Mike Wang, Gameplay Director, claimed that 3,000 to 5,000 new animations were added to the game for the addition of the WNBA.
“Growing up, I always remembered watching male athletes on TV and playing as them in video games. Now, to have the WNBA be in the position we are and to have women featured prominently in NBA 2K20, we are allowing young girls and boys to have female athletes as role models,” said Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks forward. “The 2K team has done an amazing job of making sure to not just put women into the game playing men’s basketball, but I’ve seen first-hand the hard work they’re doing to make this as real and authentic as possible to women’s basketball. I’m proud to be a part of this team paving the way for the future,” Parker added.
Many of the WNBA superstars were scanned into NBA 2K20 earlier in 2019 with 2K’s motion capture technology in order to create “the most realistic simulation on the market,” according to 2K. Some of these superstars include Candace Parker and A’ja Wilson, a power forward for the Las Vegas Aces. “For years, fans have requested the ability to play as some of their favourite WNBA stars. We’ve been working with the WNBA and their top players to modify our basketball simulation engine to replicate the WNBA on-court experience. We’re excited to roll out this new feature in NBA 2K20because we know how important the WNBA is to the world of basketball,” said Jeff Thomas, SVP of Development, Visual Concepts.
All game modes featuring the WNBA will be available at launch. NBA 2K20 is set for release worldwide on 6 September 2019.
Edited by Kojo Essah
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