For the first time in the long-running video game series’ history, all 12 WNBA teams, along with their complete rosters, will be available for play in Play Now and Season game modes in “NBA 2K20.”
In an announcement on the official “NBA 2K” blog on Facebook, the creators of the game make note of the massive undertaking involved in getting everything right. From motion capture, face scans and the challenge of getting players’ hairstyles and tattoos accurate, nothing was left to chance.
Further, when adding WNBA teams, the creators “spent a great deal of time developing specific AI, playbooks and defensive schemes for each WNBA team to accurately portray their real-life styles.”
“NBA 2K20” posted video on Twitter Thursday that features gameplay with WNBA players, along with footage of Candace Parker and Breanna Stewart going through the motion-capture process.
“Just like my counterparts in the NBA, I grew up playing NBA 2K,” Parker said in a release, via Dime Mag. “After getting myself scanned and integrated into NBA 2K20 earlier this summer, I was amazed at how 2K is able to replicate women’s basketball at such a realistic level. You can tell they are taking the time to capture the essence of the WNBA and have created an immersive experience that all fans of basketball will love.”
While it’s great that “NBA 2K” is finally adding full WNBA rosters, it merits noting that its basketball video game competitor, EA Sports, previously introduced full WNBA rosters to its game back in “NBA Live 18.”
According to the release, “NBA 2K” is said to be creating a full WNBA game play engine. Further, all WNBA modes will be available when “NBA 2K20” is released on Sept. 6, 2019.
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