NBA 2K24 Devs May Never Solve Badge Regression Problems

A tweet by the producer at 2K Sports put the nail in the coffin.

By Mudassir Hussain September 17, 2023

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A recent tweet by the producer at 2K Sports has confirmed for the fans that the devs will likely never fix the badge regression in NBA 2K24.
This feature has been disliked by almost the entire NBA 2K community, who believe that players should not lose badges or regress without a good reason.
The devs have emphasized that without such a feature, builds would become “OP,” so it will remain that way to avoid power creep.
NBA 2K24 was released on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 8, 2023. The game has not been received very well by the fans.

A recent tweet by Zack Timmerman, the producer at 2K Sports, has more or less confirmed that the devs will never solve the badge regression system. Many players have complained that they shouldn’t lose progress when a badge is maxed out, but Timmerman has repeatedly emphasized that the badge regression only seeks to prevent people from having “OP builds.”

Nah

— Zach Timmerman 2K24 (@CHoops4Life) September 16, 2023

The thread was made by one of the top creators in the community, NaDeXe, who claimed to have reached HoF Limitless but woke up to find himself in the bronze again. He claimed that “this game is literally going backwards.” Timmerman’s reply to this was a reminder that players need to use it frequently to progress, and simply making one every few games won’t get them past bronze.

After letting out his frustrations with the system, NaDeXe was met with a no for an answer. If the devs are telling top creators in the community that it won’t change, then perhaps it is time that players stop hoping for it every single patch. It isn’t the first time Timmerman has made these claims, as in the early days of launch, he addressed other issues with the badge system and asked for players’ feedback.

When a badge is maxed you should stop losing progress

— Snubby (@Snubby21) September 10, 2023

I understand this stance, but if this were the way, you’d end up with more badges than is realistic, and the result would be OP builds. Nobody wants to play against OP builds, as we’ve seen in years past,” says Zack Timmerman.

Some people understood where he was coming from but still couldn’t help but find the system flawed, as one Twitter user stated, “As much as I want this… this breaks the whole dynamic of the badge system.” The NBA 2K community has been very vocal about this issue since the game’s launch. Badge regression is one of the biggest reasons why many don’t enjoy the game.

Although it isn’t the sole perpetrator, NBA 2K24 has become one of the worst-rated games ever on Steam. As such, players thought the dev team might listen to their feedback and try to improve the game per players’ wishes. Unfortunately for players, it seems like the game will stay this way, and we may only see improvements in other aspects.

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NBA 2K24—the annual iteration in the NBA 2K series—was developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Games. It was released on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 8, 2023.