NBA 2K24 Becomes The Second Lowest-Rated Game On Steam

NBA 2K24 seemingly flew under the radar of most gaming outlets when it came out last week. But that hasn’t kept it from receiving a ton of responses from fans. While the core gameplay continues to be a highlight, the bulk of the discourse has largely been swayed in an entirely different direction. And as is the case with many other titles nowadays, it’s microtransactions and poor gameplay. 

The game’s fixation on the use of microtransactions, as well as its new badge system, makes it an incredibly grindy and unrewarding experience. This has led to some serious outrage from fans. But there is another big reason why the title is being disliked by PC users specifically. Turns out, the PC version of NBA 2K24 is based on the last-gen PS4 and Xbox One variants of the game.

As a result, the PC port doesn’t include any of the bells and whistles that are found in the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions. Namely, the improved graphical fidelity. Reviewers feel like this is a disservice to PC fans, especially considering how PS5 and Xbox Series X have been out for nearly three years.  This very much sets them as current-gen consoles.

Thus, making the choice to lump the PC port with last-gen consoles is all the more puzzling. Fans have chosen to air out their dissent on Steam, where NBA 2K24 currently has overwhelmingly negative reviews.  One fan stated that they should’ve known the game was “worthless” when it launched without a gameplay trailer. It also doesn’t help that the port has been plagued with crashing issues. 

Out of a total of 2800 reviews for the game, a mere 11% are positive. This means that NBA 2K24 has almost 2,500 negative reviews at this point. As per Steam250, a popular tracking site, NBA 2K24 is currently the second-worst-rated Steam game. The only other game with worse ratings on the platform is Overwatch 2. The sequel to Blizzard’s hero shooter was recently added to Steam in August. 

At least in the case of Overwatch 2, much of the criticism stemmed from Chinese players, who were critical of Blizzard’s poor infrastructure. While NBA 2K24 has its fair share of Chinese reviews, much of the criticism seems to be focused on the game itself. That said, despite the negativity, some players have continued to praise the game. Even going as far as to call its gameplay “almost perfect”.