NBA 2K24 Nears Overwatch 2's Infamous Spot as Steam’s Worst-rated Game
The latest entry in the esteemed NBA 2K series, NBA 2K24, has found itself in a race nobody wants to win: the battle for the title of "worst-reviewed game" on the popular PC gaming platform Steam. Released just a week ago, the basketball simulation game has been hit with a wave of overwhelmingly negative user reviews, placing it perilously close to the current holder of the unenviable title, Overwatch 2.
NBA 2K24's journey to the bottom has been swift and brutal. In the mere five days since its launch on September 8th, a staggering 91% of the game's nearly 4,000 user reviews on Steam have been negative. This has earned it an "Overwhelmingly Negative" consensus on the platform, a feat only surpassed by Overwatch 2, which has the same 9% positive rating, but from a significantly larger pool of over 184,000 user reviews.
The avalanche of criticism for NBA 2K24 is rooted in several key issues raised by the gaming community. Many users have expressed discontent with the decision to base the PC version of the game on the previous-gen PS4 and Xbox One console versions, as opposed to the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions. This move has been met with backlash over visual quality, along with absent game modes like MyNBA and The W, which were anticipated by fans.
Moreover, gamers have been biting in their reviews about the title's monetisation practices, lack of cross-play, absence of a MyCareer story, and a host of technical gremlins, from crashes to bugs. Adding insult to injury, NBA 2K24’s price tag matches that of current-gen games despite apparent missing features. The standard edition is priced at £49.99, with the premium Black Mamba Edition coming at a steep £89.99 for additional in-game bonuses.
In conclusion, NBA 2K24's tumultuous debut week on Steam paints a grim picture. The game's low user rating has placed it neck and neck with Overwatch 2 for the shameful title of "worst-reviewed game". Amidst the storm of criticism, one can only hope that the developers can respond quickly and effectively to salvage the situation. After all, as one user wittily put it, “it's pretty good on alt f4 settings” - not exactly the ringing endorsement the makers of NBA 2K24 would have been hoping for.
