In less than two weeks, NBA 2K23 is set to feature a fresh collection of Badges that includes 20 new offerings on both the current and next-gen versions of the game.
Just as in past NBA 2K titles, it appears Badges will once again be a prominent gameplay factor in the series’ latest entry. Badges essentially determine what skills different players are good at. For those wondering what to expect once the game drops on Sept. 9, here’s a breakdown of all you need to know about Badges in NBA 2K23.
**NBA 2K23 NEW BADGES**
Here is a CLEAN look for incoming and outgoing badges #NBA2K23
PLEASE RETWEET AND FOLLOW 😁 pic.twitter.com/rQ0BIBWGXt
— – Paulagio – (@_Paulagio) August 3, 2022
In NBA 2K23, there will be a total of 16 Badges per attribute category — Finishing, Shooting, Playmaking, Defense/Rebounding — making for a condensed total of 64.
For comparison, there were 80 total badges in 2K22, with 20 spread across each category.
NBA 2K23 will feature 20 new badges for players to experience:
Longtime NBA 2K players can probably deduce just which of the Badges from NBA 2K22 will be making up the 44 others in NBA 2K23, however, we won’t be listing that out just yet since 2K has yet to officially confirm them.
Lastly, here are the 12 Badges that are confirmed not to be returning from NBA 2K22 entirely:
Although those on current gen will no longer have to use the pie chart build system, it does appear that there will be another new feature that next-gen MyCAREER players will have exclusively to themselves in NBA 2K23: a tiered Badge system.
In NBA 2K23 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the 16 Badges per attribute category will be further divided up into three Tiers: eight in Tier 1, four in Tier 2 and four in Tier 3.
The basic idea is that next-gen players will need to equip a certain number of Badges in the lower Tiers before they can equip Badges in the highest.
“When looking at telemetry from previous years,” 2K’s dev blog post reads, “we noticed that players often gravitated towards the same Badges and, as a result, became a little overpowered by stacking certain Badges together.
“The motive behind this change was to encourage players to make some tough choices when creating their Badge recipes, make loadouts more valuable as a feature and bring a better overall balance to the Badge game in general.”
Thoughts on this graphic to help explain the #NBA2K23 tiered badge system? @Beluba, anything else you can share? Can you share the cost between tiers? Or an example of a tier 3 badge? pic.twitter.com/kufaDB1KNi
— – Paulagio – (@_Paulagio) August 4, 2022
Tier 1 Badges will be the least powerful, but also cost the least amount of Badge Points. Costs go up as players climb the Tiers and acquire the most impactful Badges.
Along with the Tiers, the next-gen version of NBA 2K23 will also introduce Core Badges, which are four unique Badge slots (one per attribute category) that can be filled with Badges that don’t count towards players’ Badge Points. Each Badge will have a challenge requirement that, once met, will allow the Badge to be placed into a Core Badge slot.
NBA 2K23 is set to release worldwide for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC (via Steam) on Sept. 9, 2022.
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