Two inevitable things have occurred today thanks to NBA 2K21: The first is that the late, great Kobe Bryant will grace the cover of this year’s iteration in the pro basketball franchise with his own, “Mamba Forever” limited edition that honors Bryant and his “lifelong pursuit of victory and legacy in the sport of basketball.” The second inevitable thing is something we’ve talked about on this website recently, and it’s that NBA 2k21 is officially the first PS5 game to get a base price increase. When the game launches on September 4 it will cost $69.99 on the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, a ten dollar increase over the current generation. Hope you’re ready for a potential new industry standard.
Mamba Forever A closer look at the covers
We love and miss you Kobe #NBA2K21 pic.twitter.com/Jf1M5kUewx
— NBA 2K21 (@NBA2K) July 2, 2020
The special version is up for pre-order now on PSN, with The Mamba Forever Edition will include the Kobe Bryant Digital Collection that includes special MyPlayer Shoes and Jerseys, a Sapphire Kobe MyTEAM Card, and more. Players will also get in the collector’s edition:
The NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition includes the following digital items:
- 100,000 Virtual Currency
- 10,000 MyTEAM Points
- 10 MyTEAM Tokens
- 60 MyCAREER Skill Boosts
- 40 MyTEAM Promo Packs (10 at launch, then 3 per week)
- Sapphire Damian Lillard and Zion Williamson MyTEAM cards
- MyPLAYER Shoe Collection
- MyPLAYER backpack
- Kobe Bryant Digital Collection
Not only will the next-gen versions of the game will cost a full ten dollars more, it will also forego any kind of Smart Delivery or free cross-generation upgrade. However, the $99.99 Mamba Forever Edition, includes both the current and next-gen version of the game, effectively making the next-gen upgrade a $40 premium (or a $30 premium to have early access on this generation before next-gen launches). Leave it to the annual sports titles to make it overly complex moving into next-gen.
Is this a sign of things to come for the industry, or a case of 2K attempting to get the most out of a next-gen game that players could potentially have already owned since September? No word yet, but typically with these things, where one publisher goes the rest are sure to follow, at least to some degree. If a $70 base price for new video games is deemed successful, it could become a new standard.
