2K Sports are slowly rolling out the details for NBA 2K21, which is currently scheduled to be released for current and next-gen consoles later this year, the latest of which is the game’s soundtrack, which features two new unreleased songs from current-gen cover athlete and Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard.
“To be on the cover alone is a big deal to me, but to be on the cover and also have my music be a part of the game is a huge accomplishment as well,” said Damian Lillard. “Personally, I’ve been introduced to new artists, songs and genres that I might hear on the radio, but I heard it first on NBA 2K.”
Current-gen versions for NBA 2K21 will feature 52 songs, and you can check out 49 of the 52 via 2K21’s Spotify playlist, with it featuring tracks from artists like Roddy Ricch, Rick Ross, Lil Baby, and Pop Smoke.
While the current-gen versions of NBA 2K21 will feature 52 songs, the next-gen versions will feature a staggering 202 songs, with more coming at a later date, Prior to that, 2K revealed that New Orleans Pelicans rookie, Zion Williamson, who played in less than 20 games in his first season, will be the next-gen cover athlete, which was the subject of some criticism given that, while he’s popular, he spent the majority of his first season sidelined with an injury.
NBA 2K’s vice president of marketing, Alfie Brody, talked about why the next-gen versions of the game will feature over 200 songs, saying that music is an integral part of the 2K experience.
“Music has always been an integral part of NBA 2K, and each year we strive to expand our approach to the players’ in-game experience. This year we’re able to bring the soundtrack to completely new heights with a highly-curated track list powered by next-gen technology and a cover athlete in Damian Lillard who’s adding unreleased tracks; together embodying the NBA 2K21 theme – Everything is Game.”
The current-gen version of NBA 2K21 will be released on September 4, with a standard price tag of $59.99, but according to a recent report, the next-gen version of the game, which still doesn’t have a release date attached to it, will cost $70. Moreover, it’s likely that as per the usual with 2K, the game will be riddled with microtransactions, but at least up until this point, 2K refusing to abandon their current business model hasn’t hurt their annual NBA game’s sales.