NBA 2K19 Says Virtual Currency, Microtransactions Aren’t Going Anywhere

2K Games says that they are working on addressing this feedback in a couple of ways with NBA 2K19, which will include, once again, paid-for currency in-game called VC (virtual currency), saying that microtransactions and paid-for currencies are just “an unfortunate reality of modern gaming”.

And while the developer is working on addressing some of the feedback they have received, they made it clear that VC and general microtransactions are here to stay.

“Every game, at some point, in some way has currency and they’re trying to get additional revenue from each player that plays the game,” senior producer Rob Jones said, in an interview with Trusted Reviews.

“You know, the question has to be when does it feel like it’s a straight money grab versus when does it feel like it’s value added, right?

“We know nowadays that most people don’t have the patience to work their way to the top. They just wanna be there right away. So, you know, we look at it as, ‘oh it’s an opportunity for us to allow you to skip the grind’, but then if the grind is too long, like some people felt last year, they’re gonna sit there and they’re gonna go ‘well, you knew the grind was too long to begin with.’”

Jones says that 2K is focusing on new wrinkles for NBA2K19, aiming to reward players enough by playing the game that they don’t feel the need to buy in-game purchases, in some cases “shortcuts”, if they do not want to.

“So we’re hoping that by rewarding you more that, A: you won’t need to go in and get as many things [VC] and B: you won’t feel like you know, ‘oh this is how they’re getting me.’ You can now participate in other things to get what you want,” Jones added.

“I think the biggest problem last year was not knowing where you were going. A lot of the times you wasted VC that you had earned on things that weren’t necessary.”

NBA2K19 is scheduled to arrive to Xbox One, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 11th.