NBA 2K25 is taking notes from Fortnite, becoming a strange new digital platform by offering the only way to play the new game from acclaimed Lego racing devs

A fresh, futuristic new sports game is being added to NBA 2K25 as a paid add-on, but it looks like the developers may have been taking notes from Fortnite when it comes to becoming a platform for other games to exist within.

Say hello to Gravity Ball – a unique new sport which the president of NBA 2K developer Visual Concepts, Greg Thomas, describes as "American-Gladiators-meets-futuristic-basketball-meets-paintball." Players will be able to compete in 3v3 and 5v5 modes alongside friends, using power-ups and gravity-defying launch pads to soar through the air. It's certainly no run-of-the-mill basketball game we've seen before, but that's not what makes the whole situation so strange the more you look at it.

At first glance, it appears that Gravity Ball is simply paid DLC for NBA 2K25, and you wouldn't be wrong to call it that, but a statement from Visual Concepts' president raises a few questions. Thomas refers to it as a "brand-new game" – the "newest game from Visual Concepts South," in fact – that's accessible via NBA 2K25's hub area, The City. It first began as a passion project, but "we knew we needed to find a way to share it with you," says Thomas, adding: "Leveraging NBA 2K25's platform has given us that opportunity." This terminology makes it sound like it's been treated in the same sort of way as Fortnite's array of non-battle royale modes, like Lego Fortnite and Fortnite Festival, which were described as "new live-service games" available within Fortnite when they were introduced last year.

There's obviously a big difference here, though, in that NBA 2K25 isn't a free game, and neither is Gravity Ball. Fortnite and all of its games, modes, or whatever you want to call them are free-to-play, so if you only care about playing Hot To Go in Festival, you can do that without having to pay for a battle royale game you have no interest in. Gravity Ball, on the other hand, will be $7.99 when it launches tomorrow, and that's obviously for people who already own the $69.99 sports game it'll live within. Paid DLC is one thing, but framing this as the latest game from the team behind Lego 2K Drive makes the whole thing rather questionable.

To be fair, Gravity Ball itself looks pretty fun, but it remains to be seen how successful it'll be when locked away within another game like this. Thomas is looking forward to fans' feedback, and notes: "Good concepts deserve a chance to find an audience and shouldn't die on the cutting room floor."

Be sure to check out our NBA 2K25 locker codes guide to find out how to unlock bonuses in the sports game.