NBA 2K23 shrinks the City and players are thrilled

2K Games has revealed what players can expect from the City in the new-gen versions of NBA 2K23, and some changes already have players very excited.

The City is set to be "approximately 30 percent smaller" than it was in 2K22, according to the announcement blog. That means you'll have to spend far less time wandering around the virtual hub to get to whichever modes you want to play. There are also now subway stations which you can use to quickly fast travel between locations.

Those changes alone are already going down well with fans on social media, as are the revamped affiliation boroughs and the new Theater mode. The Theater will feature a four event playlist which rotates weekly, giving you a quick way to get into matchmaking for experimental modes. Some of the early events confirmed include Hustle, a 3v3 mode with 12-second shot clocks, and Pulling Weight, where every player will be required to contribute to offense equally.

But there's one caveat to all the current goodwill: the rundown of the new City doesn't make any mention of the Old Gym. That mode proved to be a popular one, as it allowed for 3v3 matches with no squads, making it a quick, easy way for solo players to get into online games without getting rolled over by coordinated teams. Theater modes could effectively replace the Old Gym, but it remains to be seen how players will take to them.

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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.