NBA 2K23's hot dog hat quest has players steamed

NBA 2K23 hot dog hat — (Image credit: Dullah/2K Games)

NBA 2K23 players are already growing frustrated with this year's MyCareer mode, both for its slow Virtual Currency grind and bizarre quests that have very little to do with playing basketball.

One particular point of contention has been a quest early in MyCareer mode which sees your created character attempting to win the hearts and minds of the people of the city. In addition to, you know, winning basketball games and becoming a star, you also need to complete quests to raise your standing in the city's various districts.

In a bizarre, six-minute long cutscene, you're told to start this effort by helping out a streetside hot dog vendor named Carl. Carl wants you to pass out hot dog fliers while wearing a hot dog hat to promote his vegan hot dog cart. (His father was a hot dog vendor, too, but they fell out over the idea of vegan dogs, sadly.)

From there, you have to… Well, I probably don't have to keep running this down. You can see it all for yourself in the video below, and the cutscenes are every bit as weird and meandering as the description up to this point has been.

The quest is ultimately pretty short, and you might enjoy these bits if you're into surrealist comedy, but it's all a bit much for players just here to enjoy a career mode in the latest NBA game, especially since these quests are mandatory to continue to play the mode.

The hot dog hat quest has become something of a rallying point for broader criticisms of this year's MyCareer, which players are finding to be an even bigger grind than in years past. Since quests give out less VC than they used to, they've become an ever-more-frustrating stopping point for players who just want to get on with the action.

If you're looking to play with your friends, keep in mind that NBA 2K23 has cross-platform progression, but it does not have crossplay.

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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.