Game Pass Gets Surprise Announcement Of NBA 2K24

Microsoft has announced that NBA 2K24 is coming to Game Pass later this month. The professional basketball sim will come to the subscription service on March 11.

NBA 2K24 will be available through Game Pass for both console and the cloud. This is the newest entry in 2K’s popular basketball series, and it’s coming to Game Pass about six months after it first released in September 2023.

The game sold more than 7 million copies, but that figure was below parent company Take-Two’s expectations. Whether or not that has anything to do with it coming to Game Pass is unknown. In any event, Take-Two could be thinking that opening the game up to Game Pass subscribers may be a way to help the game reach more people and drive more revenue to its extensive microtransactions. GameSpot’s NBA 2K24 review noted that the game’s use of microtransactions pushes the game to “new lows” in terms of its in-game economy.

Take-Two has said it does not believe in services like Game Pass for new releases, but would consider bringing its catalog games to the service on a title-by-title basis, and NBA 2K24 is just the latest example. Take-Two’s biggest hit, GTA V, has been added to and removed from Game Pass multiple times over the years.

March is a pretty busy month for Game Pass. Beyond NBA 2K24, the library adds SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated on March 12, Control’s Ultimate Edition on March 13, No More Heroes 3 on March 14, and MLB The Show 24 on March 19.