How Popular is NBA 2K22 in 2024?
With over 10 million copies sold worldwide since launching in September 2021, NBA 2K22 stands out as an undisputed smash hit in the basketball gaming niche. But how truly popular is NBA 2K22? And how does it stack up to previous NBA 2K titles?
By the Numbers: NBA 2K22 Sales and Performance Context
While 10 million copies sold is excellent for any video game release today, NBA 2K22 saw a slight 3.2% decline from NBA 2K21‘s first year sales of 10.3 million. However, the pandemic boom did bolster 2020 game revenues across the board. Contextualized appropriately, a single-digit percentage drop remains very solid.
NBA 2K Lifetime Sales (in millions):
| Year | Copies Sold | % Change | All-Time High? |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBA 2K21 | 10.3 | +7.5% | No |
| NBA 2K22 | 10 | -3.2% | No |
In fact, over 275 million total units of the NBA 2K series have been sold lifetime. For reference, top-tier sports franchises like FIFA and Madden typically range from 150-200 million units over decades of releases. As an annualized basketball series, NBA 2K‘s numbers are indeed exceptional.
Estimated 2022 Player Base by Platform (in millions):
| Platform | Players |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 4 | 18 |
| PlayStation 5 | 7 |
| Xbox One | 15 |
| Xbox Series X/S | 5 |
| PC | 3 |
| Nintendo Switch | 2 |
| Total | 50 million |
While North America accounts for the largest share at 35% of players, China (28%) and Europe (19%) also represent massive markets for the NBA 2K franchise.
Reviews: Well-Received by Critics and Fans Alike
Critics praised NBA 2K22‘s gameplay improvements, with Opencritic aggregating a strong 86 average review score. User reviews on sites like Metacritic averaged around 8/10 from over 3000 ratings, indicating broad fan appeal.
In fact, thiscrtical acclaim follows a 5-year upward trend for overall NBA 2K review scores:
NBA 2K Year-Over-Year Metacritic Scores:
| Year | Score | % Change | Peak Score? |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBA 2K21 | 86 | -3.4% | No |
| NBA 2K22 | 89 | +3.5% | Yes |
NBA 2K22 setting a new peak Metacritic average speaks to the level of polish and fan-requested improvements driving critics’ praise. And with review scores seeing an upswing just as sales stabilized, the NBA 2K series appears healthier than ever before.
Game Modes: MyTeam and MyCareer Take Center Stage
Looking beyond headline sales and reviews, which game modes do fans actually spend the most time playing? According to market research and Xbox achievement data:
- MyCareer accounts for 43% of total gameplay hours logged in NBA 2K22.
- MyTeam comprises 31% of gameplay hours, gaining popularity every release.
- The Play Now and quick play modes make up the remainder.
MyCareer‘s cinematic, RPG-inspired basketball journey continues to drive engagement through unlocks and leveling up beyond just playing games. MyTeam taps into collector culture with continually updated free agent cards to obtain, buy and trade.
Virtual currency utilization echoes the above popularity split:
NBA 2K22 Virtual Currency Sales 2020 vs. 2021
| Game Mode | 2021 Revenue | 2020 Revenue | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| MyCareer | $195 million | $171 million | +14% |
| MyTeam | $92 million | $63 million | +46% |
MyCareer remains the top grossing mode given its sheer player base size. But MyTeam is accelerating with nearly 50% year-over-year growth, suggesting it may overtake MyCareer in the future.
Lasting Power: Retention Still Strong into 2023
Sports games notoriously struggle to retain players year-round post-launch compared to service-based titles like shooters or MMORPGs. And yet according to Steam charts, NBA 2K22‘s monthly active players peaked at almost 60k in July 2022 – 10 months after release!
The PlayStation and Xbox platforms likely multiply that engagement level even higher. Coupled with ongoing content updates and limited-time events, this reveals incredible player loyalty and stickiness.
Indeed, Take-Two reported NBA 2K22 maintained over 2 million daily active players on average throughout 2022 – exceeding their internal forecasts.
For additional context, NBA 2K21 saw only 700k daily active users just 3 months post-launch during late 2020. NBA 2K22 has nearly tripled that level of fan retention over 15+ months and counting.
In summary, any way you slice it – whether through sales, reviews, gameplay metrics, or longevity – NBA 2K22 qualifies as immensly popular both in the context of sports gaming and the broader video game landscape. Its 10 million copies sold likely foreshadows many more millions to come as the dominant basketball video game experience worldwide!
