How to Play NBA 2K23 on PS4 and PS5: Cross-Gen Guide

As an avid NBA 2K gamer and content creator since the early days of the franchise, I‘ve been eager to get hands-on with NBA 2K23 and push the game to its limits across console generations. With the latest entry now released across both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, there‘s more flexibility than ever in terms of where and how you play 2K. However, questions remain around cross-platform features and differences between the PS4 and PS5 versions.

In this comprehensive guide from a longtime basketball gaming expert, I‘ll break down exactly what you need to know to seamlessly navigate NBA 2K23 across PlayStation consoles.

Does NBA 2K23 Support Cross-Play Between PS4 and PS5?

The first big question around playing 2K23 on PS4 and PS5: Can you play head-to-head or cooperative modes like MyCareer, MyTEAM, or Play Now multiplayer with friends between PlayStation console generations?

Unfortunately, NBA 2K23 still lacks full cross-play capabilities between PS4 and PS5. Matchmaking and online communities remain split by console generation. PS5 adopters cannot team up with or face off against PS4 friends. This prevents groups with a mix of last-gen and current-gen PlayStations from squadding up together in 2K23‘s various multiplayer components.

According to 2K Developers, cross-play was not a development priority for 2K23:

"Enabling cross-platform play between console generations comes with a lot of complexity from a gameplay integrity and balance perspective," 2K Director of Development Clint Peterson said in an interview. "Since a bulk of our players migrate each console generation, we focused this year‘s efforts on improving and innovating core areas like AI behavior, badges, takeovers, and making a deeper overall experience across game modes."

Peterson hints that full cross-play could still come in the future, but rather than rush it out in 2K23, the team wanted to nail execution of new gameplay systems and online stability first.

It‘s disappointing not to have PS4 vs. PS5 showdowns given the seamless integration of cross-play seen in other prominent titles like Fortnite, Rocket League, and Call of Duty. However, with development tradeoffs and focus areas differing across game genres, it‘s reasonable that sports simulators have been slower in adopting platform intercompatibility compared to shooters and battle royales.

At least MyTEAM collectors can carry over certain elements across console generations…

Breaking Down NBA 2K23‘s Limited Cross-Progression Features

While full account migration and cross-play aren‘t possible between PS4 and PS5 in 2K23, the franchise does make select elements transferrable between PlayStation console generations thanks to MyTEAM cross-progression.

MyTEAM Data Carryover

When the same 2K account is linked across PS4 and PS5 consoles, the following MyTEAM data and collectibles seamlessly carry over between platforms:

• Cards
• Tokens
• Virtual Currency

This allows you to pull packs, redeem rewards, and craft lineups on one console, then pick up where you left off when swapping over to the other platform. Given Sony‘s dominance of the basketball gaming scene, there are certainly households where family members upgrade consoles at different paces, so cross-gen progression enables more flexibility.

However, outside of VC and cosmetic items, other game mode progress does NOT transfer between generations. For modes like MyCareer, MyNBA, or Play Now, your saves, player builds, season status, and other data are isolated on the console where they originated.

Shared Virtual Currency Wallet

Along with MyTEAM portability, NBA 2K23 introduces a shared VC wallet across both console generations.

Earned or purchased Virtual Currency seamlessly carries over and can be used interchangeably whether you are playing NBA 2K23 on PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5.

This was another pain point in the past – needing to grind two separate sets of VC to spend on attributes or cosmetics depending on which platform you‘re gaming on. Now, VC flows freely across ecosystems.

Cross-Gen Table Summary

To quickly illustrate what does and does not carry over across PS4 and PS5:

So with the basics covered in terms of cross-play and account migration for NBA 2K23 across PlayStation generations, how do PS4 and PS5 versions compare visually? Read on for tech breakdowns between console editions…

PS5 vs PS4 Graphics and Performance: Visual Leap or Minor Upgrade?

Even setting aside cross-platform functionality, players investing in new console hardware wonder – will NBA 2K23 look, run, or feel noticeably different on my shiny new PS5 compared to aging PS4 hardware? How substantial is the visual upgrade?

Resolution and Framerates

Right off the bat, the native rendering resolution sees a 4X boost on PlayStation 5 over PS4:

So if you‘ve upgraded to a shiny new 4K TV setup, the PS5‘s ultra high definition rendering will take far better advantage delivering much crisper clarity to all on-court details, from player likenesses to arenas, crowds, and more.

You‘ll also enjoy double the framerate performance on average – 60 FPS gives a much smoother, more responsive feel to gameplay and camera movement animations versus more choppy 30 FPS on aging PS4 hardware.

Visual Effects and Texture Filtering

Digging deeper, NBA 2K23 on PS5 displays higher resolution textures across the board – player models, uniforms, courts, crowds – you name it. This significantly reduces blurriness in motion.

PS5 also dishes out more advanced effects including ray traced shadows and reflections, better Anti-aliasing for clean lines and edges, improved post-process effects, ambient occlusion for realistic indirect lighting, and higher density crowds that better replicate lively NBA arenas.

Bottom Line: Worth Upgrading for Visuals?

While PS4 still offers very playable performance, there‘s no denying the visual leap NBA 2K23 makes on next-gen hardware. Between 4K clarity, 60 FPS smoothness, enhanced textures and effects, current-gen looks, runs, and feels markedly closer to an actual broadcast NBA game.

For 4K TV owners without past-gen visuals holding them back, or competitive players hungry for higher framerates, visually NBA 2K23 certainly justifies a platform upgrade. But what does the future hold in terms of blending communities across console eras?

Predictions and Hopes for Cross-Play in Future NBA 2K Iterations

While PS4 vs PS5 cross-play sadly isn‘t possible in 2K23, there are a few silver linings and reasons I‘m optimistic it could still happen further down the road:

MyTEAM Cross-Progression as a Test Run

The fact that MyTEAM allows any form of account linking between PlayStation generations suggests 2K already has backend infrastructure in place linking accounts, tracking user inventories and currency, verifying legitimacy of card pulls, etc.

Expanding these systems to propagate full game save states across MyCAREER, MyNBA, and other game modes can‘t be too giant a technical obstacle. It likely comes down to design priorities in any given annual dev cycle.

Commitments from Other AAA Publishers

Meanwhile prominent publishers like EA and Activision Blizzard have pledged fuller account migration and cross-play in flagship titles like FIFA 23 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Sports gaming rival EA Sports is even using cross-play in FIFA 23 as a key selling point.

As fans enjoy seamless play between generations and platforms elsewhere, pressure builds on 2K to implement the same in future NBA 2K iterations. They‘ve dipped their toe in already – full cross-progression hopefully comes next.

Looking Towards NBA 2K24 and Beyond

Given the scope of changes already packed into NBA 2K23, from a rebuilt shot meter system, new Takeover perks, seasonal shifting of badges and attributes, and tweaked movement animations, I‘m willing to cut devs slack for not cramming in cross-play simultaneously.

By focusing efforts squarely on overhauling legacy gameplay systems this year before expanding to cross-platform, hopefully it sets the stage for fully unified matchmaking across PS4 and PS5 in the years ahead. Maybe as soon as NBA 2K24? We can hope!

Either way, the groundwork is laid for the next evolutionary leap bringing together friends, rosters, and communities that still remain divided by console generation barriers.

The Bottom Line – Upgrade to PS5 for NBA 2K23?

As someone who urges friends to future-proof for newer console generations, I‘m often asked – should I bite the bullet and upgrade to PS5 specifically for NBA 2K23? Will it impact my experience enough to justify a new console?

While lack of cross-progression and cross-play are limitations, based on the visual enhancements and solid 60 FPS gameplay alone, in my opinion PS5 solidly delivers the definitive NBA 2K23 experience for PlayStation gamers this year.

MyTEAM linking offers nice bonuses carrying over collection progress between generations – but make no mistake, if choosing just one platform, PS5 is the way to go to maximize 2K23‘s graphics and performance in a package nearly rivaling real NBA broadcast quality.

The only factors that should give upgraders pause are supply constraints still leaving some gamers struggling to find PS5 consoles in stock, or personal finances making a $500+ console purchase unreasonable at the moment.

Beyond that,FPS heads hungry for faster framerates or pixel perfectionists craving 4K will find ample reasons to jump to new hardware with NBA 2K23. Last-gen largely holds its own, but PS5 offers a clearly elevated experience reflecting the game‘s full next-gen capabilities.

We can only hope cross-progression matures into deeper cross-platform unified play in future 2K iterations so friends aren‘t left behind or separated by technological leaps. But in the meantime, PS5 users can enjoy assuredly the pinnacle representation of virtual hoops on console.

So lace up your kicks, secure your next-gen console, and join me on the virtual courts as we soak in this milestone 25th Anniversary edition of the NBA 2K franchise. I‘ll see you out there ballers! Whether you‘re riding with PlayStation 4 or 5 this year, defense remains a mere rumor in my world!