Visual Concepts has always been eager to explore gameplay off the court in its basketball sims, but we’ve never seen anything quite like this. It’s announced Gravity Ball for NBA 2K25, an all-new, premium piece of paid DLC that adds an all-new online multiplayer game to the title. It’s been developed by the same team behind LEGO 2K Drive.

“Entering an arena-like dome, players will compete in 3v3 or 5v5 formats and try to outscore their opposing squad by taking aim at a series of numbered targets,” the press release reads. “Working with teammates to maintain possession, players will weave their way through the defense, and utilise Power-Ups to outscore the rival squad in this madcap game. Featuring a multi-tiered court and four different Power Ups, Gravity Ball is pure off-the-walls mayhem.”

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The mode will cost $7.99 when it releases on 18th October, but it’ll only be accessible within The City, which is NBA 2K25’s social hub on PS5 only (last-gen consoles have a different sandbox). There’s already a go-karting minigame in the core release, but we’ve never seen it try anything quite like this.

In a blog post, president Greg James described the addition as a “mashup of American-Gladiators-meets-futuristic-basketball-meets-paintball”. He continued: “Every game studio, big and small, likes to try new things and bring new fun to players. Good concepts deserve a chance to find an audience and shouldn’t die on the cutting room floor. We hope you enjoy this game as much as we do and look forward to your feedback.”

It does sound like this is an experiment, then, and perhaps a test bed to see if future NBA 2K titles could potentially play host to different experiences. This seems to be the way all games are going at the moment, as booting up Fortnite these days introduces you to an unfathomable list of different activities, from tycoon games to obstacle courses.

Perhaps games are getting too ambitious to just do one thing now.

[source youtube.com]