Publisher 2K Sports Thursday announced the official release date for NBA 2K17 and it'll be arriving much earlier than expected. Those who pre-order the video game that features Paul George on the standard edition cover and Kobe Bryant for the special edition will get it on Friday, Sept. 16.
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That will make 2K17 the second earliest a licensed NBA game has been released (Sept. 1, 2001 for NBA ShootOut 2002). Until two years ago the licensing agreement with the league mandated the release dates as no earlier than the first Tuesday in October. Since then NBA 2K has moved up nearly three weeks and that puts it six weeks out in front of the start of the actual NBA season.
The sports video game release schedule has serious problems due to its compressed nature and NBA 2K continuing to move up will only make things worse. The logic in moving forward this year however could relate to a desire to better capitalize on the Olympics which comes to a close Aug. 21. George is seen in a Team USA jersey on the cover of the game which could be an indication the Olympics will play some sort of role in the product.
There are three different versions of NBA 2K17 to choose from:
$60 Standard Edition
Pre-order incentive includes 5,000 Virtual Currency (which has a value of $2) and a MyTeam bundle with three packs and guaranteed Paul George “Free Agent” card.
$80 Kobe Bryant Legend Edition
Includes limited edition Kobe poster, Black Mamba controller skin, and two Panini trading cards. Extra in-game digital content will be in the form of 30,000 in Virtual Currency (worth approximately $10), a MyTeam bundle of three card packs, Kobe XI shoes, Kobe No. 8 Mitchell & Ness jersey, and Kobe hoodie.
$100 Kobe Bryant Legend Edition Gold
Includes limited edition Kobe poster, Black Mamba controller skin, and two Panini trading cards. Extra in-game digital content will be in the form of 100,000 in Virtual Currency (worth approximately $25), a MyTeam bundle of five card packs and guaranteed Michael Jordan "Free Agent" card, Kobe XI shoes, Kobe No. 8 Mitchell & Ness jersey, and Kobe hoodie.
Pre-orders are available today and Amazon Prime members can get 20% off all versions of 2K17 making them instead $48/$64/$80.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, has co-founded the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the Press Row Podcast, and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.