If NBA 2K21 on current consoles left you feeling a little down, then good news, NBA 2K21 on next gen should bring you back up again. In typical fashion Visual Concept’s Mike Wang, who is also the director of the NBA 2K games, has released a mammoth report on the features coming to the next gen versions of the game.

While the games will be identical on all the next gen platforms, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, the addition of the ‘adaptive triggers’ on the PlayStation 5, have allowed for the developers to come up with something new, for that platform.

Something that always excites us as developers is the introduction of new hardware features that come along with new consoles. When we first heard about the PlayStation 5’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, we immediately began brainstorming ways to use them to enhance the gameplay experience. As soon as we got our hands on the dev kits, our lead engineer experimented with several different prototypes to figure out what made the most sense for a basketball game.

For the adaptive triggers, we opted to use them to convey energy/fatigue. As you move around the court, you’ll feel more and more resistance on the Sprint trigger as your player’s energy drains. We also use adaptive resistance in the post-game. Strong post players will feel very little resistance on L2 when backing down weaker opponents, but you’ll have to use more force to pull L2 when it’s the other way around. It’s very interesting to play with and helps immerse you into the experience of actually being on the basketball court!

As for haptic feedback, we used it to accentuate our various collision systems. Boxouts, body-up rides, off-ball collisions/deny/rides… basically any situation where players make significant contact will vibrate the controller at various intensities depending on the strength of the players involved and the severity of the impact. It’s so dope to feel the difference in your hands between a grazing bump and hard hit. It’s also a great reinforcement tool to understand when you’re making players work too hard on the court, which could hit their energy/stamina levels and potentially cause wear-and-tear on their bodies with our in-depth injury system.

For the rest of the details, including new movement, defence options and more, check out the full report, which you can do via this link.