I recently attended the NBA 2K26 Developer Roundtable, where Visual Concepts veterans Mike Wang, Erick Boenisch, Mark Little, and Jonathan Smith broke down the biggest changes coming to this year’s game. From gameplay tuning to a redesigned City, they made it clear that NBA 2K26 is all about speed, competition, and giving players more reasons to hoop.

Nowhere is that vision clearer than in The City, the heart of the MyPLAYER experience. Returning to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, The City has been overhauled with a faster layout, new rewards systems, and a fresh mix of competitive and social features. From redesigned Parks and the debut of Crews to the new Street Kings mode and a deeper REP grind, NBA 2K26 makes sure you’re spending less time running around and more time on the court.

Read on, or click below to jump to a specific feature of The City in NBA 2K26:

• The City
• Seasonal Parks Return
• Crews
• Leaderboards and Rep
• Pro-AM Summit
• Street Kings
• Challenges
• Swap Builds and MyCOURT
• The Track
• MyCAREER: Out of Bounds

The City Revamped

Building on NBA 2K25’s push for a more streamlined world, The City in NBA 2K26 is designed for speed and accessibility. Every major spot—from the Gatorade Training Facility to the Event Center and Arena—is within walking distance, with The Theater, REC, and Proving Grounds positioned along the outer ring for quick access.

The first thing you’ll notice when loading in on PlayStation®5 or Xbox Series X|S is how smooth everything feels. For the first time ever, The City runs at a full 60 frames per second, with buttery animations and clean camera movement that make the world feel alive. Look around and you’ll even spot planes and helicopters flying across the skyline, adding to the atmosphere of this living basketball hub.

2K has also tackled one of the community’s biggest requests was new lighting and fixed time-of-day visuals. No more harsh shadows or blinding sunlight mid-game. Outdoor matches in the Park now have consistent, balanced lighting so the focus stays on the action.

Walking through the open-air plaza, you’ll find stone pathways lined with digital directory boards showing off the top MyPLAYERs and Crew rankings. Whether you’re tracking friends, hunting challengers, or chasing leaderboard glory, NBA 2K26 makes sure every hoop and every rival is always within reach.

Seasonal Parks Return

Before The City became the centerpiece of MyPLAYER, it all started with The Park back in NBA 2K14. Parks were the birthplace of online streetball competition, where players came together for pickup games and bragging rights. Now, Parks are officially back in NBA 2K26, and they’re bigger than ever.

This year, Parks blend nostalgia with fresh variety. Instead of futuristic themes, the new Parks go for a more grounded, realistic look, inspired by real-world outdoor courts. The centerpiece of The City is a massive rotating basketball that doubles as your gateway to each Park, which changes every Season.

Every six weeks, a new Park environment will debut. Some are brand-new designs, while others are full HD remasters of the four iconic NBA 2K16 MyPARKs, letting veterans relive their favorite stomping grounds in stunning detail. Season 1 kicks off with Skyline Park, an urban setting that captures the raw energy of neighborhood hoops.

On top of the new locations, NBA 2K26 gives you more reasons to keep coming back with Park-exclusive rewards and systems:

• Park MVPs: The top REP player in each server is crowned MVP, marked with a visible icon so everyone knows where they’re hooping. Take them down and you’ll score a huge 5x REP and 5x VC bonus—earnable once every three hours.
• Streak Setters: Hold down a court with a win streak and your name will be displayed courtside for everyone to see.
• Streak Breakers: End another team’s hot streak to earn extra VC. The longer the streak, the bigger the payout—snapping a 30-game run nets you a massive 30,000 VC bonus.
• REP Boost: All Park games grant a 25% REP bonus, making it one of the fastest ways to level up your MyPLAYER.

With rotating Parks, big rewards, and the return of MyPARK classics, NBA 2K26 makes every Season feel fresh while still honoring its roots.

Crews: Build Your Squad, Claim Your Spot

One of the most exciting additions in NBA 2K26 is Crews, a brand-new way to team up, rep your squad, and earn rewards together. Think of it as your own custom affiliation, built around your friends and community.

Crews can be as small as your inner circle or grow to include up to 50 players, giving you plenty of flexibility. Each Crew has a custom logo, branded clothing, and a Crew level that appears next to your MyPLAYER nameplate, so everyone in The City knows who you roll with.

Progressing with your Crew is all about teamwork. By playing games and completing weekly goals, your Crew can climb through 30 different Crew levels, unlocking rewards along the way:

• Custom Crew logos and branded clothing
• VC and REP multipliers when playing together
• Four Cap Breakers and an extra Badge Perk slot
• Unlimited Boosts
• And more exclusive rewards as you rise through the ranks

Whether you’re running with a tight-knit squad or organizing a 50-player powerhouse, Crews give NBA 2K26 players a new layer of competition, creativity, and identity.

Leaderboards and REP: Flex Your Status

NBA 2K26 adds more ways than ever to prove you’re the best in The City. New leaderboards track performance across different modes and even showcase your dominance with in-game statues and flair.

• Mode Leaderboards: Track wins across Park, The Theater, REC, Proving Grounds, Triple Threat Park, Starting 5, and Ante-Up. The #1 player in each mode gets a towering 12-foot statue outside that building for everyone to see.
• Geo Rank Leaderboards: Rep your region. Rankings now filter by all 50 U.S. states and global regions, with top players earning a unique flair that shows up in their pre-game intros.
• Crew Leaderboards: Crews can also compete for bragging rights, proving who really runs The City.

On top of that, the REP system from NBA 2K25 returns with a fresh slate of rewards. Players will work their way from Rookie to Legend across five tiers per category, unlocking Cap Breakers, Boosters, Animations, VC, and more along the way.

Grind hard, climb the leaderboards, and you might just see your MyPLAYER immortalized in The City as a true Legend.

Pro-Am Summit: The City’s Premier Tournament

For the organized squads, NBA 2K26 introduces the Pro-Am Summit, a new seasonal tournament that brings the community together for high-stakes competition.

Happening twice every Season, the Summit features both 3v3 and 5v5 brackets, with games played across Summit weekends (Saturday and Sunday). To qualify, your team simply needs to play 10 Pro-Am games in the weeks leading up to the event.

During Summit weekend, every game you play is scored based on both the outcome and your individual performance. Leaderboards track the sum of your five best games, rewarding consistency and teamwork.

The top teams earn elite prizes:

• Top 5 squads get the highest-tier rewards fit for The City’s best
• Top 10, Top 50, and Top 100 placements each grant escalating prizes to recognize competitive success

The first Pro-Am Summit tips off September 21–22, 2025, setting the tone for a new era of organized play in The City.

Street Kings: Rule the Blacktop

Streetball gets a major upgrade in NBA 2K26 with the all-new Street Kings mode. Last year’s streetball courts were scattered across The City, but now everything is condensed into one dedicated location, creating a focused hub for the most competitive outdoor hoops.

Street Kings takes place inside a collegiate-style complex with Roman-inspired architecture, surrounded by adjoining outdoor courts. Here, you can play solo or squad up with up to two friends to take on a gauntlet of skilled CPU bosses.

Winning matches in Street Kings doesn’t just sharpen your game—it also fuels progression. Players can grind through 40 levels of rewards, unlocking new cosmetics, animations, and upgrades that make your MyPLAYER stand out in The City. It’s a fast-paced way to level up, test new builds, and show off your skills on the blacktop.

Whether you’re hunting badges, trying fresh animations, or just hooping for bragging rights, Street Kings offers a unique mix of competition and progression you won’t find anywhere else.

Challenges: Always Something to Play For

NBA 2K26 makes sure there’s never a dull moment in The City with the introduction of Challenges. These missions give players goals to chase across every mode, offering everything from quick rewards to long-term grinds.

Challenges come in four categories:

• Beginner – A guided tour of The City, perfect for newcomers. These onboarding tasks help you explore different features like checking out the new Park, visiting MyCOURT, and upgrading your MyPLAYER.
• Daily – Each day you’ll get three quick objectives, like playing a game or claiming your Daily Reward. Knock out all three for a bonus hour of 2x REP, plus extra VC if you’ve purchased the Pro Pass or Hall of Fame Pass.
• Seasonal – Every Season brings new challenges that award VC, Season XP, and exclusive cosmetics tied to the current theme.
• Lifetime – The ultimate grind. With over 300 milestones across all modes, Lifetime Challenges reward you with rare cosmetics, boosts, Cap Breakers, and even wild items like shoes that increase your running speed outside games by +200% or an emissive Mech Helmet.

Whether you’re logging in for a quick session or grinding long-term, Challenges make sure you’re always progressing and unlocking something new.

Swap Build & MyCOURT: Practice, Customize, Dominate

NBA 2K26 makes life easier for players who juggle multiple builds with the new Swap Build feature. Now you can instantly switch between MyPLAYER builds without leaving The City or rejoining your squad. No more server hopping or wasted time—just swap, hoop, and keep the momentum going.

Meanwhile, MyCOURT returns as your personal training ground, packed with more options than ever to sharpen your skills. You can run new drills focused on free throws, alley-oops, and putback dunks, or freestyle to master NBA 2K26’s upgraded mechanics like Rhythm Shooting and no-dip catch-and-shoot jumpers.

If you want even deeper training, the revamped Learn 2K system provides targeted lessons to make you a smarter, more skilled player.

Customization also gets a major upgrade. This year, you can:

• Redesign your court floor with pre-made patterns or go all out with the full arena court editor
• Customize wood colors, line colors, and basket stanchion designs
• Add logos and other touches to make your MyCOURT a true reflection of your style

Whether you’re grinding drills or showing off your custom setup, MyCOURT in NBA 2K26 is more versatile than ever.

The Track: Race for Glory and VC

The City in NBA 2K26 isn’t just about basketball. It’s also about competition in all forms. The Track returns in NBA 2K26 with new vehicles, new challenges, and massive rewards for players who love a little extra speed.

This year, players can hop onto Pocket Bikes and Drift Trikes, adding more variety (and chaos) to the existing go-kart racing. Whether you’re speeding through time trials or lining up against friends, The Track is designed for quick, high-energy fun that breaks up the grind of hoops.

The stakes are serious, too: every week, racers can compete for a 1,000,000 VC prize pool. You can race against ghosts of other players, set up custom leaderboards with friends, or dive into matchmaking for head-to-head showdowns. Each run also contributes Season XP and VC, giving you another way to level up your MyPLAYER.

With fresh vehicles, competitive races, and life-changing VC rewards, The Track makes sure there’s always something new to chase in The City—even off the court.

MyCAREER: Out of Bounds

This year’s MyCAREER story, Out of Bounds, takes players from small-town obscurity to NBA stardom in a more dynamic and choice-driven way than ever before.

You’ll begin as an unknown prospect from Vermont, squaring off against top high school recruits and battling for a spot in the Club League. Every game, every possession, and every performance shapes your draft stock, making the grind to the NBA more personal and more intense.

Once draft day arrives, your path branches. You can let fate decide and see which team selects you, or take control by scheduling a private workout with your dream franchise to secure your preferred destination. The choice is yours—either embrace the drama of the draft or carve your own path into the league.

But the story doesn’t stop once you reach the NBA. For the first time, MyCAREER extends into the Playoffs, where your rookie season could end with a championship run. Along the way, you’ll navigate Key Games that trigger unique cutscenes, from sponsor conflicts to family drama, ensuring no two careers feel the same.

Off the court, your agent lines up new opportunities beyond endorsements. Passion Projects let you collaborate with real NBA stars like Cade Cunningham to launch your own club team, further expanding your influence in The City.

With branching choices, deeper off-court stories, and meaningful postseason stakes, Out of Bounds is NBA 2K26’s most ambitious MyCAREER yet.

Final Thoughts

With the return of classic Parks, the introduction of Crews, new competitive events like the Pro-Am Summit, and a deeper MyCAREER story in Out of Bounds, NBA 2K26 The City is shaping up to be the most ambitious and rewarding version yet. Whether you’re grinding REP, chasing streaks, racing for VC, or building your legacy on the blacktop, every corner of The City offers something new to play for.

The City isn’t just about hoops—it’s about community, status, and carving out your own path to the top. And with so many features tied to Seasons, there’s always going to be a fresh reason to come back.

Looking for more? Visit our NBA 2K26 hub for guides, tips, and in-depth coverage to help you dominate this season. If you want the full picture beyond The City, including gameplay upgrades, MyTEAM changes, and franchise mode expansions, don’t miss our feature on the 10 Big Changes Coming to NBA 2K26.