Xbox Game Pass Adds New Sports Game Today

gamerant.com:

Xbox Game Pass is adding NBA 2K24 to its content library later today, March 11. Unlike the vast majority of titles that make their way to the service, the latest entry in the NBA 2K franchise won't be available to Xbox Game Pass users on PC.

Microsoft's subscription library has added a combined total of 29 games since the turn of the year. The vast majority of those Xbox Game Pass additions were highly regarded titles like Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, which reached the service in early March.

NBA 2K24 will mark a bit of a break from that pattern, not least because its critical reception has been polarizing, at best; with a Metacritic Metascore of 68 across all platforms, this is one of the worst-rated installments in the 25-year-old series. Player reactions haven't been much better, as underlined by the fact that NBA 2K24 is currently one of the lowest-rated Steam games of all time. One of the most common complaints among both fans and critics alike concerns an unprecedented amount of microtransactions that have been imbibed by nearly every aspect of the game.

NBA 2K24 still hasn't been added to Xbox Game Pass as of 7:30am ET on March 11, but is scheduled to reach the service by the end of the day.

But given the lack of contemporary alternatives to 2K's series, basketball fans will still likely want to give NBA 2K24 a go. Its arrival on Xbox Game Pass represents a perfect opportunity to do so, at least for console owners. Namely, unlike most new additions to Microsoft's subscription service, NBA 2K24 will only be available to console and Xbox Cloud Gaming users with an Ultimate-tier subscription. The reason for that might have something to do with the fact that its PC version is the same game in name only, as it offers fewer modes and less content, on top of its gameplay being near identical to last year's entry save for the addition of Mamba Moments.

NBA 2K24 will kick off what's going to be a busy week for Microsoft's gaming service; Xbox Game Pass is set to receive