NBA 2K23 Gameplay Director Mike Wang asked fans exactly how they felt about a big part of ballhandling in the series and made direct changes based on their feedback.
Ballhandling is always a hot topic in the 2K community. From the implementation of a new kind of stamina bar in the next game that players hope will slow down spam moves to the downfall of speed boosting in 2K22, there’s never a calm day when it comes to carrying the rock.
So when Mike Wang opened the doors for players to be heard, the overwhelming feedback caused him to switch things up in a big way.
NBA 2K23 Twitter poll results in direct change to ballhandling packages
On August 12, Wang opened up a Twitter poll to survey how the 2K23 community felt about signature packages for the game’s most elite dribblers being available for players with an 86 handling score.
“You guys want some signature dribble packages (like Steph Curry’s) to have even higher ball handle requirements?” he asked.
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You guys want some signature dribble packages (like Curry's) to have even higher ball handle requirements?
— Mike Wang (@Beluba) August 12, 2022
The answer was a resounding ‘Yes’ and it didn’t take long at all for Wang to implement some changes accordingly.
Directly in the aftermath, both Steph Curry and Trae Young’s styles were brought up to a 93 requirement while names like Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving were upgraded to a 90 as well.
While it might not seem like a big deal on the surface, this will have a dramatic impact on which players will be able to tap into some of the most effective moves in the game, meaning anyone playing in The Rec or out in the Neighborhood won’t run into quite as many dribble demons as before.
Of course, this may not be the final word on the situation. The 2K series has always been a bit of a live-service game, so if these changes prove to cause too big of a shift, there’s a chance they could get peeled back