A new patch for NBA 2K23 has reportedly introduced a penalty for players who quit games in The Rec on next-gen.
Quitting games in The Rec experience has long been a problem in NBA 2K titles. Unsurprisingly, this kind of behavior didn’t stop with the advent of NBA 2K23.
Some people back out of games early to avoid taking losses. Others grow frustrated with the minutiae of the game itself, walking away because they weren’t getting the ball enough and their team was down double digits.
In short, many have found that sticking around isn’t usually worth the time and effort. This annoys those who do remain engaged, however. Fortunately, developer Visual Concepts may have found a solution to the quitting problem.
NBA 2K23 now punishes players who quit Rec matches
A recent patch for the next-gen version of 2K23 reportedly penalizes players who back out of games in The Rec. Mkzphreak claimed as much in a post on Reddit, claiming users “will now lose [their] colors when quitting Rec on next-gen.”
Two other Redditors corroborated as much in the thread, though no one on the page produced any concrete evidence.
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Colors more or less serve as an Overall ranking, with everyone starting at Black or casual. Leveling up in this order – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Purple – occurs when players win games. Naturally, losing games can lower the ranking. Those walking around with Purple banners, then, boast a high win percentage.
While this may seem a smart way to prevent NBA 2K23 players from exiting the Rec early, not everyone’s convinced of the punishment’s sufficiency.
“This literally fixes nothing,” one person argued, adding that “sweats will still quit at the first sign of adversity and casuals will quit out when they play stacked squads.”
Meanwhile, other regular NBA 2K users say they’re “just happy the devs are doing something.” At the very least, it shows the production team is paying attention to player complaints.