Visual Concepts and 2K Sports’ newest basketball entry NBA 2K14 may have been able to garner critical praise at launch, but that doesn’t take away the fact that it has released with its own share of problems. More recently, the game was patched for the next generation consoles with the dreaded always-online DRM that requires you to remain online all the time. As a result, the patch is creating a number of issues for players.
Disappointingly enough, this even extends to the game when played in single-player modes.
Revealed first on NeoGAF, the post states: “When NBA 2K14 was originally released it could be played offline, however, since the latest patch there now seems to be a requirement that you are ALWAYS connected to the internet to play on both Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game.”
But exactly why are players on the next-generation consoles being forced to require an always-online system? The reason is purely due to the in-game Virtual Currency which, as it seems, is somehow tied to all other aspects of the game and is always in need of authentication via the publisher’s servers.
The idea here is to prevent cheaters by authenticating the Virtual Currency at all times, which necessitates an always online console whether gamers like it or not.
“The online requirement seems to be linked in with 2K's 'Virtual Currency' which is pretty much tied into all aspects of the game and verified through their own servers. So, I guess to ensure people don't cheat they require this ‘24/7’ connection whenever you want to play the game,” the post adds.
And if this feels horribly unfair, wait for what’s coming your way. Apparently, the same NeoGaf post also mentions that after downloading the patch for respective next-gen systems, if you start the game online, you’ll be blocked if (or when) you lose the internet connection.
“It won't even load the game up, furthermore if you're playing the game and your internet connection drops and/or PSN/XBL stops working, the game closes down. However, the issue I have is that it doesn't state this on the box. All it mentions in regards to online is that a PSN Subscription will be required for online play,” the post states further.
While we are assuming that this a simple bug that 2K Games will be able to address in future patches for the game, but it remains to be seen if the company actually manages to remove the problem entirely and as to when the new patch for the same will be released.
