NBA 2K25 Play Now Online Mode Is Getting an Update

Holy crap, 2K is actually updating Play Now Online (PNO) in NBA 2K25. We’re not even sure if it’s a good update, but they’re actually changing the mode. This confirms 2K does know the mode still exists.

KG, hit ’em with it!

To be clear, I’m not even quite sure how this new system will work, but let me take you through what 2K put together on the PlayStation Blog. We’re going back to a ranking system with what I assume to be matchmaking within those tiers. So you’ll battle through Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and then hit the GOAT tier. Assuming enough people are playing, I would think 2K will always try to match a Bronze player with another Bronze player and so on.

You will be accruing Victory Points with wins that eventually add up to get you to the next tier, but it’s not clear if you will lose points with a loss. In other words, I don’t know if just grinding out wins will get you through these tiers regardless of how many losses you rack up, but my guess is total wins will be all that matters.

As you get to new tiers, you also get more teams to select (you start with just the 30 NBA teams):

• Bronze to Silver: Unlocks ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s eras teams
• Silver to Gold: Unlocks 2000s era teams
• Gold to Platinum: Unlocks 2010s era teams
• Platinum to GOAT: Unlocks a GOATED Team (new GOATED team each Season)

The biggest change is that you can only use the same team once every five games. Is that a good thing? I’m not sure, but the thinking is probably that you see so few teams in PNO that maybe this gets people out of their comfort zone and “proves” who is actually good with more than just the meta teams. I play and talk about PNO with some other sickos on OS, and we have some who are so steadfast about never leveling up out of the initial tier in order to avoid some of the classic cheese squads.

The same concept from old PNO versions where you are rewarded for using lesser squads does apply here as you’ll get more Victory Points by winning with crappier squads.

• Tier 1 – Win with one of the top 10 overall-rated teams in the NBA to receive the smallest amount of Victory Points
• Tier 2 – Win with teams ranked 11-20 overall to receive the medium amount of Victory Points
• Tier 3 – Win with teams ranked 21-30 overall to receive the largest amount of Victory Points

However, I’m not sure what makes up those 30 teams once you’re out of the initial Bronze tier because I would think you can still use the standard NBA teams in all the tiers. Again, I’m just guessing, but maybe the top 20 teams are figured out depending on your tier and every team after 20 is in that Tier 3 group even as the selectable squads balloon well past 30.

It’s also not clear if teams get “blacked out” after you use them, or you can still use them but you just won’t accrue the Victory Points if you win with them during that five-game cooldown period. Finally, I don’t know what you do with the “all-time teams” you unlock when you get to GOAT tier. Yes, it’s bragging rights, but do I then get to use those teams once every five games?

Whatever the case may be, if these changes get some more people in the PNO pool, I’ll be all for it. Of course, the biggest thing I wish they’d add is a way for us to play with WNBA teams in a PNO environment (give us our own league for it, who cares if it’s just the current WNBA teams!), but it seems like 2K just does not want us to play with WNBA teams online for some reason.