With NBA 2K23 set to release in just a couple of months, 2K has revealed that three-time All-Star Devin Booker will be the cover athlete for the Standard Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition.
This reveal follows two days of announcements regarding the Michael Jordan Edition and Championship, as well as the WNBA Edition for NBA 2K23.
The Standard Edition of the game tends to be the one that always sells best and will be the one you see most often in stores, which is why they saved that unveiling for last with the cover art featuring Booker alongside the official release date announcement.
While there were reports over the last two days, 2K has officially announced that NBA 2K23 will be released on September 9 with all of the different versions of the game that will be available. Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker will be the cover athlete for the two aforementioned editions of NBA 2K23. Booker is a three-time All-Star and 2021-2022 Kia All-NBA First Time selection, and has been one of the best players in the league since his debut in 2015.
The press release for this announcement came with a quote directly from Booker, who said "It’s a dream come true to see myself on the cover of NBA 2K. I’ve been a huge NBA 2K fan since I was a kid, and it’s surreal to finally join the exclusive club of basketball greats who’ve been cover athletes. I’m also honored to share this year’s covers with the iconic Michael Jordan, who changed the game for all players who came after him, as well as two of the all-time WNBA GOAT’s, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, who continue to make a huge impact on the game."
The timing of this reveal today is perfect, as it was also announced very early this morning that Booker just signed a four-year supermax contract extension with the Phoenix Suns worth $214 million. Needless to say, he's having quite the day.
Breaking Down The Pricing of The Different Editions
As has been revealed over the last few days, there are multiple editions of NBA 2K23 for you to choose from. To start, you have the Standard Edition which will have Devin Booker on the cover that will retail for $69.99 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, while it will be $59.99 on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It will be interesting to see how different the versions for the different generations are, especially after last year's game. There is also the WNBA Edition which will be the same price but is just exclusive to GameStop.
While no other details were provided yet, 2K Sports also announced that a special version of the Standard Edition will be coming later in the fall that will be "recognizing the cross-section of music and basketball culture." Further information on this will be coming up over the next few months.
Booker will also be the NBA 2K23 cover athlete representing the Digital Deluxe Edition, which will retail for $79.99 and gives players the Standard Edition of the game across both generations on PlayStation or Xbox. In addition, you will also get content for MyTEAM that includes 10K MyTEAM Points, 10 MyTEAM Tokens, 23 MyTEAM Promo Packs, Cover Star Players: Sapphire Devin Booker, Ruby Michael Jordan, Free Agent Option Pack, 1 Diamond Jordan Shoe (non-auctionable), and 1 Ruby Coach Card Pack, as well as 10x 6 types of MyCAREER Skill Boosts, 10x 3 types of Gatorade Boosts, 2-hour Double XP Coin, 4x MyCAREER T-Shirts, Backpack, Custom Design Cover Star Skateboard, and Arm Sleeves for MyCAREER.
Next comes the Michael Jordan Edition which will retail for $99.99 regardless of the platform that you purchase it for. This edition includes all of the content included in the Digital Deluxe Edition, as well as 100,000 VC to use in the game, not to mention the physical version that will have the special cover of the game with Michael Jordan on it.
Lastly, the Championship Edition is the most premium of all of the versions and it comes with a retail price of $149.99 for all platforms except Nintendo Switch. This version features a special box art in physical form with Michael Jordan's jersey on it, with all copies of this version including everything that the Michael Jordan Edition with. That's not all though, as it also comes with a 10% XP Boost on MyTEAM Season Progression, 10% XP Boost on MyCAREER Season Progression, an exclusive Michael Jordan-themed Go-Kart in the game, and a 12-month subscription to NBA League Pass.
The inclusion of a subscription to NBA League Pass may be really enticing to some people, as it usually retails for $199.99 a year all on its own. If you already plan on subscribing to this for the upcoming season, you might as well spend less money to get it for $149.99 and get NBA 2K23 along with it.
NBA 2K23 will release for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 9.