NBA 2K16: Covers, Release Date and Most Exciting New Feature

The folks at 2K Sports understand innovation and hype as well as any entertainment company in existence. Those two qualities are part of the reason NBA 2K has become such a popular and beloved game.

This year's version, NBA 2K16, is no different. Boosted by a slow and steady stream of information and an exciting set of new features, 2K Sports again has us hyped for the release of its annual virtual hoops title. 

Here's what we know.

The Covers

Each non-special edition cover will come with three inserts featuring each of the three stars selected as cover athletes. The image in this tweet from Operation Sports shows the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry, New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis and Houston Rockets' James Harden:

You can choose which cover you want, but that's not all.

Fans who pre-order the Michael Jordan Special Edition will receive a cover featuring His Airness. The tweet below from GameSpot has the Jordan likeness that will appear on the cover.

The Release Date

NBA 2K16 will release on September 29 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. However, fans who pre-order any edition of the game will get it on September 25 as a bonus.

Virtual currency and the like are all nice, but nothing beats getting the game early.

2K Pro-Am

The new 2K Pro-Am is a multi-feature mode that could change the entire sports gaming universe. Piggybacking off NBA 2K15's The Park and Jordan Rec Center modes, 2K Pro-Am will again allow gamers to take their created players (using the Face-Scan technology) to virtual courts to battle it out against other human-controlled created players.

This time, you'll be able to put together teams of the same players, much like the Crew mode which fans loved from NBA 2K11.

What's better, the mode is said to offer better matchmaking and a customization suite that really allows fans to individualize themselves and their teams. Last but not least, there will also be leaderboards that track individual and team statistics.

If this mode works as advertised, it will open up NBA 2K's path into the eSports realm, and that could be huge. Top players could become virtual stars in the game, with even more of their own likenesses playing a role in their notoriety than it would in, say, League of Legends. Thanks to Face-Scan technology, you could be looking at your actual likeness as a major competitive star in the NBA 2K world.

If you're looking for the most exciting new feature in the game, Pro-Am is it.

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