NBA 2K22's First Gameplay Trailer Looks Awfully Familiar

It's that time of year again: time for another entry in the NBA 2K series. Of course, we already knew NBA 2K22 was in the pipeline – if 2K's yearly release schedule wasn't enough of an indicator already, the company also recently revealed the various cover athletes for the game. Today, we're getting our first trailer for NBA 2K22, offering us our first look at "gameplay" from the upcoming title.

Look, I'll level with you: if you hadn't told me this was NBA 2K22 at the outset, I would have never known. You could have told me this was NBA 2K21, 2K20, or even 2K17 and I would have believed you. If this represents anything more than an incremental upgrade from NBA 2K21 in terms of visuals, my eyes can't tell the difference.

But, just as the tide comes in and goes out, just as the sun sets every night and rises again every morning, 2K Games is releasing another NBA 2K game this year, just as it has done every year for the past two decades. While this is officially the gameplay reveal trailer, we don't actually see any true gameplay at all, just cinematic shots of various players. At least the focal point isn't the literal in-game casino this time around.

If there's one major difference from all the other NBA 2K trailers floating around out there, it's the fact that this one highlights WNBA players for at least a few moments. This is also the first year that a WNBA player will be featured on one of the covers of an NBA 2K game, as the WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition will depict Candace Parker of the Chicago Sky on the cover.

Even though the trailer may not show them directly, the team behind NBA 2K22 is making changes to various systems in the game, such as defense, dribbling, and shooting. You can read more about those over on the NBA 2K22 website, but otherwise, look for NBA 2K22 to launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch on September 10th.