The 2022-23 NBA season continues to heat up, and there are several chances to make NBA picks today. There have also been a ton of news stories that have come from the league over the last few weeks, but not all of them focus on what has taken place on the floor.
The NBA and the NBA Players Association (NBPA) are always looking to grow the game, and they have taken to technology in an effort to get this done. NBA players are also known to be pretty big gamers when they aren’t busy on the floor, and basketball and video gaming has now mixed for this latest announcement.
After partnering with Niantic, the NBA and NBPA have announced the release of “NBA All-World,” a free-to-play game for mobile devices. This is a perfect chance for NBA players to interact virtually with some of their biggest followers and fans from around the world.
NBA2K and NBA Jam are two video games that have always been popular with fans of basketball or the NBA, but this new game is going to be extremely different. This is an augmented reality video game, and the league is trying to get involved in the AR world trend that has been growing in popularity.
Bringing NBA Stars to the Playground
One of the key features of augmented reality is that people are objects that can be brought into a person’s surroundings, and that is exactly how this new game will be set up. Anyone that plays this game will be using their local playgrounds and gyms in order to bring NBA stars into their game.
Through this new game, players will be able to compete with or against NBA stars on their local courts, or they can recruit them to join their teams. Since this game is backed by the NBPA, all of the biggest stars in the game are going to be available but will vary based on location.
By physically traveling around to new locations from around the world, players will unlock different NBA stars that visit those locations. As with any AR-style of game, players are warned to be aware of their surroundings to ensure that they are not putting themselves in danger.
NBA All-World also gives players a chance to upgrade the players that they have on their roster or to purchase new gear to outfit their team. By competing in various drills or training sessions, players will be able to improve their own players.
Niantic is planning an aggressive ad campaign for the launch of NBA All World, and that will be pushed out across all NBA broadcasts over the next few weeks. Currently, this game is only available on mobile devices as that is the only type of equipment that will support AR-style of games.
The NBA is also hoping that this new game will encourage others to get out and move a bit more, as there are new things to unlock in different parts of the world. Updates are going to be rolling out for NBA All World over the course of the next few weeks, and the game will continue to improve for anyone that downloads it once it is available.
Niantic is going to provide the technical support on the AR side of things for this new game launch, but the actual NBA players are going to step up to provide content that can be used for the video game.
NBA, Meta Announce Partnership Extension
The NBA has also announced a new multi-year partnership extension with Meta, and that’s another move that is going to grow the game digitally. While the partnership with Niantic will focus on the AR world, this new partnership will provide a new virtual reality experience.
Meta Horizon Worlds is where all of the new NBA content will be posted, and “NBA Arenas” is going to unlock new arenas and stadiums from around the league. This will be where fans can get gameday experiences and interact with players and teams in a virtual setting.
NBA League Pass is a popular streaming platform where fans can watch all of the latest action from around the league. Those games will now be uploaded on Meta Horizon Worlds and will provide a much better and unique viewing experience.