Source: Visual Concepts / 2K Sports / NBA 2K26

We know who’s on the covers of NBA 2K26, and now it’s finally time to see what new features the popular annual basketball video game will offer.

The first gameplay trailer for NBA 2K26 arrives, and like the others before it, it looks good, showcasing NBA action that will take place on the virtual court when it arrives. But the real question should be, what exactly is this year’s version of the game offering to the rabid NBA 2K player base, who are very vocal regarding the quality of the game?

Well, in response to those cries, the folks at Visual Concepts are promising the first significant update to player movement since NBA 2K21, with a new motion engine powered by ProPLAY.

According to 2K, the new Motion Engine features “New machine-learning technology in NBA 2K26 on Gen 9 offers more precise, lifelike movement, which is noticeable in the most fundamental elements of the game. Dynamic lower-body pose matching adjusts the exact positioning of players’ legs and feet on the fly to remove the “skating” seen in past games and ensure that players launch, plant, and cut realistically.”

The two systems will work in tandem to make motion in the game look better than ever and provide improvements across other aspects of gameplay to deliver a “fresh and authentic feeling” while playing.

Enhanced Rhythm Shooting Will Deliver More Realistic On-Court Offensive Action

Another feature coming to NBA 2K26 is Enhanced Rhythm Shooting, which 2K claims will deliver a more authentic shooting experience close to the real thing.

“This shooting control method still relies on a DOWN-UP flicking motion with the shot stick, but now your Shot Timing and Tempo will actually manipulate the shooter’s upper body and impact how the shot looks throughout the complete motion by reflecting how you move the shot stick,” 2K said.

Enhanced AI has also made improvements to coaching, offense, and defense.

“Enhanced AI adapts strategically to a player’s every move on both sides of the ball,” 2K said. “A new intelligence module enables offensive AI to actively look for scoring opportunities through drive-and-kick plays to generate offense outside of standard plays. Other defensive improvements and additions include enhanced double team defensive logic, improved AI defenders logic, expanded playbooks, AI difficulty improvements, and AI Shot Timing Ability in Play Now and MyNBA, allowing players to separately adjust how skilled AIs are at timing jumpshots and layups.”

That all sounds and looks good, but we won’t know how it feels until we pick up the sticks. Thankfully, that won’t be too long because NBA 2K26 arrives September 6. If you have access to early access, you can play up to 7 days early on August 29.

You can see what the gamers are saying following the gameplay trailer’s release.