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(Image: 2K GAMES)

The NBA 2K18 release date is a little under two months away and you can really start to tell that the team at developers Visual Concepts are ramping up the hype ahead of launch.

Following the reveal of the NBA 2K18 cover star - Cleveland Cavaliers Point Guard Kyrie Irving in case you were wondering - and the release of some of the games first extraordinarily detailed screenshots, focus for the team has shifted towards highlighting the new game modes for 2K18.

Last week, Visual Concepts outlined their plans for the games long running franchise mode, MyGM, and a pretty significant step that adds a narrative-driven focus to the typical franchise experience of managing a teams roster and finances.

"In a space where other developers continually shy away, the team here at Visual Concepts has once again delivered a robust and thoughtful list of franchise features that will keep you coming back for more," boldly proclaimed Erick Boenisch, Senior Producer on NBA 2K18.

The NBA 2K18 Facebook post also touches on much more than just the MyGM Mode, such as new “super max” contracts, a 14-player roster minimum and the integration of the NBA G League (formerly the D-League).

In truth though, there were far too many details to delve into right here, so we'd implore fans to head over to the blog post for a good read to see what's changing in the new year ahead.

Luckily though, we were able to grab Producer Erick Boenisch briefly for a very quick chat, where the Visual Concepts veteran discussed the strides taken my MyGM in the past few years, the importance of the NBA 2K community in steering the game and "large-scale" features they're worked towards for the years ahead.

You’re five years into the ‘new’ GM mode since it was introduced in 14. Do you feel like the mode is really starting to hit its stride?Erick Boenisch: Over the last few years, we have really focused on implementing features that break new ground in the franchise landscape. The concept of a COMPLETE control mode in 2K15’s MyLEAGUE. Team Relocation (and the full suite of assets that users could create) in 2K16. League Expansion in 2K17. 2K18 brings us MyGM: The Next Chapter. If you look around at the various sports games offered, story-based career modes are becoming the norm; with other developers following suit on our popular MyCAREER mode. I really see a lot of value in telling a story from the other side of the spectrum. Career-based modes are all about you the player. What you can accomplish. How many titles you can win. MyGM: The Next Chapter places you as the GM of your favourite team and presents you with the decision after decision after decision, all from a completely different angle. That angle is one of management. How will you handle your owner? How will you handle your star player when he comes to you? How will you handle other key characters in the story whom I do not wish to spoil here (sorry!)? It’s a fun and compelling new take on playing franchise modes and I am proud to present it to all of our fans out there.

You mention in the blog post that you’re “continually surprised at how little support other sports games give their franchise modes” Why do you feel that is?Erick Boenisch: That is a really tough question to answer, because the answer is only known within the walls of each development studio. What I can tell you is we know how many people play the MyGM and MyLEAGUE modes, and those usage numbers are very healthy. Each year, we strive to innovate in this space in new ways that other games have not. I genuinely feel like we give our fans a compelling reason to play each new edition of the game. I think it may be easy to fall into a trap where you slowly add less and less features to certain areas of the game, which naturally, results in less and less people playing said features. Fortunately, for us, we are continuing to grow thanks to both the passionate development team here at Visual Concepts, and of course, our rabid fan base who inspire us to reach for the stars each and every day.

From all the features coming this year in MyGM and MyLEAGUE (and there’s a lot), which do you believe are going to have the biggest impact on players enjoyment of the game?

Erick Boenisch: Naturally, I have to highlight MyGM: The Next Chapter.

A light-hearted jaunt into the world of management, all while still being able to build your team from the ground up has proven to be a very entertaining way to play our game.

For users, who like to play every game on their schedule, the narrative will continue every few games played, it's paced very nicely and keeps you entertained without overwhelming you with story and forced decisions.

We feel really confident that our fans are going to love it. The only question we have from this is, which side will you take? What that means…you will have to play to find out!

You also mention that you never want the community to stop giving your team ideas. How many of the changes this year do you feel have come from online suggestions/arguments/debates within that community?

Erick Boenisch: Easy question! I like to think we are a community-based development team. The majority of the features in our modes come straight from community discussions and fan suggestions. I’ve always taken the design philosophy of listening to the people that purchase our game and they want, rather than trying to create something that they may or may not like. Keep your eyes open. That’s a phrase that gets uttered quite often during development within the franchise team. The fans are telling you what they want; go get that information!

Are there any suggestions you see year in year out from that community which are just too difficult for the team to implement?

Erick Boenisch: There are always ideas that, while they may seem innocuous, are truly a significant amount of work. Definitely more than meets the eye at times! Sometimes we will take on a feature only to uncover the sheer depth of changes required to pull it off. One such feature was the League Expansion feature in NBA 2K17. Once we dove into that feature, we saw all of the opportunities we could take to blow it out of the water. And we took every opportunity we could. Back to your original question, yes, there are definitely some large-scale ideas floating around that we are discussing for future editions of NBA 2K. I don’t want to openly discuss them as I suspect we are going to try and tackle some in the coming years. That is one fun thing about working here at Visual Concepts. The management team here will ALWAYS provide you the resources to pull off features if you can demonstrate how it will improve the greater good of the game. I’m blessed to have been given copious amounts of support over the year. We have taken that support and crafted year-after-year of compelling new features for our fans. NBA 2K18 is no exception to that!

(Image: 2K GAMES)

NBA 2K18 is available in three different editions, including standard, Legend and Legend Gold.

Below you'll find a quick run down of whats included when you pre-order on either PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch:

NBA 2K18: Standard Edition

• 5,000 VC• 10 MyTEAM packs to build your perfect fantasy team, delivered one a week, featuring one random Team 2K Free Agent card and more!• MyPlayer Apparel

NBA 2K18: Legend Edition

• 100,000 VC• 20 MyTEAM Packs* (which includes a Guaranteed Shaq Card and Team2K Card)• Shaq Attaq Shoes• Shaq Jerseys and Apparel• A Championship Ring

NBA 2K18: Legend Edition Gold

• All Legend Edition Content•Additional 150,000 VC (250,000 Total)• 20 Additional MyTEAM Packs* (40 Total with Guaranteed Shaq Card and Team2K Card)• Shaq’s Jersey Collection