Hey everyone, Chris Manning (Community Manager for 2K Sports) here.

One of our most exciting announcements this year was the return of Crews for current gen (PS3 and 360). Fans have been clamoring for information since the announcement and I had an opportunity to catch up with the dev. team to get some scoop for you guys.

First off, Crews has seen some changes since its last appearance in NBA 2K11 but the focus of BALANCE this time around was a major emphasis. This year, in NBA 2K14, the gameplay is both smooth and the team did a phenomenal job of improving defense in every way.

You can take your MyPLAYER through his career, build him up in the MyCAREER mode, and prep him for online battles. Your gameday attire will be reflected on your MyPLAYER during matches. Games can be either 3v3 on half-court, or 5v5 on full-court. These will be played on a blacktop court to reflect the pick-up game style of basketball. The games will be to 21. This allows us to focus on the sport of basketball in a unique way leveraging the street-style basketball in a competitive way.

This year, you can claim your Crew’s team name, crew abbreviation and represent your city. Jerseys can be customized in a myriad of ways including colors, home and away jerseys, logos and even different jersey designs.

Once you get your Crew created, it’s time to begin recruiting. You can invite friends into your Crew. Losing a lot? The Crew Manager can drop members of the Crew or disband the Crew entirely so assemble accordingly. The competition is waiting.

As soon as you’re ready to start taking on other Crews, know that everything will be tracked from a statistical standpoint. The introduction of leaderboards will also help identify the top Crews in the world tracking a number of stats and results.

I should also note the settings for Crew games - Superstar Sim. From my time with the game, these were some of my favorite settings, as well as our Community Team Up members who previewed the game early and got hands on impressions. The goal was to make it feel as competitive as possible.

Balance was a focus, especially as the new defensive improvements were incorporated in the game this year. With the introduction of more signature skills, better physicality and the new, awe-inspiring blocking targeting system, defense will play a major part in Crews. Furthermore, the team made sure to incorporate FATIGUE, which was tuned specifically for Crews to make it even more realistic. Again, the focus was making a balanced, competitive game mode despite the progression of individual MyPLAYERS.

NBA 2K14 Crews will be on current gen and we’re eager to see what people do with their MyPLAYERS. This was one of the most fan-requested modes and we’re excited to see what the future holds in store both with this mode and even more exciting, future endeavors we have in mind.

For now, however, I’m prepared to take on other Crews and make my way up the leaderboards. Who’s rolling with me?

NBA 2K14 is available October 1st for PS3, 360 and PC.

Pre-order today: http://2kgam.es/BuyNBA2K14