Here’s How PS5’s New Activities Feature Works in NBA 2K21

Sony’s PlayStation 5 comes with an entirely new feature called Activities, and when the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition release next month, we’re going to see NBA 2K21 take advantage of that feature. Activities are tasks specific to certain games and curated by the games’ creators that players can take on. Thanks to the latest info on Activities from Sony and 2K, we know how they’ll work in NBA 2K21 and what the first Activity to complete will be on the PlayStation 5 version of the game.

To recap first, Activities aren’t the same as trophies, though it’s likely they’ll overlap in some instances depending on the game. You can select an Activity for a game by pulling up the Control Center while playing with the Activities displayed as cards with descriptions for what needs to be done to complete them. Selecting an Activity can transport you right to the place where you need to be to finish the challenge.

In NBA 2K21, gameplay director Mike Wang said the Activities will be similar to the Moments and Spotlights Challenges already in the game. Every MyTEAM Season in NBA 2K21 will have its own Challenge Activity that rewards players for completing the task.

The first of those challenges will have players facing off against the 1996 Chicago Bulls, though we don’t yet know what the rewards will be for completing the Activity.

“First up, starting with Season 3, will be the Challenge of scoring 72 points against the 1996 Chicago Bulls,” Wang said. “As most NBA fans know, the Michael Jordan-led Bulls achieved an unthinkable regular season record of 72 wins and 10 losses – the best record in NBA history until the 2016 Golden State Warriors one-upped them with a 73-9 record. Build your own dream team, score the iconic number of points (or more), earn yourself a nice little reward, and get ranked based on the final number of points you’ve tallied up. See you on the leaderboard!”

The leaderboard referenced there will be a way to track how well players do on the challenge compared to others. A dedicated Activities leaderboard will rank the players who participated in the Activity, so aside from whatever the rewards may be, bragging rights are attached to the challenge as well.

NBA 2K21 will also make use of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense features like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. We’ll likely learn of more ways the game capitalizes on the PlayStation 5’s new features as we get closer to the next-gen launch.