Take-Two Explains Decision Not to Carry Over NBA 2K Virtual Currency

Court documents have revealed 2K’s specific stance on the matter.

Many people know Take-Two for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but the company also has a subsidiary, 2K, that publishes various projects. Examples include Borderlands and PGA Tour, and 2K also serves as the publisher for the NBA 2K basketball simulation series.

New installments in the NBA 2K franchise are released every year, and fans regularly ask the same question: “Can I transfer [virtual currency] VC to the new game?”

The developers’ answer is “no”:

Unfortunately, the answer is no: you cannot transfer VC between NBA 2K versions. This applies not only to different console versions of the same game (e.g., from PlayStation 4 to XBOX One), but also to different installments of the NBA 2K series (e.g., from NBA 2K26 to NBA 2K27).

As recently revealed in court documents, the creators of NBA 2K do not have a technical solution for transferring currency, and the company generally does not intend to develop one.

Journalist Stephen Totilo from Game File drew attention to the legal arguments from 2K representatives explaining why VC is not carried over between games.

For example, one of the arguments is that 2K wants each game to feel like a “fresh start” and for players to have equal opportunities:

We want every new game we release to be a completely fresh start, where every user—regardless of whether they played the previous installment or are experiencing our series for the first time—has absolutely equal opportunities.

In addition, 2K notes that transferring VC between games would require creating a technical solution that takes resources (distinguishing between VC earned in-game and VC purchased with real money). Overall, 2K does not want to do this and does not see it as beneficial for players:

We believe this is a massive undertaking that would require drawing developers away and dedicating time and resources that we would rather invest in other areas. Not to mention that we do not believe this would provide a substantial benefit to players, so we do not want to pursue it.

The materials also revealed that developers can track NBA 2K gaming sessions, virtual currency balances, purchases, and spending on a daily basis.

Related articles