No benefit in pre ordering 2k26 standard edition?

[alabamarob]

Very greedy move to require people to pay 100 dollars or more to get early access. I always thought any pre order would give you early access. Has it always been this way, and I just forgot?

[scottyp180]

I know other games have done it for any preorder. For 2K specifically, I can't remember if they've done Early Access before.

I was disappointed to see it was only the $100 edition. Nothing in the version appeals to me and $30 extra is not worth it to play the game early, especially if the Day 1 patch isn't available until next week.

[Gramps91]

Yea, I also just like to have a physical game to put on the shelf. I collect basketball video games in general and have just about all of the 2Ks so I just pre-order the physical copy but the only physical copy IS the standard edition.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Been this way for at least 2 or 3 years with video games in general. Not always $100 though. 2k did it for their WWE game, EA do it for all their sports games. Even none sports game do it, especially on PC.

[demencia_total]

The first year where they offered one year of League Pass Premium it was worth it for me since I could get the game and share the LP account with a friend (and split the LP cost with him). But the following year that I got bought the more expensive version of the game to get LP and share it with my friend again, it wasn't the Premium version and only allowed 1 IP address at the same time while streaming, and it stopped being a great deal for me. Since then (and before LP was ever offered), it’s always the Standard version, so I'll definitely be waiting.

[JKSportsGamer1984]

I hear you, but nowadays you spend $30 on a Big Mac & fries lol. So I bit the bullet & got the $100 addition. I need a sports game to play because Madden & CF26 are unplayable to me with the lack of Collision Detection & Player Physics after tackles (players rolling through legs of other players, stepping through bodies on the field, arms fusing through bodies when getting up from tackles, etc.)

[MiracleMet718]

Every 2k has been like this since early access was released. That’s the point of it, having people pay for the premium versions and promising them early access. Every company is doing it now and 2k was just following everyone else.