NBA 2K listened to the fans, the auction house is back
By Brian Allen
NBA 2K is under fire from all sides for its predatory monetization practices. One of NBA 2K24's least popular decisions was removing MyTEAM's in-game auction house. 2K replaced it with a player market that sold inferior versions of the cards available in packs. After a year of complaints, NBA 2K25 will remove the thing that no one asked for.
"The community has spoken and NBA 2K25 will see the return of the auction house in MyTEAM," 2K said in a release. "The Auction House menu has been consolidated into a one-stop shop for searching, buying, and selling for a more streamlined experience. Players will now be able to search for a selected card directly from their My Auctions menu, so they can easily check MTP prices before listing their card for sale."
The only reason to remove the Auction House was to force players to spend more money on card packs. Dedicated NBA 2K content creators have been out here doing the Lord's work finding ways around the game's pay-to-win structure. The Auction House was a huge part of that, and 2K wasn't slick taking it away. We all knew what was happening.
We all also know that this battle isn't over. EA Sports' shenanigans with its auctions show how the marketplace can still be manipulated. But even having an auction house at all is much better than last year's offering. This is a rare example of a company listening to its players. The intervention of the Washington Post and the New York Times probably didn't hurt either.
But today, we'll take the win. GameSided is dedicated to letting you know what these companies are doing to earn our hard-earned dollars. We're going to call them out when they do wrong, and we're going to give them proper credit when they do something right. This is one of those times. Please keep it up, NBA 2K25. I'm getting pumped for this game suddenly.