NBA The Run - Official Teaser Trailer (2026)

Formally known as The Run: Got Next, it looks like Play by Play Studios have gotten the NBA license to rebrand the game to now feature NBA players. For a reminder, NBA The Run is a online 3-on-3 arcade basketball game from former EA developers that that aims to play similar to the beloved NBA Street games from the EA Sports BIG era of the 2000s.

New trailer here: https://youtu.be/Fu3O8dC4g6s

Updated Steam Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2866670/NBA_THE_RUN/

Some more details straight from the source, via the PlayStation Blog: https://blog.playstation.com/2025/10/29 ... 5-and-ps4/

It's awesome they got the NBA license. As much as I think there's a place for basketball games with fictional players and leagues, they're admittedly a tougher sell. The NBA is still a draw at the end of the day, and it sounds like they're going to have the best of both worlds by keeping the fictional characters in there, a la the Street Legends in NBA Street.

Creative Director Michael Young says a lot of good things in the PlayStation Blog post. Balance between offense and defense, easy to pick up but rewarding to master, casual arcade-style hoops, etc. Having recently played through The Streets World Tour, I also really like the idea of tournaments taking place at iconic street courts around the world. Great aesthetic, fun idea.

At the same time, this concerns me:

We absolutely love the arcade classics - they were our touchstones. But we didn't want just another nostalgic remake. We wanted to build something new: an arcade-style basketball experience for today's players.

There's definitely logic in that line of thinking. Games should innovate, and a nostalgic remake doesn't necessarily do that. However, there are a few potential drawbacks to that approach, and it has me concerned that the game is going to miss the mark.

One, this is a style of game that has fallen out of vogue, so a lot of people who will be interested in it are that nostalgic crowd, rather than "today's players". It would make sense to appeal them, too.

Two, whenever developers say something like that, I get worried about the vision. It seems like they toss out the things that made those old games great and replace them with inferior ideas and mechanics, in the name of being fresh and innovative. It's as if a car manufacturer said "those classic cars had four round wheels, and that was great back then, but our cars have three triangular wheels as part of a bold new vision for the future". In other words, failing to understand that something is done a certain way because it works, and if anything it should be further refined, not reimagined.

Three, the decision to make it an online-only game is highly questionable. They're saying it's because that's how people play now, but the fact that people are asking about offline single player and H2H demonstrates that there's still interest in that as well. The most successful basketball game right now offers deep experiences for people who want to play online AND offline (and its online scene is also in a rough state for various reasons), so any notion that "offline play is a thing of the past, it's all about online now" is kind of out of touch with basketball gamers. And yes, I know they're going for the wider, casual audience, and arcade games certainly do a better job of that than sim titles. But it's still a basketball game at the end of the day, so keen basketball gamers remain a demographic that needs to be take into account whenever you're developing a basketball video game.

It reminds me a lot of NBA Playgrounds. It tried to be different to NBA Jam, in some ways admirably, but it ended up falling well short as a result. Sure, new takes on classics needn't just be uninspired "nostalgic remakes", but they need to pay attention to why those old games worked, and make sure any changes are sensible and don't undermine those key ingredients for success. NBA Playgrounds didn't do that, and it suffered as a result.

(There's also some irony in scoffing at nostalgic remakes while bringing back the voice of NBA Street Vol. 2, but I do see the larger point he's trying to make here).

However, I think the biggest issue is that for all the talk of the game being buttery smooth and having great animations, the teaser trailer tells a different story. It looks stiff and janky, and keep in mind, we're seeing the highlights. Whether it's a fresh take on the concept of arcade basketball or a nostalgic remake is almost immaterial, because whatever they're doing, it doesn't look especially polished. It may feel better than it looks - and I can certainly enjoy games that are a bit janky as long as they're fun - but the teaser trailer doesn't exactly sell the buzzwords they're using).

I realise this sounds very cynical, and probably like I'm stuck in the past, comparing it to NBA Street and NBA Jam. The bottom line though is that those are the yardsticks, and a game being developed in 2025 to be released in 2026 should be at least as good as, or preferably better than, titles that are 15-30 years older.

If they ignore the blueprint that made those games successful, they're going to end up like NBA Playgrounds. Some people didn't want to hear my criticisms of NBA Playgrounds at the time, but frankly, I think history has proven me correct about those games. They're not terrible, but they did come up short because of ill-advised design choices made in the name of being fresh and new. I can see some similar red flags here.

With all that being said, I'm intrigued. I hope it does turn out well, and it'd be really cool if it can expand into a deeper game with robust online and offline modes and gameplay. I'd much rather see more people making basketball games of varying quality and success than NBA 2K being he "undisputed home of basketball gaming", as Take-Two put it when EA were looking to return with a college title. I don't want this game to fail, and my concerns could definitely turn out to be unfounded. If we get a great game, then I'm not going to be disappointed about being proven wrong! Once again though, there are some recognisable red flags here, and I'm not keen on it being online-only.

Nevertheless, bring it on, and more NBA-licensed games in its wake! Some will be good and succeed, others will be kind of mediocre or bad and fail, just like the old days. The important thing is that we have options in the space, and even games that aren't all-time classics can still be fun and worth playing. It's cool that the NBA license isn't eluding smaller studios and new projects. Indeed, EA should be ashamed that they're not willing to compete, when studios with far less resources and no history partnering with the NBA are eager to give it a go. My concerns and some scepticism aside, NBA The Run is still exciting news. We'll see how it turns out.

Wow, Andrew. You sure had a lot to say about this game. And I do agree that while it is awesome to see more arcade basketball games, it is understandable to have skepticism and concerns, especially the talk about being an online only game, which is definitely something the team should really reconsider. Time and time again we have seen these live service games being online only, shut down and impossible to play in the future; not only disappointing to the player who have supported the games, but it also prevents new players from ever experiencing them. Offline is a must for multiplayer games and especially basketball.

As for something new for a younger generation, it's something I would be interested to know more about. As much as I liked the gameplay of NBA Playgrounds, the biggest issue those games have are the card packs that you get for not only unlocking NBA athletes, but having to open up to same athletes to boost up their stats, meaning that you would have to grind the game for hours upon hours and that's no fun. Card packs were and still is an issue with premium gaming today, so I do hope the team don't implement something similar to that, but considering that it is online only, does make me fear that could likely happen.

I am looking forward to the game and see what they'll come up with though. Gameplay is what all matters to me and wanna know if the game is easy to pick up and play. Online only is a bummer and I do hope there won't be any loot boxes, battle passes, or any purchasable currency that gives an advantage as that's what plagued the NBA 2K games for years.

Last edited by LuxerWap on Fri Oct 31, 2025 7:06 am, edited 2 times in total.

For sure, the inevitable shutdown and disappearance of the game is the other major downside of it being online-only. Loot boxes and microtransactions too, of course. I must admit I wasn't even thinking about that as a possibility, since the basic concept of the campaign sounds like it wouldn't utilise it (and certainly wouldn't need, and shouldn't in my opinion). Then again, you never know these days. Hopefully not, though.

The grinding is one of my biggest gripes with NBA Playgrounds, too. I don't enjoy the gameplay as much as the best NBA Jam games, but it's still solid and capable of being fun. Having to level up that many players to full strength was tedious though, on top of collecting them in the first place.

But yeah, we'll see how things go with NBA The Run. Like I said, I'd rather see more studios and indie developers trying and coming up short with basketball games than 2K being the only player in the space, and they've obviously got a chance to do something cool here. I'm not entirely sold on what I've seen, but I expect I'll be checking it out and I'm hoping for the best.

We definitely need more basketball games in the market. Thankfully, we have a few out that delivers both a fun experience that unfortunately gets pushed aside for 2K. I will always have a soft spot of Playgrounds, Basketball Classics is still amazing and I heard it's coming to consoles so that's awesome, Hoop Land is out and it is still a fun game to play, and a hidden gem of mine, StreetStep: 21st Century Basketball!

Indeed, Josh and Dave are partnering with the revived Acclaim to bring Basketball Classics to console, which was very exciting news! I still need to pick up Hoop Land, too. I actually picked up StreetStep on sale a while back, but I've yet to check it out.