'NBA 2K17' release date news: cover star to be revealed next month; Kobe Bryant features in Legend Edition

2k Games

The scheduled fall premiere of the upcoming hoops simulation franchise installment from 2K Games seems already set, as the cover star for "NBA 2K17" will be unveiled this June.

According to VG247, the announcement on who will grace the cover of the next "NBA 2K" installment will occur this June, during the "NBA 2K16 Road to the Finals" championship event. Meanwhile, it is already confirmed that only the regular edition is awaiting its cover star, as the second bundle version will have the Black Mamba grace the Legend Edition.

Hailing the stellar career of Kobe Bryant, the Legend Edition is already up for pre-orders on different retailers such as Amazon Prime, where it retails for $63.99. Pre-ordering the Legend Edition will net exclusive items such as a limited-edition Kobe poster, two Kobe Panini playing cards, and a Black Mamba game controller skin.

Meanwhile, there are also in-game items included as bonuses, such as up to 30,000 Virtual Currency, Kobe hoodie and #8 Mitchell and Ness jersey, and an exclusive MyTEAM bundle.

However, the Legend Edition will only be available for current-gen PS4 and Xbox One consoles. The regular "NBA 2K17" meanwhile, launches in September for the current-gen consoles as well as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC.

Bryant has already graced "NBA 2K" covers before, most recently as the star athlete for the 10th anniversary edition "NBA 2K10." Hearing of the "NBA 2K17 Legend Edition," Kobe stated, "As I walk off the NBA court for the final time, it's exciting to know my fans can continue to celebrate my lifelong career as a Los Angeles Laker."

Meanwhile, the "NBA 2K17" gameplay itself is shaping up to be a challenge, thanks to the recent exploits of Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry. According to VineReport,in  a recent podcast, gameplay director Mike Wang said that they need to tweak "NBA 2K17" to incorporate the moves of Curry.

Wang stated, "Generally, taking deep shots, 30 to 35 feet, or shooting in traffic, or shooting off the dribble, we naturally penalize those things. Everyone in the league more or less gets penalized in kind of the same way, as they take these bad shots."