For nearly two decades, fans of arcade basketball have been waiting for a true successor to the NBA Street games. The simulation-heavy NBA 2K series has dominated the sport of basketball in gaming, but the over-the-top, street-court spirit of EA's classic has been missing in action. That's about to change. NBA The Run is officially launching on PlayStation 5 this June, and based on everything that has been shown so far, it might just be the street basketball game revival fans have been dreaming about.
Between a flashy new gameplay trailer, confirmation of your favorite NBA stars including LeBron James, and a development team with deep roots in the genre, the hype around NBA The Run is very real. Here's everything you need to know before launch.
NBA The Run is a fast-paced, arcade-style street basketball game built around 3-on-3 matches, exaggerated dunks, and showboat playmaking. Where the NBA 2K series prides itself on broadcast realism, NBA The Run takes the opposite approach — it's loud, stylized, and built for short, electric matches that feel like a video game first and a basketball sim second.
Developed by Play Studios, a small team of veterans with serious arcade-sports cred, the game has been described by Game Informer as a strong prospect for the spiritual successor to the NBA Street games. Crossovers send defenders flying, layups bend physics, and signature style moves let real players pull off highlight-reel finishes. If you grew up putting Stephon Marbury through five defenders in NBA Street Vol. 2, the nostalgia is going to hit hard — only modernized for current-gen graphics.
According to the official PlayStation Blog announcement, NBA The Run launches first on PlayStation 5 in June 2026, with versions for Xbox Series X, Xbox, and PC expected to follow shortly after.
For now, here's what's confirmed:
Platform at launch: PlayStation 5
Release window: June 2026
Other platforms: Xbox Series X, Xbox, and PC coming later
Pre-orders: Live on the PlayStation Store
That PS5-first approach is notable — it suggests Sony is positioning NBA The Run as a marquee summer exclusive before the Xbox and PC versions arrive.
The gameplay trailer that dropped alongside the announcement gave fans the clearest look yet at how NBA The Run plays. A few standout takeaways:
Unlike some arcade titles that lean on fictional rosters, NBA The Run features fully licensed players — and the trailer prominently showcased LeBron James pulling off high-flying dunks, alongside other recognizable favorite NBA stars. The art style sits somewhere between realistic player models and a slightly exaggerated comic-book aesthetic, giving the game a completely unique look separate from NBA 2K. The graphics are clearly built for current hardware, with stylized lighting and detailed crowds that lean into spectacle over realism.
The trailer showed multiple court types, from rooftop blacktops to neon-lit indoor gyms. Confirmed locations include Venice Beach in California and a tenement-style court inspired by the streetball culture of the Philippines — a nod to the global reach of the sport of basketball. Bleacher Report noted that the variety of legendary streetball courts is one of the early standout features, with each court having its own crowd, music, and atmosphere — echoing the cultural specificity that made the NBA Street games feel like more than just basketball. Expect more iconic streetball courts to be revealed in the lead-up to launch.
A combo-based trick system rewards players for stringing together crossovers, spin moves, and aerial moves before finishing at the rim. Pull off a clean stepback logo or a perfectly timed lob and you fill a meter that unlocks signature style finishers. Defense matters just as much — huge steals, thunderous blocks, and hustling for loose balls all feed into the same meter, rewarding physicality as much as flash. Playing as an aggressive defender is genuinely viable, not just a side option.
Game Informer's preview made a strong case for why NBA The Run has a genuine shot at reviving the genre. The gap left by the NBA Street games, NBA Jam, and NBA Ballers has been wide — and largely unfilled — for over a decade. Arcade sports titles have steadily declined as simulation games have grown more dominant, but there's an entire generation of new players who never experienced that style of basketball game, plus older fans riding pure nostalgia.
Three things give NBA The Run an edge:
Official NBA licensing — getting real players on board is a massive hurdle for indie arcade titles, and Play Studios has cleared it
A clear identity — instead of competing with NBA 2K, it leans into everything 2K isn't
Modern infrastructure — true rollback netcode, smoother animations, and presentation that feels like 2026, not 2006
While the developers have been somewhat tight-lipped about the full mode list, announcements so far have confirmed:
3-on-3 matches as the core experience
Online multiplayer knockout tournaments with ranked and casual ladders
A career mode where you build a player and chase the title of "GOAT of The Run"
Local multiplayer for couch co-op
The ability to play solos offline against AI opponents
The knockout tournament format is the headline competitive mode — single-elimination brackets where one loss sends you home. Combined with true rollback netcode, the online multiplayer knockout tournaments are being positioned as a serious draw for the competitive scene, not a tacked-on feature. New players can ease in through casual ladders before committing to ranked knockout tournaments.
Bleacher Report mentioned that cosmetic customization will be a major focus, with gear, court styling, and street cred tied to progression — giving long-term players plenty to grind toward beyond ladder rank.
Community reaction to NBA The Run has been overwhelmingly positive since the reveal trailer dropped, though not without a healthy dose of cautious optimism. On Reddit, threads in basketball gaming subreddits filled up within hours of the announcement, with most posts hitting the same beats: relief that someone finally took a real swing at the genre, nostalgia for the NBA Street games, and excitement at seeing favorite NBA stars rendered in such a stylized way.
A few common themes from the community so far:
The NBA Street comparison is constant — almost every top-rated thread mentions NBA Street Vol. 2 as the gold standard, and most fans seem to feel NBA The Run at least understands what made that game special
Cautious optimism on monetization — gamers are watching closely to see how aggressive the cosmetic and cred progression systems will be, given how live-service economies have burned arcade-sports fans before
Hype around courts — the Venice Beach reveal and the Philippines tenement court have been singled out repeatedly as standout moments from the trailer
Skepticism about online performance — the true rollback netcode claim has been welcomed but everyone is reserving judgment until launch
Content creators in the basketball gaming space — including several large NBA 2K YouTubers — have also weighed in, generally praising the graphics, the completely unique look, and the gameplay feel shown in the trailer. Twitch streamers focused on retro sports games have been even more enthusiastic, framing NBA The Run as a potential genre revival rather than just another release.
The biggest open question in the community right now: how deep is the career mode, and does chasing the GOAT of The Run title actually feel rewarding, or is it surface-level? Play Studios has yet to fully detail progression, so expect that to be the dominant discussion point until launch.
If you want to stay on top of every reveal, patch note, and roster announcement leading up to release, here are the most reliable places to follow NBA The Run:
PlayStation Blog — the official launch announcement appeared here, and Sony will likely post mode reveals, pre-order details, and dev diaries on the same channel
Play Studios' official social channels — the developer is active on X (Twitter) and YouTube, where most gameplay clips and feature breakdowns will drop first
Game Informer — published one of the earliest hands-on previews and is expected to run additional coverage as more modes are revealed
Bleacher Report's gaming section — has been tracking the knockout tournament format, the online multiplayer knockout tournaments structure, and roster reveals for new players entering the scene
YouTube — search for "NBA The Run gameplay" or "NBA The Run trailer" to find official trailers plus reaction breakdowns from creators in the basketball gaming community
Reddit — the r/NBA2k subreddit and emerging dedicated communities are the best place to track day-to-day discussion, leaks, and clips
Discord — once the game launches, expect competitive communities focused on the knockout tournament format to congregate in dedicated servers, especially around ranked play
For console-specific news, check the PlayStation Store page for PS5 pre-order details and the eventual Xbox Series X, Xbox, and PC store pages once those versions are formally announced. Wishlisting on each platform is also the easiest way to get push-notified the moment a hard release date is locked in.
If you only want to follow one source, the PlayStation Blog plus Play Studios' official accounts will cover roughly 90% of major news beats.
If you're a fan of arcade hoops, this is the most promising release in the genre in years. NBA The Run is hitting almost every note long-time NBA Street games fans have been asking for — real players, legendary streetball courts, fast 3-on-3 gameplay, and a clear arcade identity.
The risks are familiar ones for any new sports IP: balance issues, microtransaction concerns, and the eternal question of whether matchmaking will hold up at launch. But based on the PS5 announcement, the gameplay trailer, and the early hands-on impressions from Game Informer, the foundation that Play Studios has built looks solid.
Mark the calendar — June 2026 on PS5, with Xbox Series X, Xbox, and PC coming later — and warm up your jump shot. NBA The Run could be the basketball game of the summer.
Olivia Blake · Editor
Editor
