NBA 2K Online set to launch October 24 in China

October 2012 is being dubbed "the month of NBA 2K". In that span we'll see the release of the highly-anticipated NBA 2K13, the launch of 2K Games' NBA 2K Everywhere initiative, along with the release of NBA 2K Online.

NBA 2K Online is a free-to-play NBA simulation from 2K Sports on the Tencent Games portal in China, and it is set to launch commercially on October 24. It will introduce four different game modes, including the NBA Mode, where gamers can create their own avatar and join an NBA team. Players can also choose to focus more on a team-oriented style in Free Mode and Street Mode, which gives players control of an entire team. The newly-launched Legend Mode will allow five gamers to form their own team and challenge the NBA’s best.

“We’re extremely excited about the progress that Tencent and Visual Concepts have made with NBA 2K Online,” said Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports. “This milestone is a significant achievement for both teams, and the game has already received some very positive responses from players. We’re looking forward to the brand’s continued growth in Asia.”

In addition to NBA 2K OnlineNBA 2K13 will be available on October 2, 2012 in North America and October 5, 2012 internationally for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC. A Wii U version will be available when the console launches on November 18. This is all in support of 2K Sports' recently announced NBA 2K Everywhere, where fans can experience NBA 2K virtually anywhere via an all-new mobile companion application, a social game on Facebook, and a full-featured mobile version of NBA 2K13 for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices.

2K Games recently released the demo for NBA 2K13; you can read my initial impressions here.