Fans got their first look at the new Motion Engine that will power NBA 2K26’s on-court action.

2K dropped a fresh trailer Thursday to showcase gameplay improvements as the hype slowly builds for the game’s global launch in the fall.

The Motion Engine was described as “the biggest change to player movement since NBA 2K21.”

“Leveraging machine-learning technology, ProPLAY powers an all-new Motion Engine in NBA 2K26, making actions feel more lifelike and realistic across all on-court movement,” 2K said. “Dynamic lower-body pose matching adjusts the exact positioning of players’ legs and feet on the fly and ensures they launch, plant and cut realistically.”

NBA 2K26 will also boast Enhanced Rhythm Shooting, which is intended to more closely mirror the real thing.

“This shooting control method still relies on a DOWN-UP flicking motion with the shot stick, but now your Shot Timing and Tempo will actually manipulate the shooter’s upper body and impact how the shot looks throughout the complete motion by reflecting how you move the shot stick,” 2K said.

As one example, a user may want to release the shot quicker than you’d prefer because a defender is bearing down on the perimeter. Nailing the timing means the shot goes down even if the form isn’t perfect.

Offense and defense have been tweaked more broadly in order to create a sharper gameplay experience from NBA 2K25. The AI and coaching have been improved as well, with drive-and-kicks and help defense two aspects where fans should see the changes.

“Enhanced AI adapts strategically to a player’s every move on both sides of the ball,” 2K said. “A new intelligence module enables offensive AI to actively look for scoring opportunities through drive-and-kick plays to generate offense outside of standard plays. Other defensive improvements and additions include enhanced double team defensive logic, improved AI defenders logic, expanded playbooks, AI difficulty improvements and AI Shot Timing Ability in Play Now and MyNBA, allowing players to separately adjust how skilled AIs are at timing jumpshots and layups.”

The next deep dive into NBA 2K26 will focus on the game’s presentation

The next entry in the popular series releases worldwide on Sept. 5 and once again includes three cover athletes.

Oklahoma City Thunder star and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander graces the standard game, while the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese is on the special WNBA edition. Ten-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony was picked to be featured on the premium “Superstar” edition.