Besides the bonus game, Sony is hosting a free online weekend starting on July 4th. If you don’t subscribe to PS Plus, you can play some of your multiplayer games online without a membership. The company is also giving away a PS Plus-inspired theme for a limited time. 

Now that it’s 10-years-old, it’s hard to imagine what the modern gaming landscape would look like without the influence of PS Plus. When Sony started giving away monthly free games in 2012, Microsoft matched the service with Games with Gold in 2013. Players have since come to expect that they’ll get some free games for subscribing to a monthly gaming service, so much so that when it came time for Google to launch Stadia, even it made sure to include complimentary titles for subscribers. 

With sports leagues almost entirely on hiatus, fans have had to make some adjustments to get their fix. Racing series have moved over to esports and player tournaments have provided some excitement, along with live events like the WNBA and NFL draft. For basketball fans, the folks at 2K are taking advantage of the break to simulate the playoffs. No one knows whether the NBA will be able to complete this season with real games, so in between episodes of The Last Dance this is about as close as we’ll get to real action.

In the game, the folks at 2K played out all the regular season matches that have been missed, then the first round of the playoffs with the teams that made it. The schedule is set for more pretend games on May 1st, with the Lakers, Rockets, Mavericks, Clippers, Bucks, 76ers, Raptors and Celtics all still alive and competing. Scores and breakdowns are available on the website, along with a quick highlight reel if you’re thirsty for some Zion-less NBA action.

So how, exactly, can you get access to these gems? Well, for starters, there’s going to be Nike MyPlayer Nation, a new mode that lets you pick your favorite team and play online against others in a mirrored version of the NBA’s 2019-2020 season game schedule. In it, depending on how well you play, you can start unlocking the ability to buy Nike’s Gamer Exclusives by reaching specified milestones — which will change throughout the NBA season. Nine of these GE models will be unlocked and redeemed that way in NBA 2K20 and, after you link your Nike and 2K memberships in the SNKRS app, you can buy them from there.

Nike and NBA 2K20 are dropping the LeBron 17 “‘Bron 2K” on October 29th.

The remaining GE is a new color of LeBron James’ latest Nike signature shoes, dubbed the LeBron 17 ‘Bron 2K, which will drop in a different way than the others. For this particular design, Nike will be using its SNKRS Cam feature, one that will require you to have your smartphone ready, find a relevant graphic in the game and then scan it with the SNKRS app to unlock and buy a pair. But first, you’ll need to get your NBA 2K20 MyPlayer’s rating to 98 or 99 (higher than James’ 97), and then win a MyPlayer Nation game during the NBA season. From there, you’ll have to act fast: Even if you manage to access a GE, they will be only be available while supplies last.

If you recall, that SNKRS Cam experience is similar to when Nike launched an Air Jordan 1 in Fortnite, an idea that was created for both gamers and sneakerheads. This merging of digital and physical worlds to sell hyped sneakers is something that Nike has been experimenting with for the past couple of years, as it looks to technologies like augmented reality to offer something new for consumers. At the same time, these kind of drops can help the company fight bots, aka automated systems that resellers use to try to buy basically any product that’s launched in limited fashion.

Nike told Engadget the partnership with 2K Sports is only for this year’s game, NBA 2K20, although don’t be surprised to see its Gamer Exclusives come back in the future if they turn out to be popular. The MyPlayer Nation mode will be live on 2K20 starting October 22nd.