(Credit: Play By Play Studios/PCMag)
Arcade sports games were once an incredibly popular genre that offered an over-the-top alternative to more realistic simulations. They tossed out the rulebook, transforming standard competition into a wild, pick-up-and-play spectacle. They aren't as popular now as in years past, but NBA The Run is an attempt to revive that classic NBA Jam and NBA Street magic. Like those series, The Run swaps realism for a fast-paced, high-flying style that emphasizes big dunks, flair, and grandstanding. Recently, developer Play By Play Studios let me demo the game. These are my thoughts after spending an hour dishing and swishing.
What Is NBA The Run?
NBA The Run is an upcoming, officially licensed, 3-on-3 arcade-style basketball game, scheduled for release sometime in 2026. Developer Play by Play Studios is a team led by former NBA Street and Electronic Arts veterans. True to its pedigree, The Run focuses on streetball-style hoops, serving as a spiritual successor to the classic NBA Street series that were smash hits a few console generations ago. In fact, The Run taps into that nostalgia by bringing back legendary hip-hop DJ Bobbito Garcia (as DJ Cucumber Slice), whose iconic commentary recaptures the high-energy, 2000s-era vibe of the NBA Street series.
(Credit: Play By Play Studios/PCMag)As an officially licensed game, NBA The Run will feature a starting lineup of 30 superstars from across the league, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Victor Wembanyama. Play by Play Studios has confirmed that new players will be added post-launch. Alongside these licensed players, The Run will feature fictional Street Legends: original characters with distinct personalities, skills, and backstories. Unfortunately, the Street Legends weren't available in the demo.
International Courts and Arcade-Style Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, The Run shifts away from the traditional 82-game NBA season, instead focusing on online-only knockout tournaments. This is what I played during my demo session. The Run lacks a cinematic story campaign, but its solo experience centers on building reputation by playing in global courts, such as Venice Beach, Dongdang in Beijing, and the Taguig Tenement in the Philippines. I really appreciated the scenery, as the diverse settings add a lot of personality to the game.
The Run pits two teams of three against each other in a full-court basketball match, with designated buttons for passing, shooting, blocking, and stealing. The right stick controls defensive moves, letting you backstep aggressive hoopers or give yourself some breathing room. The left stick is primarily for movement, but it also serves as a modifier for your passes and defense techniques.
(Credit: Play By Play Studios/PCMag)There are also unique dunk inputs you perform with L1+ a face button. They look smooth and fluid, though the ones I saw were fairly grounded (classic slam, off-the-backboard, and 360 Tomahawk). I would have liked to see a bit more arcade flourish, like NBA Street's absurd three-man Gamebreaker dunks. That said, I barely had a chance to experiment with these before the demo session ended, so there may be more wild moves to discover. Overall, The Run is easy to pick up and play, but the many underlying controls make me think there's a lot to master.
My team competed in several knockout tournaments, where randomized mid-match rules kept action fresh. One such competition was Dunkfest, which prioritized rim-rocking finishes over perimeter shooting. It had a significant impact on how we approached the match. We lost our first two knockout tournament rounds because we played conservatively and scored opportunistically, which netted us only single points compared with the 2+ points earned via dunks. Once we dialed in and started playing by these rules, we started making serious headway during our tournament attempts. I dug the rule tweaks because they encouraged wild playstyles rather than traditional hoop play.
The Run will not have a character creator or offline game modes. The game is online-only at the time of this writing.
Graphics, Netcode, and Animations
As for presentation, NBA The Run is on the right track. Visually, The Run ditches photorealism for a bold, cel-shaded style that resembles a comic book. I'm not a fan of the character models' thick, dark outlines, but the graphics look fine overall. Even better, the game ran well on my test PC, which houses an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU, and 16GB of RAM. Given my short time with the game, I didn't have the chance to fiddle with graphical settings.
Aside from visuals, The Run uses rollback, a predictive netcode that provides a smooth, low-latency experience by immediately simulating inputs locally rather than waiting for server confirmation. This is typically seen in fighting games, but given The Run's always-online, competitive structure, rollback seems like a proper netcode solution. I encountered no noticeable delay or latency during my handful of matchups: The inputs were responsive, and every play felt fair. Not once did I feel cheated by lag or some other online hiccup.
(Credit: Play By Play Studios/PCMag)That said, some animations felt choppy, stiff, and a little floaty. After my session, I hit YouTube to check out old NBA Street V3 footage and was surprised at how smooth and stylish it looked by comparison. The Run, at least right now, lacks NBA Street's weight and momentum, which I hope Play by Play Studios addresses in the lead-up to the game's launch.
Release Date and Platforms
I'm excited to see how the NBA The Run game evolves and improves over the coming months. For the time being, you can register for the official closed beta, which begins May 1 for PC via Steam. NBA The Run launches in June on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.