NBA 2K25 players are encountering a somewhat hilarious but very frustrating bug that sees their own MyPlayer character cloned and competing against or alongside them.

The annualized basketball game is already available to most under the “Early Tip-Off” banner, a somewhat bizarre faux early access period available to anyone who buys the game digitally or physically at “participating retailers”, with only some retailers and Nintendo Switch players unable to play until September 6, 2024.

Players are therefore encountering unusual bugs like the character clones and sharing them online. And while facing off against another version of the heroic protagonist is somewhat of a video game cliche, it’s definitely not intentional in NBA 2K25.

“Playing my first MyCareer game. Anyone get this glitch?” asked New-Tutor-8702 on Reddit, who posted a photo of his Chicago Bulls player and his identical twin. “My MP has duplicated and is playing on court at the same time as me,” said Honest_Database_1550, who encountered the same issue on the Los Angeles Clippers.

A representative of NBA 2K25 did respond to this post, however, saying the team was “looking into this,” though no specifics regarding a fix were shared. It’s also unclear if whatever fix that comes will address all variations of the clone bug.

Putting the others to shame, SinStealer posted a photo of his Philadelphia 76ers MyPlayer cloned not just once but twice, meaning three out of the five players on the floor were mirror images of himself.

Other fans are having fun with it, of course, with one posting a monologue as if from a basketball documentary akin to The Last Dance. “He was crazy. It’s like he was all over the court. He was in front of me, I passed the ball and he was in front of that guy too,” they said.

Some clones are even stealing stats, with players reporting their own numbers being divided between them all. If a player had two clones and scored 12 points, for example, they’d only be credited for four at the end of the game.

But the opposite is happening too: Some players are being awarded for all two or three players combined. “Whichever one is in your position will get your stats but at the end of the game they all count for you,” said NOsaints16. “Combined between my three duplicates I got the GOAT achievement for tying Kobe’s 81 point game.”

And finally, some players aren’t just competing with an annoying bug but literally having to compete with themselves, as some clones are spawning on the opposite team. “I’m in the Jazz and on my second game I was going against myself on the other team for some reason,” said ShadowzOn144hz. “My points per game were divided by half to 47 and it gives feedback for both myself and the clone on the top right.”

This specific version of the bug appears to have a more explicit caus. NBA 2K25 opens with players competing for the 2025 NBA Championship. It’s overtime of Game 7 eand they must win the game for their chosen team.

It turns out to be a “manifestation,” of course, and players come out of a meditative state to begin their MyCareer proper, before the season has even begun. NBA 2K25 then asks the player to choose their actual team, but players are encountering the clone glitch if they choose a different one to their “manifestation” team.

If, for example, a player choose the Miami Heat as their “manifestation” team, and goes through the sequence of pretending to win the 2025 NBA Championship, and they then choose the Orlando Magic as their actual starting MyCareer team, they’ll come up against the clone version of themselves in the Orlando versus Miami games.

The bug will hopefully be addressed by 2K soon, though players will just have to put up with themselves in the meantime.

NBA 2K25 puts Boston Celtics star and 2024 NBA champion Jayson Tatum on the cover alongside WNBA champion A’ja Wilson. The developer announced the top 10 players just ahead of launch, revealing that three Europeans are now considered the three best basketball players by 2K.

Image Credit: SinStealer on Reddit

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Amazon has announced the September 2024 Prime Gaming lineup (Prime Gaming is a benefit of Amazon Prime membership).

Highlights include Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Greedfall: Gold Edition, Whispered Secrets: Everburning Candle Collector’s Edition, Minabo – A Walk through Life, and Eternights.

To coincide with the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 on Prime Video, Prime members also get several free games from The Lord of the Rings universe, including Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition, LEGO The Lord of the Rings, and LEGO The Hobbit via GOG code, and can play Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Amazon Luna.

And hot on the heels of the disastrous Borderlands movie and the official reveal of Borderlands 4, Prime members can also claim Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Tales from the Borderlands for free this month via the Epic Games Store.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has acknowledged the game’s plummeting Steam user review rating by outlining plans for a patch that makes what it called “significant changes.”

The explosive third-person co-op shooter broke records when it launched on PC and PlayStation 5 earlier this year, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time. But Arrowhead has suffered a torrid time of late as it struggles to satisfy Helldivers 2’s fanbase, with recent months in particular resulting in a ‘mostly negative’ recent user review rating on Steam. Helldivers 2’s overall Steam user review rating remains ‘mostly positive.’

Most of the negativity revolves around a feeling that Arrowhead has been heavy handed in nerfing Helldivers 2’s various weapons and stratagems as it balances the game. The constant nerfs have caused some players to accuse Arrowhead of stripping all the fun out of Helldivers 2, a game that revolves around blowing alien bugs and robots to bits with over-the-top guns and bombs.

“We see the Steam reviews and we hear you loud and clear,” Arrowhead said in an update outlining the next stage of its 60-day plan to improve Helldivers 2. The developer’s goal, it said, is “to ensure that each weapon and stratagem feels powerful, responsive, and fun to use, while also fitting into the broader gameplay ecosystem.”

Here’s what to expect from Helldivers 2’s upcoming update, per Arrowhead:

• We are reworking Armor Penetration, Anti-Tank weapons and enemy armor and health values. As a key part of the rework we have done an initial balancing pass on over 30 weapons and stratagems.
• We are overhauling a number of different enemies to make them feel more rewarding to kill when you use the proper tools to handle them but ensure they still feel formidable. Enemy bots, including Hulks, will have lower armor, and the number of rockets fired by enemies like the Devastator and Gunship will be limited, making combat more balanced. The armor values of particularly tough bug enemies like the Charger, Impaler, and Bile Titan will also be reduced.
• Weapons such as the Autocannon, Heavy Machine Gun, and Anti-Material Rifle will be more effective, providing greater loadout versatility. We are also working towards additional improvements for the flamethrower weapons.
• We’re taking this opportunity to consider new player fantasies and design goals for these weapons and stratagems based on the feedback we’ve received and the trends we’re observing during gameplay.

The update that makes all these changes is due out on September 17. There’s no mention, however, of the addition of a new enemy faction. This week, fear that a new enemy will soon launch its attack against Super Earth emerged after a few players noticed strange behavior on the in-game Galactic War map. Where the circle layout usually only shows two factions – the Automatons and Terminids – and their progress as represented by red and orange colors, some saw a third, purple color, gaining ground. Reddit user Helldiver343 was one of the first to share their findings and posted a screenshot of the updated map before the changes “vanished.”

The image suggests that a third enemy, likely the Illuminate, will soon rear its head, but many were quick to write it off as a glitch, mistake, or even fake. Players then grew more suspicious when additional reports of purple map progress started to show up.

An in-game message suggested that Arrowhead was already very aware of player concerns. “Some Helldivers may have noticed a recent service outage in the Major Order Communication Display,” the message says. “The issue has since been resolved.”

Arrowhead continued, explaining that a Comms Technician got trapped in a server room and died due to “exposure,” resulting in “organic tissue degradation on electronic equipment.” Of course, the technician’s family has already been fined for damages, too.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.