Lego 2K Drive, the first game in a new multi-title 2K-Lego partnership has just been announced, which came as no surprise to me as I was able to go hands-on with the game earlier this month (you can check out my full impressions here). While I generally enjoyed my time with Lego 2K Drive, which is a solidly-entertaining combination of kart racing, open-world exploration, and classic Lego building, I did have concerns about some aspects of the game. Most notably, the “Unkie’s Emporium” stores spread throughout the game, which we weren’t allowed to check out during our hands-on time. While you do collect “Brickbux” in-game that can be spent in the stores I wondered if microtransactions would also be part of the mix.
It turns out I was right to be concerned. During an interview session with Lego 2K Drive’s creative director Brian Silva, he said you’ll be able to purchase vehicles, minifigures, accessories in the store, and when I reached out to 2K PR for further details, they confirmed real money will be in play, although they were quick to point out there will be some degree of safeguarding to keep children from spending.
“Lego 2K Drive features an in-game store, Unkie’s Emporium, where players can acquire optional items including new vehicles, minifigures and more. There are two types of items in the store, ones that can be purchased using Brickbux earned through playing, or ones that can be purchased using coins obtained through a real currency purchase. Safety and responsibility was a top priority for us when creating Lego 2K Drive. To ensure parents can make the right decisions for their kids, to make purchases a player must create a 2K Account. If the player is underage, their account must be verified by an adult, who then has the ability to block in-game money purchases.”
Silva and 2K’s own press release also confirm that Lego 2K Drive will be a live service game, with a “Drive Pass” and seasonal updates. Speaking up updates, while Lego 2K Drive will focus on its own original world at launch, I wondered if crossovers with other IP might be possible. Star Wars vehicles? A Batman stage perhaps? While Silva didn’t outright confirm anything, he definitely left the door open…
“We'll have to wait and see, I'm not sure. *Laughs.* Anything is possible in Lego.”
Silva also confirmed Lego 2K Drive was developed using Unreal Engine, and promised a pretty meaty experience when I asked about the overall size and scope of the game.
“Single-player story mode, if you just say ‘Hey, I just want to get from the beginning of this story to the end of this story and win the Sky Cup,’ I think it's running an average of around 15 hours at this point. I think that's if you kind of blast through it, but there's tons to do. I'm hoping people just enjoy the game, and are able to be, like, ‘Hey, I want to try all the content, I'm going to do all the collectibles.’ Personally, that's my favorite thing to do. Just explore the world and find all the little collectibles we have.”
Lego 2K Drive rolls onto PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch on May 19. Again, if you want to know more, check out Wccftech’s full hands-on impressions.
