The Gym Rat Badge method has been patched in NBA 2K22 MyCareer on Next Gen.

On Sept. 15, 2K tweeted out that they released a patch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S bringing "continued stability improvements to the game-fixing several issues." Although no gameplay changes were made, it appears those on Next Gen quietly lost the ability to earn the Gym Rat Badge for their MyPlayers within a couple of hours.

THEY PATCHED THE GYM RAT METHOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

— ηєℓℓу т. ? (@FeelThatPuIse) September 15, 2021

Gym Rat Badge Method Secretly Patched in NBA 2K22 Next Gen

As seen in previous years, the Gym Rat Badge is a highly coveted boon to collect in NBA 2K22 MyCareer as it serves as a permanent boost to your MyPlayer's Speed, Acceleration, Stamina, Strength and Vertical, as well as adds an extra portion to your Stamina Meter.

In NBA 2K22 Next Gen right off the bat, players have a Gym Rat Quest available that invites them to complete 50 3-Star or higher quality Gatorade Facility drills in order to unlock it.

Within hours of the game's launch, community members promptly pointed out that players could spam the Gatorade reaction drill at the back of the facility to complete the challenge in as fast as two hours since it doesn't have a cooldown.

As players in the City may have noticed, perhaps even after it has been stealth patched, the Gatorade reaction drill often garnered crowds of hoopers looking to fight for its got next spot in hopes of getting the badge easily.

However, since the drill no longer counts towards the Gym Rat quest and only gives a Gatorade store discount, players will have to do their five weekly drills to make progress. In theory, this takes a minimum of 10 weeks to do.

While the intentions behind 2K doing this seem clear, it's unfortunate that the method was patched since it felt like a pretty fair return for players willing to invest their time and effort.

For now, it appears the fastest way to earn the Gym Rat Badge on both Current and Next Gen is what it has been in recent titles — play 35-40 MyCareer NBA games, sim to the Playoffs and win the championship.

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