Jake from State Farm is a character in NBA 2K22’s City

NBA 2K22 released yesterday on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, and Xbox One. As previous NBA 2K Games, 2K22 features The City, a big, open-world online mode that allows players to walk around, play basketball, shop in stores, and uh … I guess spending time with Jake from State Farm.

NBA 2K22 features a career mode, allowing players to create their own basketball loving character who can then move through a story, rise through the ranks and enter the NBA and eventually famous NBA superstars. The City is an online hub that lets you take your created character out of the field and into an open-world city filled with different buildings, activities, and content to explore. It’s also, like the rest of everything modern NBA 2K game, filled with microtransactions and advertisements.

But this year, NBA 2K22 has really stepped up its game when it comes to bringing elements of advanced capitalism into the experience. NBA 2K22 has a digital Jake from State Farm. This “character” has appeared in many State Farm commercials and because most of us spend hours of our days bombarded with thousands of commercials, most of you will recognize Jake from State Farm.

We are truly in the darkest timeline.

Capybaronne on Twitter was one of the first people to share a clip of Jake and she offered this short but precise description of the meeting: “Christ”.

Not only is Jake in the game, he’s located outside of the State Farm branded clothing and merchandise store. And yes, you can get “drip” from State Farm. And also, yes, it looks terrible, as shown Capybaronne in a follow-up tweet.

In the video, your created character meets Jake from State Farm and instead of shaking their head, maybe sighing and walking forward like most humans, they relax and talk to the marketing character made real in digital form. Watching your character have fun with State Farm’s Jake, even get excited when he says the famous State Farm slogan would make me want to never play with that character again.

It is not surprising to see NBA 2K22 paste an insurance ad character in the game. It’s a series that has already had tons shitty microtransactions in the past and also incorporated literal slot machines and must-see advertisements in previous entries. So of course add a digital avatar based on a character from some ads. Why not?! Hopefully Flo and the Geico Lizard appear in next year’s game.

According to my sources (people who play this game) that also includes basketball this year as well. I think.