NBA2K25 not recognizing Gamepass Ultimate

Hi Matt, and thanks for getting in touch. I'm Aileen, and I'm here to provide you advice as an Independent Advisor.

I know how frustrating this must be. You’ve already done all the right steps—signing out, resetting your console, even restarting your router—and yet NBA 2K25 still isn’t letting you play online despite having Game Pass Ultimate. When you’re paying for a full subscription and the game doesn’t recognize it, it really feels like you’re being blocked for no reason.

Let’s try a few more things that might help fix this.

First, sign in to https://account.microsoft.com/services and double-check that your Game Pass Ultimate subscription is showing as active on the same Microsoft account you're using on your Xbox. If there are no billing issues or expiration warnings, you're good to go from the subscription side.

Next, make sure that the 2K account used in-game is actually connected to your Xbox account.

Launch NBA 2K25.

Open the 2K Account or Options menu.

Check the linked account info. If it’s not tied to your Xbox profile (or looks like a guest account), you may need to sign out and reconnect the correct 2K account that matches your Gamertag.

Mismatch here can cause the game to act like you don’t have access—even when Game Pass is active.

On your Xbox, try manually syncing your licenses:

Go to Settings > System > Updates > Sync console licenses

After the sync completes, restart your console

This step forces your Xbox to re-check your entitlement and Game Pass ownership, which can sometimes fix recognition issues.

You can also clear local saved data for NBA 2K25:

Go to My Games & Apps

Highlight NBA 2K25 and select Manage Game and Add-ons

Choose Saved Data

Select your profile and then Delete from console

(don’t select “Delete everywhere” — this only clears local data)

This won’t delete your actual progress, but it can refresh the link between your profile and the game’s servers.

If none of the above works, you might be dealing with a server-side issue between NBA 2K25 and how it checks entitlements from Game Pass. At this point, you can reach out to 2K Support here:

https://support.2k.com/hc/

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Let them know your Xbox Gamertag, that you have Game Pass Ultimate active, and that NBA 2K25 still isn’t recognizing it. Including a screenshot of your active Game Pass subscription page may help speed things up.

I know how annoying it is to go in circles like this, but hopefully one of these steps gets you back online in 2K.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance. Looking forward to your response.

Yes! The gamepass app recognizes my gamepass ultimate subscription. It's a gamepass app bug.

9.99 is for gamepass not gamepass ultimate, gamepass ultimate has the live component.

All games. I have ultimate game pass and i double checked it to make sure. It just doesn't recognize that I have xbox live. I can download all gamepass games but just cant go online.

Per the terms of the offer, you should get them within 35 days of purchase. http://aka.ms/NBA2K25