2K Sports - Open Source Campaign Proposal - SBartlett's Blog

SBartlett's Blog

2K Sports - Open Source Campaign Proposal

Posted on May 2, 2017 at 12:26 PM.

Open Source Campaign Proposal for 2K Sports
An Open-Source Campaign can Drive Passion, Ingenuity, and Interest for 2K Sports and the Community.

Preface: At Converse, I had the chance to work with Accenture software engineers to upgrade our company�s CRM. After many months of QA testing, it was quite clear that Accenture software engineers teamed up with business managers formed very powerful teams. The new CRM system was designed with the interests of the users (as best as possible).

This type of relationship opened my eyes up in to what types of limitations the CRM system had from a programming perspective. I began thinking within the parameters of the current software, almost like a software engineer. From this experience alone, it is clear to me that software engineers that work in concert with business managers (or end-users) can produce great results.

Now let�s carry this strategy over to gaming.

Campaign: Unleash the PC modding community by availing the older-generation testing & design tools for classic titles.

Rationale: This one is a bit more creative, unconventional, but within the realm of possibility. If this idea is not executed as written here, it still opens up the possibility to riff off the idea, and come up with some other unconventional releases.

The goal is to release previously created in-house testing & design tools for original 2K sports titles and make them free open-source tools. Functionally, this will enable the community to create their own gameplay mechanics on their PC�s. Think: slider tweaking and testing multiplied by 100.

Testing & design tools will enable millions of fans to create their own interpretations of very specific gameplay elements and fine-tune them. The modding community will be unleashed with a new set of tools to edit gameplay mechanics and to test sliders. For a specific example: perhaps the tools will enable users to test each jump shot animation�s success rates - a point of contention within the 2K community this season.

This campaign would be gifting the community tools to become gameplay engineers, to study and interpret data and feedback, and improve the gameplay on their own. Further, it will educate users on how to perceive gameplay mechanics, data, and how to communicate bugs to 2K in the future.

Many parties stand to gain from this. Defying traditional business in making some of these old tools available would create buzz. User generated content would have the potential to go viral on the web, and 2K may find some very talented developers and modders out there creating unique gameplay mechanics to inspire new controls, new sliders, and new gameplay flow.

By making use of these old assets, we can re-energize and grow the fanbase of sports gamers on the PC gaming side. This is an engagement devised to cultivate creativity and imagination within the community to push the gameplay mechanics further.