2K Making a Return?

[TexasFan2005]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

Let's pretend everything went back to the way it was with different developers/publishers being able to use the NFL/NFLPA licenses ...would 2k & Visual Concepts even WANT to get back into the market at this point? Seems 2k's focus is NBA2k after consolidating their resources into that game. To have to re-allocate some of those resources to an NFL-Licensed game after all this time...would that even be of any interest to them now?

ABSOLUTELY

And for the very same reasons EA Sports releases NBA Live, even if it's every other year... or even a few years after the holy mess that was NBA Elite 11. Did anyone actually think that EA could recover from that and actually compete with NBA 2k, a franchise that has revolutionized basketball simulation since it's inception in 1999? Probably not. Have they gained back the confidence from the sports gaming community that they can make a yearly title that competes with NBA 2k? No. Does that stop them from releasing NBA Live just to maintain a presence as a sports gaming giant? Hell no, and you better believe that as long as the NBA license is open, EA will try to compete in the market.

So if we are indeed pretending that everything went back to how it was before with the open licenses, etc, it would be unfathomable if 2k Sports didn't jump at the opportunity to make an NFL game the minute they could. This is the same company that came out of nowhere to compete with Madden and NBA Live when they were considered the pinnacle of football and basketball gaming, and as Sega Dreamcast exclusives for crying out loud. Could it take some time to deliver a good football game? Sure, but they are American sports game developers, and the NFL is the biggest show in town.

[Junior Moe]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

Let's pretend everything went back to the way it was with different developers/publishers being able to use the NFL/NFLPA licenses ...would 2k & Visual Concepts even WANT to get back into the market at this point? Seems 2k's focus is NBA2k after consolidating their resources into that game. To have to re-allocate some of those resources to an NFL-Licensed game after all this time...would that even be of any interest to them now?

That's an excellent point and yet another reason why I don't see NFL2K returning. 2K has made NBA2K bigger than Madden. They needed the NFL liscence to move units. That's not the case any longer for them. Plus I'm sure a nonexclusive NBA liscence is much cheaper than the NFL would be. Then you add in the development costs and stuff and it makes less sense.

[illwill10]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

I don't see it happening. NFL prefers solo exclusive licenses. Even though many don't like Madden, lets not pretend that 2k would be able to really compete with Madden until least 2-3 years. Madden sales mainly off of NFL brand and Madden brand. 2k would only sale if it had the NFL brand. I liked AP2k8, but no way even with NFL legends they would compete with Madden.

I would just like Madden to get competition. I don't like the direction Madden is headed in. With no competition, there is no pressure for Madden. It seems like Madden is mainly focused on the Online Play and visuals. But, the exclusive NFL license seems safe. I just hope Madden puts a emphasis on Offline modes and gameplay/animations. I feel Madden's main problem is that they implement features and don't expand on it. CFM, Traits, animations. No sophistication at all when it comes to AI.

[tsbmolina]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

The exclusive license will be the death of the NFL. With NFL ratings plummeting and the negative publicity that concussions have had on the sport. Parents are keeping there children away from youth football because of the dangers inherit in football. In the process it's potentially stunting the growth of said youth following the sport. The NFL needs 2K Sports and the exposure it would give them. All you have to do is look at what the NBA 2K franchise has done for basketball. It has made kids who grow up to be adults fans of the sport and the popularity has never been more high. At this point it's the NFL's loss not 2K Sports if the NFL continues with there exclusive license.

[Thunderhorse]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

The exclusive license will be the death of the NFL. With NFL ratings plummeting and the negative publicity that concussions have had on the sport. Parents are keeping there children away from youth football because of the dangers inherit in football. In the process it's potentially stunting the growth of said youth following the sport. The NFL needs 2K Sports and the exposure it would give them. All you have to do is look at what the NBA 2K franchise has done for basketball. It has made kids who grow up to be adults fans of the sport and the popularity has never been more high. At this point it's the NFL's loss not 2K Sports if the NFL continues with there exclusive license.

This is so true.

I grew up with a football in hand and it wasn't until I was out of college and completely disgusted with Madden that I would even entertain the idea of playing 2K's basketball game.

I was not a basketball fan, at all. I had very little respect for the sport as a whole. I got into the game because the guys I played with on All Pro, GTA, etc. played 2K's mypark non stop and I was tired of being the odd man out. I quickly got addicted and actually started to learn about Basketball in fundamental ways that really helped me start to appreciate the sport.

Now I actually watch NBA games, and look forward to the playoffs every year.

[Hooe]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

The exclusive license will be the death of the NFL.

This is the absolute height of hyperbole, to the point of comedy.

The NFL has many more important issues to worry about than a small contingent of unsatisfied football video game fans.

The NFL needs 2K Sports and the exposure it would give them.

That's literally exactly what EA currently provides the NFL. Swapping the license over to 2K adds nothing. Further, it subtracts by virtue of ending the Madden brand name. Literally anyone who plays video games - sports games or otherwise - knows that "Madden is the football game". Madden is synonymous with video games; not just sports video games, and not just football video games. The NFL is not going to give that brand recognition up, and for good reason.

[tsbmolina]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

This is the absolute height of hyperbole, to the point of comedy.

The NFL has many more important issues to worry about than a small contingent of unsatisfied football video game fans.



That's literally exactly what EA currently provides the NFL. Swapping the license over to 2K adds nothing. Further, it subtracts by virtue of ending the Madden brand name. Literally anyone who plays video games - sports games or otherwise - knows that "Madden is the football game". Madden is synonymous with video games; not just sports video games, and not just football video games. The NFL is not going to give that brand recognition up, and for good reason.

No doubt Madden and the NFL have made a ton of money off the exclusive license but have done nothing to expand the audience since getting the exclusive 14 years ago. While the NFL seemed to be going nowhere but up when the license was signed in 2005 theses are different times and in my opinion exposure and widening the audience is more important now than making money. NFL ratings are down and parents not letting there kids play football at a young age will only further deplete the NFL audience in the next 10-15 years. The NFL needs to find other ways to keep those young kids interested in the sport. Two football games on the market would ignite not only competition but excitement for the NFL which will lead to a widening of the stagnate NFL video gaming audience. The choice for the NFL is make a ton of money now with the risk of declining returns in the future. You need to be proactive and see into the future or fail out of greed. By no means am I saying take the exclusive away from EA but rather have two titles competing against each and widening the younger gaming audience and future viewers of the NFL. NBA 2K5 less then 1 million sold, NBA 2K18 9 million. Madden 2005 6 million sod, Madden 18 6 million sold.

[PVarck31]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

Madden and the NFL have made a ton of money off the exclusive license but have done nothing to expand the audience since getting the exclusive 14 years ago. While the NFL seemed to be going nowhere but up when the license was signed in 2005 theses are different times and in my opinion exposure and widening the audience is more important now than making money. NFL ratings are down and parents not letting there kids play football at a young age will only further deplete the NFL audience in the next 10-15 years. The NFL needs to find other ways to keep those young kids interested in the sport. Two football games on the market would ignite not only competition but excitement for the NFL which will lead to a widening of the stagnate NFL video gaming audience. The choice for the NFL is make a ton of money now with the risk of declining returns in the future. You need to be proactive and see into the future or fail out of greed.

While the idea is fine, the NFL just doesn't work that way and they are not shifting their business model anytime soon. They love exclusive deals and that's not gonna change, at least not for a long time. Pretty much everything they do is based in exclusivity. Madden, Budweiser, Directv, Verizon, Nike, Papa John's, and so on.

I'm sure they are very happy with Madden and the exposure it gives them. There is no need for them to create a competition. They literally don't care what we think of Madden on the field. Nor should they. It's gonna end up as a top ten selling game of the year. It literally does nothing but good things for them.

Sure, it would be great to have another choice. But that's just not what the NFL does and they are not just gonna give the license to someone else for the hell of it.

I'm sure there will come a time in the future that the license will end and the NFL might be interested in hearing bids. But even then, 2K wouldn't even have a game to show. Madden is already there. So 2K might not even see it as a viable option. But for now I think EA and the NFL are pretty much inseparable.

[redsox4evur]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

I'm sure there will come a time in the future that the license will end and the NFL might be interested in hearing bids. But even then, 2K wouldn't even have a game to show. Madden is already there. So 2K might not even see it as a viable option. But for now I think EA and the NFL are pretty much inseparable.

I’m pretty sure the license has expired or come close to at least a couple times in the past. And we haven’t heard talks between the NFL and ANYONE else. The NFL is perfectly fine working with EA.

Also the whole NFL is in decline is really overstated. They are dropping the same amount of viewers as everyone else is. Also they had the most viewed TV show of 2017, and had 13 of the top 20, and 7 out of top 10. The only programs in the top 10 were Trump’s Inauguration, the Academy awards and Trump’s address to Congress.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Rocky]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

The better question is to me is if 2K got the license tomorrow, what is the likelihood they could create a decent NFL2K19?

Apart of me says that they could make a pretty decent game just by using APF2K8 as a gameplay base, adding new plays, upgrading graphics, and creating a barebones franchise mode. I have no idea if this is the case either but I doubt they just let there football engine kit go completely untouched for 10 years so they may have made some small upgrades already.

That said, it would take a good amount of time before they come close to being as polished as Madden.

[Hooe]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

No doubt Madden and the NFL have made a ton of money off the exclusive license but have done nothing to expand the audience since getting the exclusive 14 years ago.

Provably false. Ultimate Team, Connected Franchise, Draft Champions, the competitive Madden scene, and a whole slew of on-field gameplay features didn't exist fourteen years ago. Those things have expanded the reach of Madden, albeit in a different direction than what you want. Further, you can't put Madden 06 and Madden 18 next to each other and honestly tell me the game hasn't moved forward. Madden 06 on the 360 was damn near unplayable. Madden 18, especially in a head-to-head context, is a fantastic total-package game.

While the NFL seemed to be going nowhere but up when the license was signed in 2005 theses are different times and in my opinion exposure and widening the audience is more important now than making money. NFL ratings are down and parents not letting there kids play football at a young age will only further deplete the NFL audience in the next 10-15 years. The NFL needs to find other ways to keep those young kids interested in the sport. Two football games on the market would ignite not only competition but excitement for the NFL which will lead to a widening of the stagnate NFL video gaming audience. The choice for the NFL is make a ton of money now with the risk of declining returns in the future. You need to be proactive and see into the future or fail out of greed. By no means am I saying take the exclusive away from EA but rather have two titles competing against each and widening the younger gaming audience and future viewers of the NFL. NBA 2K5 less then 1 million sold, NBA 2K18 9 million. Madden 2005 6 million sod, Madden 18 6 million sold.

Regardless of any hypothetical scenario where two football games were to exist again compared to the current state of play, the NFL has far more important challenges right now concerning how they handle their television rights agreements and digital services broadcast strategy. How they handle both of those issues is vastly more valuable than a couple million additional sales on a video game, television and digital ad revenue brings far more money in. Ad revenue and rights fees brings literally an order of magnitude more money than a video game.

In this case, you're overstating the importance of Madden to the NFL.

In addition, the state of the video game industry has changed dramatically in the past decade. The rise of mobile games and the resurgence of PC gaming via Steam have both affected consoles significantly. Simply comparing (inaccurate) units sold year-over-year and ignoring context for those numbers doesn't lead to any useful conclusions.

[Hooe]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

The better question is to me is if 2K got the license tomorrow, what is the likelihood they could create a decent NFL2K19?

Apart of me says that they could make a pretty decent game just by using APF2K8 as a gameplay base, adding new plays, upgrading graphics, and creating a barebones franchise mode. I have no idea if this is the case either but I doubt they just let there football engine kit go completely untouched for 10 years so they may have made some small upgrades already.

That said, it would take a good amount of time before they come close to being as polished as Madden.

Would there even be an NFL 2K19? Why would 2K have staffed engineers on football gameplay when, realistically, they weren't going to get the license back anytime soon?

Best-case scenario, I think 2K would need at least a year just to modernize the APF gameplay engine for modern consoles, and there'd maybe be a token season mode. I also think a MyTeam equivalent would have priority over Franchise, judging by how far post-launch monetization via the Virtual Currency concept has infiltrated every part of the NBA 2K gameplay experience.

In short, I don't think the first couple of iterations of a hypothetical NFL 2K game would make hardcore fans happy, speaking to the total package product.

[redsox4evur]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

Would there even be an NFL 2K19? Why would 2K have staffed engineers on football gameplay when, realistically, they weren't going to get the license back anytime soon?

Best-case scenario, I think 2K would need at least a year just to modernize the APF gameplay engine for modern consoles, and there'd maybe be a token season mode. I also think a MyTeam equivalent would have priority over Franchise, judging by how far post-launch monetization via the Virtual Currency concept has infiltrated every part of the NBA 2K gameplay experience.

In short, I don't think the first couple of iterations of a hypothetical NFL 2K game would make hardcore fans happy, speaking to the total package product.

I'd go as far as guarantee this would happen. Look at what happened with NBA Live this year. The modes that got the most attention were career (by far and away), then LUT, and then franchise. The franchise is as barebones as you can get, no player movement, league stats update weekly, etc.

[Rocky]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

Would there even be an NFL 2K19? Why would 2K have staffed engineers on football gameplay when, realistically, they weren't going to get the license back anytime soon?

Best-case scenario, I think 2K would need at least a year just to modernize the APF gameplay engine for modern consoles, and there'd maybe be a token season mode. I also think a MyTeam equivalent would have priority over Franchise, judging by how far post-launch monetization via the Virtual Currency concept has infiltrated every part of the NBA 2K gameplay experience.

In short, I don't think the first couple of iterations of a hypothetical NFL 2K game would make hardcore fans happy, speaking to the total package product.

That's why I asked.

Probably the biggest challenge (and this is just a guess) would be stadiums and textures.

Gameplay would already be a relative strength depending on how they code and mo-cap DB/WR interaction. That's the only part that is very dated.

And I wonder if they could work off NFL2K5 for a franchise mode. You already see remnants of it in APF's season mode.

Either way if they hypothetically got the license today, I think you're right. Better to go all in for NFL2K20 with full marketing muscle and hype from the NBA series.

[Junior Moe]

Re: 2K Making a Return?

The better question is to me is if 2K got the license tomorrow, what is the likelihood they could create a decent NFL2K19?

Apart of me says that they could make a pretty decent game just by using APF2K8 as a gameplay base, adding new plays, upgrading graphics, and creating a barebones franchise mode. I have no idea if this is the case either but I doubt they just let there football engine kit go completely untouched for 10 years so they may have made some small upgrades already.

That said, it would take a good amount of time before they come close to being as polished as Madden.

I think a decent 2K19 is out the question. I have no doubts though that given a year or two 2K would put out a good football game. I honestly don't think that it would take too long to be as polished as Madden. 2K5 was what, their 4th or 5th game and it was at the very least equal Madden so I honestly don't think it would take them long. I just don't see what business sense it would make. They'd be better off going with the NCAA (and corralling as many teams/conferences they can) than the NFL.