i think the casual fan base FAR outweighs the sim fan base. coming on a board like this, it can be easy to forget how rare sim gamers are - they make up a tiny fraction of 2k's customers. i'd say the makeup of 2k's customers right now is probably like 95% casual, 5% sim. maybe even 98% casual. if every sim player stopped buying 2k games, i don't think it would make a dent in 2k's revenue. the average person just wants to zone out and not think when playing games. bottom line is that there will always be far more kids and casuals buying games than serious sim heads. 2k's going to cater to them because there are a lot more of them. numbers and money always win.
now that 2k has developed mass appeal in the video game culture, i don't think they're going to go more sim anytime soon. i won't be buying a 2k game again until they offer a more "strategy-based" online quick match mode. the fact that someone can compete with me online by jacking up bad shots and forcing contact shots inside just doesn't fly with me. until 2k offers a fulfilling quick match mode that rewards you more for passing and open shots, i won't be buying another game.