NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby bluejaybrandon on Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:48 am

sticky-fingers wrote:According to Eurogamer : https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019 ... 19-to-date


Am I reading this right? It had the highest selling month of any game this year, but has necessarily moved the most copies. That article just seems oddly worded, like it has sold the most copies of any game in 2019 and yet only released in September.

Regardless, 2k is more a cultural icon than anything anymore. I think the days of straight simulation basketball are no more. It’ll start drifting more and more towards VC and The Park.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Andrew on Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:19 am

I'd say it's already there, given The Playground is apparently the most popular mode. It seems like a lot of the userbase aren't that interested in the NBA part of NBA 2K.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby zkritt on Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:50 pm

Andrew wrote:I'd say it's already there, give The Playground is apparently the most popular mode. It seems like a lot of the userbase aren't that interested in the NBA part of NBA 2K.


Yeah, that has been pretty obvious the last years...
Pretty much all focus is on the online-part of the game. Atleast this year you are not forced to play online in the park to reach 99 for your myplayer.

I wish they could focus more on the gameplay and the "NBA" part of the game.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Andrew on Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:16 pm

It's something I find strange, the lack of interest in the NBA side of things. I suppose MyCAREER is still popular and that's NBA-oriented, but there are a lot of gamers who just want to play The Playground or one of the Pro-Am modes. There's appeal in those modes of course, but I wouldn't think to the exclusion of the NBA content. Apparently so for many, though.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby bluejaybrandon on Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:52 pm

It really blows my mind, but I can honestly see a world in which 2k drops the NBA contract all together. They don’t necessarily need it. Sure they’d lose sales, but the big cash cow for them is The Park and VC. They could save money by not renewing the NBA license and instead just being a pick up basketball simulator.

I can’t believe in an NBA video game there’s a “meta” and formulas for creating the best “build”. It’s like a whole other world of an MMO-RPG that could proabably stand-alone at this point. I doubt they go this route but I wouldn’t dismiss it as unviable.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby zkritt on Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:06 am

bluejaybrandon wrote:It really blows my mind, but I can honestly see a world in which 2k drops the NBA contract all together. They don’t necessarily need it. Sure they’d lose sales, but the big cash cow for them is The Park and VC. They could save money by not renewing the NBA license and instead just being a pick up basketball simulator.

I can’t believe in an NBA video game there’s a “meta” and formulas for creating the best “build”. It’s like a whole other world of an MMO-RPG that could proabably stand-alone at this point. I doubt they go this route but I wouldn’t dismiss it as unviable.


Yeah, that is pretty much what I was thinking about earlier too.
This game could just aswell be called 2KStreet or something like that, pretty much all the "famous" youtubers and 99% of everything that is commented on the steam community is about park and the pvp stuff, and I guess its even more so for those who play this on XBOX and PS4 as the online side of this is even bigger there than on PC.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Andrew on Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:35 am

The NBA license still sells though, and the presence of NBA players means that gamers can give their avatars those players' moves. MyTEAM is also a big moneymaker for them, so I don't think they'd ever drop the NBA or split it up into two games, but it's weird how it's an afterthought for a lot of people. Apart from being able to use NBA players' animations, of course.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby bluejaybrandon on Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:45 am

Could they not just go the Fortnite route though and create the same animations but name them different. “The King” would be Lebron’s signature package, “The Goat” could be Jordan’s, “Illuminati” could be Kyrie, and so on. I suppose they’d still want the ability to use NBA logos and such but it’s not a necessity. I completely agree that the brand sells, I’m just thinking of the plausibility to split The Park our separately as it’s own $60 experience. It seems like 2k doesn’t need the NBA as much as they once did, whereas Madden is still entirely reliant on the NFL license
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Andrew on Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:00 am

There are people who like to play all the connected modes in MyCAREER though, including the NBA portion. I don't see them splitting off The Playground into its own game, be it a full-priced title or even a free-to-play approach with microtransactions for quicker upgrades. The current model works and the strength of the NBA brand sells it, even if not everyone is having much to do with the NBA side of things.

What I would like to see more of, if it's at all feasible, is separation of online and offline experiences. There's merit in having the connected modes, but it's also restrictive. Trying to balance online also has bad effects on offline play, and vice versa. Focusing on one at the expense of the other doesn't yield ideal results. I also think there's too much focus on bells and whistles rather than substance. For example, this year's MyCAREER brings us another brand new story with Hollywood production values, but a lot of the core issues with the actual experience of the mode remain. Stuff like getting pulled when you're having a huge night because the game strictly adheres to how many minutes you've been assigned, AI teammates being dumbed down, and so forth. Unfortunately, it's hard to make improvements in those areas significant selling points that you can spotlight in a trailer or put on the back of the box.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Dee4Three on Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:32 am

Andrew wrote:The NBA license still sells though, and the presence of NBA players means that gamers can give their avatars those players' moves. MyTEAM is also a big moneymaker for them, so I don't think they'd ever drop the NBA or split it up into two games, but it's weird how it's an afterthought for a lot of people. Apart from being able to use NBA players' animations, of course.


100%. The NBA portion sells this game in a major way. The company would take a major hit if they dropped the NBA License. Christ, they wouldnt even be able to call it "NBA 2K" anymore, it would be a complete rebranding, and the NBA itself is at it's most popular peak ever.

Certainly wouldn't make any sense for them to do that.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby bluejaybrandon on Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:42 am

The argument isn’t that they will or won’t, it’s that they could. Dropping “NBA” out of the title is fairly easy. Calling it 2kPark or whatever could be entirely self sustained as an individualized product at this point. It’s more MMO-RPG then simulation. I think those who get it exclusively for the NBA content may be trending towards the minority. One look at the sub-reddit or various YouTube channels show that The Park and MyPlayer dominate the mainstream conversation.

It may not make sense to you because you enjoy the NBA but I guarantee there has been conversations about it. If you could create a product that stands alone without the expensive license of the NBA, and is still ungodly profitable, why wouldn’t you? The sales you lose from hardcore NBA fans are offset by the freedom from renewing the NBA license. I think it’s entirely plausible, though admittedly unlikely.

Like Andrew said, the biggest argument against is that MyTeam remains a viable source of enormous profit from VC. But as for Playnow, Blacktop, and MyLeague...those are going to eventually go the way of the dinosaur in my opinion. Or at least be so phased out that they become irrelevant. This isn’t your father’s 2k. They smell blood in the water from all the mainstream hype and the VC sales and they’re going to pursue it at the expense of offline game modes.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby [Q] on Thu Oct 31, 2019 2:02 am

bluejaybrandon wrote:Could they not just go the Fortnite route though and create the same animations but name them different. “The King” would be Lebron’s signature package, “The Goat” could be Jordan’s, “Illuminati” could be Kyrie, and so on. I suppose they’d still want the ability to use NBA logos and such but it’s not a necessity. I completely agree that the brand sells, I’m just thinking of the plausibility to split The Park our separately as it’s own $60 experience. It seems like 2k doesn’t need the NBA as much as they once did, whereas Madden is still entirely reliant on the NFL license

I think NBA Live 18 had an 8th Wonder (Kobe) jumper left over after he retired but they wound up removing it in a patch during the season.

Yeah 2k seems like a status symbol now where people go on and hang out with friends in the park and pro am. The NBA part is the draw but those online modes are clearly the focus of the game. When I got 2k16 for free years ago, I was quite surprised I didn't play any actual NBA games and was looking forward to playing pro am with the nlsc crew online
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Dee4Three on Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:22 am

It's not because I prefer the NBA portion, I am privy to the direction the games have been going in from a gameplay and promotional standpoint, and while I do think they would make money going to a "2k park" model, the NBA is the draw (As Q stated). They cater to the online crowd from a gameplay standpoint, but still promote the NBA portion of the game like no other. The NBA is "cool", the amount of attention the NBA portion of the game still gets from fans is huge, the NBA portion of the game still plays a major role in sales (Just the name being in it is a huge draw)

If they took the NBA license out of the game, you would see a pretty sizable drop in interest, and A LOT of people would switch to the video game that has the NBA license. Part of the reason 2K has done so well, is the fact that they make a product with content that appeals to all ages/demographics, it's well rounded, with multiple modes and content (NBA rich ones) that will keep people immersed and engaged all season long.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby [Q] on Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:47 am

Plus unlike other MMO rpg games, they release a new one every year and cash in. They're literally printing money at this point
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby bluejaybrandon on Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:52 am

[Q] wrote:Plus unlike other MMO rpg games, they release a new one every year and cash in. They're literally printing money at this point


What’s worse is they are well aware and are exploiting it. It looks like they are giving the game away for free only a month after release to people who have shown to buy VC in the past. That’s so shady. It’s no different than a casino giving out free swag for gambling there. This game should be considered gambling and have a rating that reflects that.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Andrew on Thu Oct 31, 2019 7:45 pm

I don't think they'd ever drop Play Now and MyLEAGUE. They may not be the draws they once were, but they still have appeal and it's something they can put in year after year to keep a portion of the userbase happy without having to make too many major changes. I can see them getting less attention, but there's no reason for them to be removed or stripped down. As Dee noted, a big part of 2K's appeal is that it has something for everyone. In contrast, that's been a big weakness for NBA Live this generation; even if you like or can get used to Live's gameplay, the modes have been too thin, and focusing on The One has turned away people more interested in the Franchise and LUT experiences. 2K's at the point where they can provide a viable (if not always 100% satisfactory) offline experience, without eating into their recurrent revenue profits.

What's interesting is the possibility that the bubble will burst on microtransactions/recurrent revenue, and whether legislation about gambling mechanics ends up affecting AAA games. I'm not confident it'll happen anytime soon, but we're seeing hints of it and the backlash is there. Unfortunately, a lot of people writing about and reviewing games aren't willing to really speak out on it, because then they lose access.
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Re: NBA 2K20 is America's best-selling game in 2019 to date

Postby Ersthod on Mon Jul 12, 2021 4:23 am

And who has gambled in life? I tried several times and it seemed to work, when I play a computer game in a virtual casino, I want to win real games at one moment after winning there. who had that?
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