The future of NBA 2K

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The future of NBA 2K

Postby ThePointForward on Tue Jul 27, 2021 6:29 pm

Right, I did not know where to start this thread, so I guess this place is as good as any.

Maybe you have noticed that Konami has announced that their Pro Evolution Soccer is now going to be called "eFootball" and it will be free-to-play, however you will need to pay for offline modes like "Master League", which is the game's franchise mode.
Now this is already announced, there's no doubt about it happening.

What's interesting is that according to a leaker, which means this is just a rumour, FIFA 23 is going to be free-to-play as well. And it's supposedly going to have cross-play, which is not a big surprise since the new Battlefield 2042 is having cross-play developed and of course that likely means support in general for Frostbite based games.
Personally, I think they will make FUT (FIFA's MyTEAM) free-to-play and you will have to buy a "DLC" (for lack of better words) to get access to offline modes like whatever is FIFA's MyCareer and MyLeague called.

-----

Now back to NBA 2K.
Would you like this game to go F2P with let's say MyTEAM and Park being F2P and the offline modes locked behind a payment?
Do you think 2K would do this on their own or would we need a competitor (like NBA Live) going F2P like this to force 2K's hand?
Warzone is enjoying success with content from two games and third on the horizon, could this system work for standalone-ish MyTEAM?
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby sticky-fingers on Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:12 pm

2k/r* is so greedy that i dont see them making this move, because right now its still 70$ bonus + MTs...
Unless a challenger bully them.

Whatever happens for 2k, it looks like the future of gaming and it sucks.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby ThePointForward on Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:57 pm

sticky-fingers wrote:2k/r* is so greedy that i dont see them making this move, because right now its still 70$ bonus + MTs...
Unless a challenger bully them.


It's not that simple. By going F2P games can attract people who'd otherwise not buy the game, but eventually are convinced to spend money on MTX.

Plus, if they'd go the route of you still need to pay for offline modes, they'd still get quite a bit of that "$70 bonus".
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Andrew on Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:30 pm

If it makes financial sense for them to do, I could certainly see them considering it. However, I'm guessing the current model does work quite well for them, and they probably enjoy being able to boast 8-10 million sales every year on top of all the recurrent revenue.

I'd also be concerned about what does and doesn't get updated, and what would cost money. For example, if we need to pay an annual subscription for the offline modes and roster updates, that's basically buying a new game every year anyway. Also, at some point they would run into limitations as far as updating modes and content, as well as improving gameplay. We're frustrated when the games feel too similar year after year, but if it's a F2P title that just keeps getting new content and DLC, we could be stuck with a problematic game for well past a year.

Also, as a collector and retro gamer, I prefer being able to go back to a specific title. If NBA 2K were a constantly updated F2P game, we'd basically lose the old edition once the new season began. As it stands, if you're not a fan of a newer game, you can stick with the old one as long as the servers are up, or obviously longer if you're not playing the connected modes.

The annual release cycle has its drawbacks of course, but I can't shake the feeling that F2P would make things worse. As it is, MyCAREER is already designed to be a grind in order to get people to spend in a game that isn't F2P. I imagine in a F2P model, the grind would be even worse. Same for MyTEAM pack prices and the like. I'd have a lot of concerns about a F2P NBA 2K.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Patr1ck on Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:50 pm

It would not make sense for 2K to do that, because they currently have a cash cow with NBA2K. I can definitely see them doing that in the future once they have taught their audience to accept paying for things that used to be a standard part of the game. That way they can make up the initial loss from going f2p. Imagine each mode costing money to unlock.
ThePointForward wrote:Would you like this game to go F2P with let's say MyTEAM and Park being F2P and the offline modes locked behind a payment?

I would not. But, that is my preference since I play the offline modes. :wink:
ThePointForward wrote:Do you think 2K would do this on their own or would we need a competitor (like NBA Live) going F2P like this to force 2K's hand?

2K would need a solid model for f2p, so having other f2p games in the sports genre to watch closely like Fifa or even something like NBA Live Mobile. However, until sales diminish there is little chance of them doing it on their own.

Unfortunately a lot of developers are going to the "game as a service" model. This will mean less physical copies, more always-live and games that will be streaming-only will happen. Exclusives for game streaming services just like they do with retailers. When the revenue stops flowing, they will turn off the old game and release a new updated version. They may even go back to the old arcade model where you pay as you play. Remember, if it's free, you are the product.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby TGsoGood on Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:39 pm

The NBA has to approve any Free to play games and would not approve of the only NBA licensed basketball game on console being free to play
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby ThePointForward on Mon Aug 02, 2021 2:31 am

TGsoGood wrote:The NBA has to approve any Free to play games and would not approve of the only NBA licensed basketball game on console being free to play


Now hang on a minute, do you have a source for this? This sounds like something from NBA licensing contract.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby [Q] on Mon Aug 02, 2021 3:46 am

NBA Live going F2P makes a ton of sense as does PES trying to get some of the marketshare back from FIFA. No way 2K goes F2P because they already have everyone paying full price for the game plus paying for microtransactions, they have the best of both worlds already
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Andrew on Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:28 am

ThePointForward wrote:
TGsoGood wrote:The NBA has to approve any Free to play games and would not approve of the only NBA licensed basketball game on console being free to play


Now hang on a minute, do you have a source for this? This sounds like something from NBA licensing contract.


There's word that EA Sports pushed to make NBA Live F2P and the NBA balked at it, thereby shelving its return even longer. Admittedly no concrete confirmation of it, but that's the rumour making the rounds. It's plausible, as the NBA does have to sign off on what developers want to do with their license.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Patr1ck on Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:06 pm

Andrew wrote:
ThePointForward wrote:
TGsoGood wrote:The NBA has to approve any Free to play games and would not approve of the only NBA licensed basketball game on console being free to play


Now hang on a minute, do you have a source for this? This sounds like something from NBA licensing contract.


There's word that EA Sports pushed to make NBA Live F2P and the NBA balked at it, thereby shelving its return even longer. Admittedly no concrete confirmation of it, but that's the rumour making the rounds. It's plausible, as the NBA does have to sign off on what developers want to do with their license.


From http://global.nba.com/nba-license-application
You should be aware that, as standard license terms, NBAP requires, among other things, payment of the following: (i) a royalty on the net sales of each licensed article sold; (ii) an annual minimum guarantee and (iii) a merchandise credit to NBAP for the licensed articles (all of the above in amounts to be determined by NBAP). Moreover, as a prerequisite to NBAP’s consideration of a new licensee, the applicant must have an established means of distribution and a sufficient direct sales force (or number of sales representatives) to actively promote the sale of the licensed articles throughout the authorized territory.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Andrew on Mon Aug 02, 2021 2:51 pm

Excellent find. (Y)
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby [Q] on Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:06 pm

Royalties on a free game is zero, and that won't meet the minimum they are looking for. Maybe it would work if they promised the NBA a percentage of all Live income but they might be giving up too much at that point. A March Madness game might be more reasonable right now
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Andrew on Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:26 pm

The thing is, even if it's more viable since it would be the only college basketball game in the space and therefore not directly competing with NBA 2K, there's still the issue of making a great basketball video game that's up to current standards and expectations. EA's not going to magically get over that hump just because it's college rather than the NBA. NBA Live's problems run much deeper than that, though that's another topic altogether.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Ermolli on Tue Aug 03, 2021 5:02 am

As mentioned before, I can't see 2K (or FIFA) going free-to-play since their sales aren't regressing and it doesn't seem like it'll happen soon. There are already selling millions of copies, they're earning even more absurd amount of money by micro-transactions, and they're the default games to play in their respective sport with little to no competition. NBA Live and PES/e-Football have a (better) case to do so, one is going for it with a decent amount of backlash (not exclusively by going F2P) and the other might try it to be somewhat relevant after so long (but won't because of the NBA license).

I'm not against free-to-play in theory but going by what we know from e-Football, it can be a mess. By focusing on online and MyClub/MyTeam/Ultimate Team modes, the gameplay will focus on those players and neglecting realistic gameplay so offline modes would be disappointing.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Andrew on Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:42 am

Ermolli wrote:By focusing on online and MyClub/MyTeam/Ultimate Team modes, the gameplay will focus on those players and neglecting realistic gameplay so offline modes would be disappointing.


That's absolutely one of my biggest concerns with the possibility of F2P as well. It'll need to make money, and the game will be designed to do that. And if the game is designed to do that, it's not going to prioritise fun and enjoyment.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby ThePointForward on Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:39 pm

To be honest, the actual money making parts of the game (MyTeam, followed by MyCareer) sure do feel like they're already designed for F2P.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Andrew on Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:19 am

No question. They're essentially F2P mechanics in a full-priced AAA release.
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Re: The future of NBA 2K

Postby Ermolli on Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:47 am

ThePointForward wrote:To be honest, the actual money making parts of the game (MyTeam, followed by MyCareer) sure do feel like they're already designed for F2P.


Maybe but at least there's a good variety of modes to appease different tastes and a decent to great gameplay (depending on who you ask) to back it up, unlike FIFA or e-Football which focuses on online players and leave behind the people who want (a somewhat) sim/realistic experience.
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