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Monday Tip-Off: The Truth About Reactivating Servers

Monday Tip-Off: The Truth About Reactivating Servers

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off by discussing the prospect of reactivating servers for older NBA 2K games.

Whenever the official NBA 2K Twitter sends out a Tweet, you’ll see some familiar replies. Some gamers will bring up technical issues that they’re having, prompting a form response from the 2K Support account. Others will be asking for Locker Codes or VC giveaways. There’s bound to be a few disgruntled gamers making that eternal request of “fix your servers!” And speaking of online support, you might see a couple of people raising the issue of reactivating servers for games such as NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17. In turn, those people will be accused of being blinded by nostalgia.

While I disagree that it’s merely myopic nostalgia that has created an appreciation for NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17, and a desire to see 2K reactivating the servers for those titles, it is fair to note the unlikelihood of it ever happening. That isn’t to say that I’d be against 2K reactivating servers for those games, or some other old favourites. Even if it were for a week or two every year to celebrate the history of the series, it would be a fantastic opportunity to revisit classic releases and re-download lost updates. I have my doubts that 2K would go to the trouble of doing so however, and while I’ll always support my fellow gamers over a company, I do understand their position.

To summarise a point I made when I reflected on journeying through the hauntingly empty servers of NBA 2K21 before they were shut down, by the time online support concludes for an NBA 2K title, almost everyone has moved on. In turn, this makes it virtually impossible to justify the cost and effort required to maintain the servers for that game. That’s not to say that 2K can’t afford it – just look at how much they make from VC sales – but money is money. Look, I’ll be the first person to push back when shills try to justify greedy practices with “it’s a business“, but it is indeed a business, and a competent company isn’t about to throw away money on unnecessary expenses.

Empty Servers in MyPARK (NBA 2K17 PC)

Unfortunately, maintaining or indeed reactivating the servers for a game that few gamers are still playing would fall under the heading of an “unnecessary expense”. It’s a matter of supply and demand, and judging by the online activity towards the end of NBA 2K17’s lifecycle, there wasn’t a great demand in 2018, let alone 2023. Also, in all fairness to Take-Two and Visual Concepts, the terms of online support for NBA 2K and other titles are clearly spelled out in the user agreement and accompanying literature. We can’t claim that we were promised online support in perpetuity, or for any longer than the 27 months beginning from the time that the games are released.

Again, I’m not saying that it isn’t unfortunate and disappointing that we lose all online support after only a couple of years, or that I’m against reactivating old servers. It’s just that I get why 2K doesn’t. I mean, obviously they want to sell new games, and ending online support for older titles does encourage people to upgrade. Of course, given how many people move on within a year, keeping the NBA 2K17 servers active wouldn’t exactly hinder the sales of NBA 2K24 later this year. To that point, while it may push gamers to buy a new title instead of playing an old one, history suggests that most of us are readily doing that already, so it’s hardly a nefarious plot by 2K.

In fact, I’d argue that at the end of the day, it’s more a case of discontinuing a service that hardly anyone is using, rather than a fear that old games are cutting into sales of the new ones. Sure, they’ll push through some advertising for the latest game while the old ones still have online support, but the numbers and the empty servers don’t lie. Granted, the games could be more charitable in the handling of server shutdowns. It’d be nice to be able to transfer some progress across, or even just any remaining VC or MT balance so that it doesn’t go to waste. The removal of an offline MyCAREER is also an indictment of the current design approach, and its reliance on connectivity.

NBA 2K18 Ad in NBA 2K17

Still, as much as I hate to see it, I can’t fault 2K for ending online support, and not reactivating servers despite persistent requests. Again, it comes down to supply and demand when you’re providing a product and/or service. It simply may not be viable, financially or otherwise, to continue to provide that product/service until absolutely no one is interested. At a certain point, minimal demand and interest is the same as none at all. 2K obviously also has more precise data than our anecdotal evidence of wandering empty servers. They’d know exactly how much of a drop-off in play there is following a new release, and whether they could ever justify reactivating servers.

We can draw comparisons to our own modding community here. It wouldn’t be fair to expect someone to continue maintaining a roster update for an old game beyond their enthusiasm and free time to do so. It’s always cool to see someone updating a classic, but as interest dwindles, it’s understandable if the plug is pulled on a roster project. Even if the interest in further updates hasn’t completely evaporated, at a certain point it’s a lot of time and effort for a rapidly shrinking audience. I’ve had to gently explain to people who insist that “everyone” is waiting for a new roster for NBA Live 2004 that they’re the first person to email me about it in years, so no, not many actually are.

So it goes with reactivating servers for your NBA 2K game of choice. As often as we see those requests, realistically there wouldn’t be enough people taking advantage of it to make it worth 2K’s while. It would be an interesting experiment, of course. I expect there’d be an initial interest in it. The announcement would probably encourage a fair number of gamers to reinstall NBA 2K17 to download missing updates, get back into MyTEAM or a MyCAREER save, and try to find some online games. I know that I would, and I’m sure my fellow NLSC THRILLHO teammates would join me. After that initial flurry however, I could see the novelty wearing off for the majority.

NLSC THRILLHO Arena in NBA 2K17 2K Pro-Am

With that being said, I do believe that there would be gamers who follow through on their interest in 2K reactivating those servers. If enough of them maintained their enthusiasm for longer than a couple of weeks, it might be a big enough niche within the userbase to justify some limited ongoing support. It might mean that there aren’t any regional servers, so online play may not always be smooth. Of course, if you’re primarily interested in grabbing some missing updates or dusting off MyTEAM for some solo games, that needn’t be a problem. Limited support would be better than none at all, and it would also allow people to re-unlock the Dream Team if need be.

This brings us back to the possibility of reactivating servers for older games for a limited time. 2K could brand it “retro week” or “anniversary week”, celebrating the history of the series and giving everyone a chance to revisit the classics and grab the updates before they’re unavailable again. I’d suggest this is a more feasible approach, financially and logistically. It would avoid having to make a long-term commitment, while still fostering some goodwill and affection for the brand by drawing upon its history. And yes, I’m sure if the games offered VC for purchase, there’d be some extra money to be made. Given the circumstances, that would have to be a part of the pitch.

Now, is there enough incentive from a financial and PR standpoint to go through with the idea? Admittedly, it’s still a hard sell. I’m sure whatever they’d make from VC sales after reconnecting NBA 2K17 would be a drop in the bucket compared to the recurrent revenue that NBA 2K23 is raking in. Goodwill always helps, but the brand is in an extremely comfortable position these days, and the company’s greed hasn’t hurt their bottom line at all. It would ultimately be a move to appease a minority of the userbase, and facilitate the niche interest of retro basketball gaming. I’m all for that, but convincing the suits to prioritise fun over finance is a difficult task indeed.

NBA 2K17 Servers Offline

There’s another point to consider here. Presumably, if 2K were open to reactivating the servers for previous titles, gamers who don’t already own them would have an interest in purchasing digital copies. While this would likely be technically feasible, it probably isn’t legally viable. Physical copies of those games and unused Steam keys may circulate freely on the second hand/grey market, but given that they include players who are no longer licensed to appear in 2K, those games likely can’t be sold anew. As much as anything else, likeness rights could stand in the way of reactivating servers, and certainly putting those older titles up for sale again all these years later.

It’s a factor that we need to keep in mind, along with the associated costs, and the projected supply and demand. Even if the suits have no objections to reactivating old servers once or twice a year, or maybe even in perpetuity, it’s a moot point if the content of those games means that it’s legally impossible. Consider Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, which was re-released under the original arcade title of Punch-Out after Nintendo’s agreement with Tyson expired. Henceforth, all digital re-releases of the game are the “Mr. Dream” version. Similarly, when NBA Live 06 for PS2 emulated NBA Live 95, all of the players had to be fictional, even the few that were still active.

The truth about reactivating servers for NBA 2K16, NBA 2K17, or any old favourite for that matter, is that it’s a long shot at best. As the late wrestler and commentator Gorilla Monsoon loved to say, it’s highly unlikely; in other words, we can assume the answer is no. Nevertheless, there is interest in seeing it happen. There’s even support for the idea among 2K reps, as Chris Manning (aka LD2K) has apparently advocated for it. As much as I’d love to see it, I don’t think we should get our hopes up. I also can’t vilify the company for an understandable financial and logistical decision. At the same time, it doesn’t hurt to ask and display interest, in case there is a sliver of hope.

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stildo33
stildo33
February 21, 2023 4:24 am

People would buy these old games just to try and them and to use some of the MODS….and maybe reactivate some old myplayer games online for some revenue too.