Monday Tip-Off: 2K Giving Pettiness The Old College Try

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 with some thoughts on the way that 2K responded with pettiness to the announcement of a new college basketball game from EA Sports.

Last week, EA Sports surprised a lot of gamers with the announcement of a new college basketball title, tentatively scheduled for release in 2028. There have been some questions as to why the announcement is being made so far out. It appears that the Collegiate Licensing Company entertained bids for a new basketball game in late June, with EA Sports’ bid being successful. A three year development window would be similar to the return of EA Sports College Football, which was announced in 2021 and released in 2024. Presumably, pre-production on this new hoops title has begun.

Needless to say, while not everyone is optimistic about a new college basketball game from EA Sports – understandably so – many gamers are excited. It’ll be a new release from an established company, in a genre that’s suffered from a lack of alternatives and competition. To that point, how did 2K respond to EA Sports rejoining the basketball gaming space with a college game? In short, a quote reply to a post on X opining that they should be the ones making the game wryly saying “the campus has been quiet for too long”, and a statement in which they referred to themselves as the “undisputed home of basketball gaming”. Basically, 2K is giving pettiness the old college try.

The rivalry between EA Sports and 2K Sports goes back some thirty years now. As chronicled in a 2018 Bleacher Report article on the rise of NBA 2K, the bad blood stems from the cancellation of the PlayStation version of Madden ’96. The game was being developed by Visual Concepts, but EA decided to pull the plug when it became apparent that it wouldn’t be ready in time for the 1995 Christmas shopping season. This led to the companies becoming competitors in sports gaming, which took another nasty turn when EA Sports acquired the exclusive rights to the NFL license, putting an end to the NFL 2K series. Like Michael Jordan, 2K took that outcome personally.

That’s understandable. We can attempt to rationalise EA Sports’ decision: Madden is a huge cash cow for them, the NFL took bids for an exclusive license so obviously EA were going to throw their hat into the ring, and if Take-Two had gained the license they wouldn’t be complaining about having a monopoly. All of that may be true, but it’s little comfort to the passionate developers who are putting their blood, sweat, and tears into the games they’re making. And so, as Patrick Hruby noted in a thread on X that supplemented his Bleacher Report article, while they won’t go on record to say it, there are people at Visual Concepts who are motivated by the idea of crushing EA.

Of course, this sentiment isn’t exactly a secret. When the PlayStation 3 version of NBA Live 07 was cancelled, the then-VP of marketing for 2K Sports took a pot shot at EA, suggesting it was because they “didn’t necessarily want to compete against a title that was so much better from a quality perspective”. He further stated “I don’t think we expected EA’s game to be as bad as it was for two years in a row, so I think that certainly helped us”. Harsh words, but with the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 07 being a huge disappointment, he wasn’t entirely wrong. EA was losing face at that point while 2K was gaining popularity, so gamers were on board with such pettiness.

Tensions later boiled over as NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 went head-to-head. NBA 2K had overtaken NBA Live in sales by that point, but EA’s series appeared to be on the right track at last. Even though it was outsold, NBA Live 10 remained competitive with NBA 2K10 as far as critical reception and gamer enjoyment. Snark flew back and forth on social media, particularly from 2K’s end. This culminated with Ronnie 2K claiming in a quickly deleted forum post that EA Sports were lying about listening to community feedback for the first NBA Live 10 patch. It was a petty response to a competitor receiving compliments for being able to improve their game post-launch.

There was no need for it. Of course, Ronnie 2K is also the person who told someone asking about hairstyles that 2K is “more than a Barbie dress-up game“, right before a developer blog about MyPLAYER shoes dropped! That post has continued to age like milk as cosmetics have become a huge part of MyCAREER and its connected modes, and are frequently promoted by the official NBA 2K accounts. With all due respect, I don’t exactly look to him for professionalism. However, as a digital marker/lightning rod for criticism and “fix your servers” jokes, encouraging tribalism is part of the gig. While that post was deleted, I’m sure folks at 2K were quietly nodding in approval.

Besides, let’s not pretend that EA Sports are innocent here. On top of everything else, during the NBA Live 10 vs. NBA 2K10 social media spat, there were EA reps trying to coach some of us on how to respond in defense of the company and NBA Live. I opted not to do that – if nothing else, I wasn’t feeling charitable when I was promised some Q&As and encouraged to announce them, only for them to be cancelled leaving me with egg on my face – but I understood that the pressure was coming from above the community manager. I also sympathised with the desire to hit back at some of the pettiness from 2K as I found it distasteful as well, but I didn’t want to be PR for EA.

And then, NBA Elite 11 handed a decisive victory to NBA 2K11, and the 2K series as a whole. Again, given their contentious history, it’s not at all surprising that someone from Visual Concepts apparently has (or at least had) an NBA Elite 11 poster in their office, displayed as something of a battle trophy. Although it isn’t entirely sporting, one can’t blame them for taking a victory lap. 2K was on top in every way imaginable, earning bragging rights for not only producing a series of excellent basketball games, but also dethroning the former brand leader made by the company that once discarded them. NBA 2K continued to thrive, as NBA Live struggled to get back into the game.

To that point though, the war was won. 2K was no longer the underdog taking on the evil empire, but conquering heroes. Well, not really; we shouldn’t be championing and romanticising any billion dollar corporations in that way! However, 2K had succeeded where EA had failed with the virtual hardwood. They’d delivered the product that sim basketball gamers had desired, earning truckloads of trust and goodwill in the process. Even those of us who weren’t eagerly dancing on NBA Live’s grave still recognised that the “right” game had won, and the reasons that it did. You could argue that 2K was entitled to a smidge of pettiness as they triumphantly revelled in their victory.

Eventually though, it becomes obnoxious and unsportsmanlike; even bullying. It’s one thing to pump your fist and thump your chest when you win a championship, another thing altogether to race in to throw down a big dunk in the midst of running out the clock! For 2K, their sore winner moment came during the launch of the eighth gen consoles, which finally saw the return of NBA Live. The original teaser for NBA Live 14 got people talking, but then the OMG Trailer for NBA 2K14 blew it away. There’s nothing petty about that; EA needed to bring it, they didn’t, and 2K did. When 2K reps went on to mock NBA Live 14, they didn’t say anything that we weren’t also saying.

It did hit somewhat differently, though. These were developers making snide remarks about the hard work of their industry peers, some of whom may one day become their colleagues (and indeed, that did happen). Now that 2K was atop the mountain, there was a sense of punching down; again, of being a poor sport and a sore winner. It was childish and unprofessional. As I’ve said before, seeing those comments turned me off of NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 before I even played it. I’m not saying that that was a logical reaction, but the point is that it rubbed me the wrong way. I also didn’t initially like NBA 2K14 PC as much as NBA 2K13, so I didn’t care for the pettiness from 2K.

In the years since then, the NBA 2K series has been wildly successful, whether it’s been unopposed or an NBA Live game has challenged it. However, the company has also lost much of the goodwill that it banked after its triumph over EA Sports. The games have become unforgivably greedy, with pushy recurrent revenue mechanics that ensure a harsh grind and inferior experience for anyone who goes No Money Spent. Developer blogs have become increasingly untrustworthy, with devs also taking passive-aggressive shots at valid criticism on social media. When it comes to their community initiatives, 2K handpicks the content creators who are happy to shill.

Recent releases haven’t delighted many gamers as much as older titles did. The online scene has become unbearably toxic as it caters to elitist attitudes. The core experience has suffered as NBA 2K’s audience has expanded, and the game has endeavoured to compete with other genres and chase popular tends at the expense of what made the series so successful in the first place. Some of the design ideas and new technology haven’t panned out as well as many of us would’ve liked. Terrible communication and incidents where 2K has been quick to fix issues that impact them (like VC exploits), but then drag their feet on fixing issues that affect gamers, have squandered goodwill.

Establishing a monopoly in the basketball gaming space has not only made 2K very comfortable, but seemingly fostered disdain for their customers. They’re no longer the brash company willing to challenge the might of EA and prove that they can satisfy basketball gamers. They are EA now! Sure, NBA 2K hasn’t fallen to the depths of the worst NBA Live releases, but the series has seen its share of disappointing entries that feel copy and paste, or otherwise underwhelming. It’s been just as greedy as the most heavily-monetised EA games. True, 2K doesn’t have an exclusive NBA license as EA does with the NFL, but even so, they’ve outmuscled the competition to rule the roost.

A great example of this occurred back in 2017, when Saber Interactive was preparing to release the first NBA Playgrounds. 2K caught wind of a new NBA game coming to consoles, and reportedly wasn’t thrilled. This led to Saber CEO Matthew Karch and the NBA Playgrounds team meeting with 2K brass to demonstrate their game, and prove they weren’t trying to compete with NBA 2K. This obviously paved the way for their partnership on NBA 2K Playgrounds 2, so it was a savvy move on Saber’s part. Still, it feels like they were forced to bend the knee and get 2K’s blessing to release their game. Sorry, but NBA 2K’s success doesn’t mean they can gate-keep the genre!

I couldn’t help but be reminded of that story about the first NBA Playgrounds when I read 2K’s statement about being the “undisputed home of basketball gaming”, with promises of “exploring exciting new ways to bring athletes and schools to life”. Sure, there’s a bitter, ancient grudge with EA Sports that inspires pettiness, but it feels like 2K is trying to shut down any potential competition. You know…what they and so many of us criticised EA for doing? As I said, they are EA now. They’ve gone from the saviours of basketball gaming to another Triple-A developer and publisher that’s reaching into our wallets, and scornfully dismissing the concerns of loyal customers.

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” That line from The Dark Knight has been quoted so often over the past seventeen years that it’s admittedly become cliché. Nevertheless, it’s an apt pop culture reference whenever there’s a fall from grace. NBA 2K and Take-Two aren’t exactly failing – and I for one certainly don’t want them to – and “villain” is a strong word, especially when EA is the alternative. However, they’re no longer the darlings of basketball gaming, and their dominance shouldn’t be mistaken for unbeatable quality. 2K is the “undisputed home of basketball gaming” thanks to EA’s blunders as much as their own brilliance.

Obviously, this pettiness is nothing new for 2K. It was never mature or professional, but it was more palatable when they were the ones chasing EA. I hesitate to call it “punk”, but they were definitely challenging the establishment as far as basketball video games were concerned! The fact that they understandably had bad blood with EA over a bitter end to a partnership added a sense of righteousness to the pot shots, which obviously also aligned with the dissatisfaction gamers had with NBA Live and EA Sports. As the underdog, and even as the newly-crowned king, there was a certain coolness to the NBA 2K brand that justified the pettiness, and even made it charming.

Now that they’re on top, that charm has gone. 2K has shrugged off too many valid criticisms and squandered too much goodwill for its pettiness to be endearing. At the risk of shoe-horning in another overdone pop culture reference, you can’t become the thing you swore to destroy and then still claim to have the moral high ground! 2K beat EA fair and square, but that didn’t earn them the exclusive rights to be the one and only player in the basketball gaming space in perpetuity. Granted, they’re not actively blocking EA from creating a new college basketball game or even another NBA Live game some day, but all the same, they seem rather affronted by EA’s return to hoops.

At the very least, it feels like they’re trying to pour cold water on an announcement that’s generating positive buzz for their long-time adversary. All’s fair in love and video game war, I suppose, but it’s still a childish show of pettiness from 2K. Given some of the issues with NBA 2K, and the way they’ve tossed away years of goodwill through iffy practices, they’d do well to mind their business and focus on their game. Pettiness worked for 2K when they were the plucky underdog hero challenging EA’s faltering NBA Live series with games that were worth bragging about, but that’s not who they are anymore. They’re the establishment now…and it’s time they grew up.

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