If you're a gamer and you want to get your NFL fix, you have one viable option. Publisher and developer EA Games signed an exclusive rights agreement with the NFL in December 2004, which has left the Madden franchise unopposed for 15 years.
That, however, is no longer the case.
Beginning in 2021, 2K Games will begin releasing NFL licensed video games. Both 2K Games and EA Games have made it clear that these new 2K games will not be in the vein of a high-end sports simulator. They will not be competing for Madden's audience. Those of us with fond memories of ESPN NFL 2K5 might be disappointed by this news. But hopefully, 2K Games will take the opportunity to create something original and interesting, from the ground up.
Here are 5 things we want to see in the new NFL 2K video game.
This is an issue that 2K Games should know well; critics have accused both the WWE 2K franchise and the NBA 2K franchise of creative stagnancy—of reusing the same assets, tweaking a couple of features, and calling it a day on their annual releases.
With the WWE 2K franchise, the problem is especially pronounced. Every game takes great pains to tout its realism; the developers will boast about how the wrestling moves were performed by real wrestlers in motion capture suits. They'll show off carefully curated screenshots, to suggest a massive visual leap between titles. But when the game finally comes out, it's the same game that fans have been playing for the past 10 years. Or even worse, its modest innovations have made it buggy and unplayable, because a never-ending, 12-month development cycle is an unreasonable demand.
There are more important things than an updated roster. Fans want quality; there's a reason why Tecmo Bowl for the 8-bit NES is still popular, despite it being 'out of date' by three decades.
Implement Pick-Up-and-Play Mechanics
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Here's a part of the official statement by 2K Games President David Ismailer, announcing the partnership:
“The NFL is one of the most successful sports brands in the world, known for creating incredible entertainment for fans. We’re thrilled to be back in business with the NFL in a partnership that will span multiple video games centered on fun, approachable and social experiences. It’s exciting to bring together 2K’s expertise in creating award-winning sports games with the NFL’s renowned status as a world-class entertainment and sports organization."
"Approachable" is the key word here. If we aren't getting a new sports simulator, let's hope that 2K is developing a casual, pick-up-and-play experience instead. Madden is a legacy title; some people have been playing it for a decade or more, over multiple iterations. Year after year, additional gameplay mechanics were grafted onto the existing model, creating an ever-increasing level of complexity.
This new 2K game is a great opportunity to wipe the slate clean and level the playing field. Institute simplified rules and playbooks. Create a clean, linear interface. Have a control scheme that's easy to pick up, but more difficult to master. And while they're at it...
This goes right along with targeting a casual audience: create a roster that's heavy on legends. Go for cross-decade appeal and name power.
2001's NBA Street hit this sweet spot on the head. You could recruit Shaq after beating the Lakers, and you could recruit Dr. J after defeating him at Rucker Park. Heck, NBA Street gave you Michael Jordan to start with, before you did a single thing! Those developers knew exactly who their audience was.
The same should be true for the new NFL 2K game. When you beat the Bears, you should be able to recruit Khalil Mack. When you beat the 1989 49ers, you should be able to recruit Joe Montana or Jerry Rice. The core game should feel like a fantasy, where you can build the ridiculous team, across multiple generations, that you always wanted to build.
To be fair, Madden does have its Ultimate Team mode, but that's not nearly the same; you have to spend an arm and a leg if you want to build your personal dream team. And that brings us to our final wish.
Go For Feel Over Granular Detail
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When it comes to sports games, there's a difference between capturing a sport's technical subtleties—the movement of the feet, the weight shift of a fakeout, the depth of the team playbook—and capturing the more ambiguous, elusive 'spirit' of the sport.
The way we think about sports in retrospect is different from the way we experience them in real time. Even if you're into the minutiae of the sport's play-by-play strategy, time has a way of winnowing down our memories to the essential highlights—the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." The mundanity slips away. And accordingly, we remember our favorite athletes as larger-than-life demigods, who exist in our minds as a collection of slow-mo, clutch performances.
It begs an interesting question: when you play a sports game, what do you value more: the accuracy of the experience or the atmosphere of the experience? Do you want a simulator that makes you feel like you're a professional athlete, with realistic physics and salary negotiations? Or, do you want a game that captures the escapist fantasy of being a professional athlete?
Ideally, you want both, but in sports games, those two options are often diametrically opposed to one another. Take basketball games, for example; one can play NBA 2K, with its emphasis on the pick-and-roll, or one can play NBA Jam with its cartoon physics and massive heads.
Let's hope that 2K Games provides us with that sort of overblown alternative. Let's see the running back's feet catch fire! Let's see miracle receptions ten feet in the air! Let's see cinematic camera angles on 4th down! Let's see ridiculous celebrations in the end zone! This should be a game that looks and plays like a highlight reel.
What better way to court the fans' goodwill than by keeping microtransactions to a minimum? Make them available for cosmetic flair, but not for actual gameplay upgrades or player un-lockables. Or, give the virtual currency more worth, by allowing the player to unlock more for less. Or, release the game for free and go nuts with the microtransactions. But it seems wrong to charge full price for a game and also nickel and dime every aspect of it.
This is probably asking for the impossible; the financial incentive is simply too great to do away with microtransactions altogether. If the NBA 2K franchise is indicative of anything, it's that despite all the fan backlash in the world, the amount of money that 2K makes off microtransactions will always outpace the money they lose by alienating their fans. But it never hurts to mention our complete distaste.
Remember: NBA 2K18 dared to charge its players for virtual haircuts, of all things, and the public backlash ensured they never did that again. Now is the time to make your voice heard, while development is still in its planning stages. By this time next year, it'll be too late.
