Since Magnavox’s 1973 game simply titled Basketball, the sport has been a force to be reckoned with in the gaming world. Going from humble, pixelated beginnings to the hyper-realistic simulations of today. But since 2019, we’ve only seen 2K releasing basketball games. So the question is: why is 2K the only company making major basketball games, leaving all its competitors on the sidelines? Let’s take a peek at the history of basketball video games to find out.
Early Days
It may come as a surprise to hear that more basketball games were probably released between 1983 and 2003 than between 2003 and today. This was, in part, due to the vast array of devices and ecosystems on offer over that period; with most games only being playable on a single or select handful of systems. Back in the 80s, tonnes of gaming giants were already trying their hand at digitising the sport. Konami, Electronic Arts, Midway, Atari and Sega being the biggest players all competing against one another. Of course, as with most early games, these titles each introduced new, playful takes on the basketball formula providing incremental improvements over the decades.
What characterised most of these games, though, was their commitment to making the sport pure gamified action. Making slam dunks big and bold—often wildly over the top—a far cry from the more realistic simulations we are blessed with today.
The Rise of 2K and NBA Live
Around the turn of the millennium, the landscape of basketball gaming was changing. Sega unveiled their NBA 2K series—yes, that’s right it used to be owned by Sega. This series was developed by Visual Concepts who created it in direct competition with Electronic Arts’ NBA Live series. Exploring similar realistic takes on the basketball experience, down to the player likenesses and real-world team rosters which other games lacked. This was part of the console wars which were going on in the early 2000s; with NBA Live publishing to Sony’ s PlayStations and the NBA series publishing to Sega’s Dreamcast. Ultimately pushing the two companies into an arms race, supercharging the trajectory of basketball gaming.
2K Takes the Lead
While things initially didn’t look great for the Dreamcast, the console being discontinued in mid 2001, the fate of NBA 2K would defy the dying console with Sega then publishing to everything—the PS2, Xbox, Game Cube and the now defunct Dreamcast.
But this wasn’t enough to keep Sega ahead of Sony or EA in terms of market dominance, so they ended up selling 2K’s development studio (Visual Concepts) to Take-Two Interactive. And Take-Two embraced the franchise with full force, continuing to develop and publish NBA 2K. Despite avoiding all the corporate struggles that NBA 2K faced, EA’s NBA Live series struggled to keep face. Losing steam by 2010, where the series would take a 4-year hiatus before dying out—at least for now—in 2018. While NBA 2K continues to publish annual releases, having published the only major basketball games since 2019. If you’re playing one of NBA 2K’s recent releases you can buy nba accounts to get ahead in online play!
Why does 2K Dominate?
Asking a question like this may sound complex. But it’s pretty simple. 2K is simply a better game. And, perhaps more importantly, they are the series with exclusive rights to use NBA teams, logos, player likenesses and official arenas. Much like EA with the FIFA series throughout the 2000s. This exclusivity meant that if anyone was into basketball, they’d want the official game. Not simply a basketball game with random players and teams.
Beyond the exclusivity, though, Visual Concepts have worked tirelessly to consistently upgrade players’ experience. Introducing new features, refining game feel and improving opponent AI. Culminating in an incredibly realistic and engaging Basketball game which is incredibly hard for any other studio to compete with.
