At NBA 2KW, we keep it 100. We don’t shy away from “negatively” just for the sake of it – if something needs to get called out, we’ll call it out. 2K definitely needs to get called out for what has been the legacy issues plaguing the franchise.
Here’s the deal – until 2K executives and devs realize that the USER EXPERIENCE around the game has been lacking for years – and you can even say have “trolled” the 2K Community – they’ll continue to get low critical acclaim / review scores from users and various publications. If history is any indicator, consistent negative sentiment surrounding a product eventually catches up to any brand (see the fall of NBA Live). Good business isn’t exclusively about delivering a quality product (and it can be argued that last year’s gameplay was pretty decent), but also doing things to keep their customers happy. Revenue isn’t the ONLY measurement of success for a company, but 2K has been acting like that.
For any NBA 2K vet, the “experience” of playing 2K is an exercise in getting trolled and witnessing shady business tactics. None of these would likely be happening to this extent if NBA 2K wasn’t a monopoly.
Can we honestly say that 2K has kept the user experience as a focus the last few years?
How NBA 2K Has Trolled Its User Base
- A videogame with a pay-to-play model that can easily can cost $500+ / year with build costs, accessories, buying MyTEAM packs, etc.
- A videogame where you could have four braindead teammates and if you quit the game to escape it, YOU get banned for up to 2 hours
- A videogame where the opening screen “accidentally” directs people to the “buy this” page every time you load up the game
- A videogame that is all about microtransactions and shady tactics
- A videogame where Solo Rec is the new Buddy Ball, dictated by plate color. End result = longer wait times to start the game.
- A monopoly acting like a monopoly instead of focusing on the user
2K24 gameplay was actually pretty decent. The user experience? Not so much. To be fair, it depends on the game mode you play as well. Modes like MyNBA and Play Now have been mostly free of microtransaction tactics and dealing with some off-the-court issues you get in online multiplayer.
At the end of the day, videogames are “just” entertainment and a hobby to most people and a way to relax. However, gamers and hoop-heads should be able to play a game without being trolled everywhere they turn by the people who design the product – just because the company (currently) is able to get away with it as far not losing a ton of revenue. If your favorite TV show or movie had 5 minute commercials every 2 minutes, that form of entertainment would get annoying real quick. So why are we not holding videogame companies to the same standards of user experience decency?
The NBA 2K Community expects more because they’ve been asked to invest more just to be able to play the game. The gameplay could be amazing (and to 2K’s credit it has improved every year), but the user experience around that, driven by corporate greed and low UX principles, tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth – hence the online negatively that we’ve seen towards 2K in recent years.
Will NBA 2K25 be any different? We’re not not holding our breath that it will be, but we’ll all have to wait and see.
