The news that 2K Games is finally returning to making NFL games again has both excited and disappointed fans at the same time. People are generally welcoming of the idea that EA Sports’ Madden NFL franchise will finally have some form of competition again, but the disappointment mainly lies in the fact that 2K specifically pointed out that it will be making “non-simulation” titles only. After 2K’s announcement of the deal it made with the NFL, EA quickly rebutted with an online statement pointing out that it still held the exclusive rights to create simulation-based NFL games, a contract that has been active since 2004.
That year was also the last time developer Visual Concepts made a NFL game (with ESPN NFL 2K5) as a result of the EA-NFL contract. Although Madden NFL games have been successful for decades now, ever since EA secured the license’s exclusivity in 2004, one consistent complaint among fans over the years has been the series’ general lack of innovation. A common thought is that the best era of simulation football games occurred when there was more competition among game publishers such as EA and SEGA (SEGA later sold Visual Concepts to Take-Two, forming 2K Games in the process). This notion is why this new 2K-NFL deal is so important.
2K and the NFL Could Set a Precedent
In the gaming industry, project collaborations between developers/publishers tend to happen based on precedent. For example, Microsoft publishing Cuphead in 2019 on the Nintendo Switch allowed for further collaborations between the two companies, such as when Ori and the Blind Forest came to the Switch later that year. The established relationship between the two also helped in adding Banjo and Kazooie to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. There was already a set precedent between Visual Concepts and the NFL, so this new multi-year deal between it and 2K Games actually makes sense, as the NFL was comfortable enough to work with a company it used to do business with anyway.
For those upset at the fact that 2K is limited to non-simulation football this time around, there are now two precedents that foreshadow the future relationship between the two companies. In other words, there is no reason not to believe that, somewhere down the line, the NFL and 2K will manage to come to an agreement allowing the return of 2K simulation-based football games at some point. This new contract is essentially the impetus that fans, yearning for the era of developer competition and innovative football games, have wanted for years. For now though, fans will have to choose between Madden NFL and whatever future non-simulation game 2K comes up with.
Non-Simulation Games Are Also Fun
Indeed, some fans that want a traditional football game are disappointed that NFL 2K games aren’t coming back (yet), but either way, 2K Games has the opportunity to create something special here. EA may still have the exclusive license to create realistic NFL video games but some of the most fun games of all time are non-simulation sports games. NBA Jam is still a fan-favorite among casual and hardcore sports fans alike. That game was so fun that it brought in people who weren’t even into sports and it can still be found in arcades across the country.
To use a more direct example, NFL Blitz was received similarly to NBA Jam, as both games are over-the-top exaggerations of the traditional simulation-based sports games. To many fans, both of these games (from the 1990s) actually hold up better than their simulation counterparts and one reason for this is that the more artistic a game seems, the less dated the game will appear in the future. This is why games, like The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker, are able to be ported to modern machines without losing their charm. If 2K follows the route of NBA Jam or NFL Blitz for its next football game, then it could potentially end up with something just as big.