Monday Tip-Off: An Unthinkable Opportunity for NBA Live
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 NBA Live still having an opportunity to succeed, as unthinkable as that may be.
Can we take a moment to acknowledge how absurd, indeed how unthinkable it is, that more and more disenfranchised basketball gamers are hoping that NBA Live has an opportunity to come back? That Electronic Arts will step up and make the basketball gaming space better? EA, the company that’s infamous for microtransactions, long-running series that have lost their lustre, numerous disappointing releases, and buying smaller studios only to shut them down and cancel their games? That’s the company we’re expecting to be the good guys; the saviours of the virtual hardwood?!?
Well…yeah! At this point, if we want to see another Triple-A NBA sim game as an alternative to NBA 2K, EA Sports and NBA Live probably remain the best bet. After all, they’re the developer with the most experience with the virtual hardwood outside of Visual Concepts. They also have a long-standing partnership with the league, and an established brand name. It may be a long shot and I’m nowhere near as optimistic as I once was, but when it comes down to it, if there’s going to be a viable alternative in the space, it’s probably going to be NBA Live. To that point, as unthinkable as it may seem, NBA Live still has an opportunity to return, and find an eager audience.
Many people may scoff at that, and I don’t blame them. The eighth gen was not a huge success for NBA Live, and despite the vague promises made in 2019, the series has been dormant since then. No regular updates and progress reports, no announcements, nothing at all to get excited about. Furthermore, I don’t fault anyone for not having any trust in EA. They burned PC basketball gamers back in 2008 when they stopped releasing NBA Live on the platform, and the overall quality of the titles since the ill-fated attempted revamp with NBA Elite 11 generally hasn’t won console gamers over either. I understand any scepticism and indeed disinterest in a return for NBA Live.
At the same time, the interest is there, at least for someone to step up and provide an alternative to NBA 2K. Once again, EA Sports has the best opportunity to do that with NBA Live. NBA 2K fatigue is real, and discontentment is only growing as the games get pushier with their recurrent revenue mechanics, not to mention introduce features such as cart racing and Gravity Ball. There’s a general feeling that NBA 2K is trying to be everything to everyone, casting a wide net and catering to all manner of gaming trends, rather than being the most authentic basketball sim possible. It sounds snobby to say, but this is the downside of the series being so widely popular now.
And so, you see these comments on social media, on Reddit, in forums and Discord chats. Basketball gamers want an alternative, and NBA Live is the name that gets thrown around. I must admit, I do feel a smug compulsion to ask “What took you so long?” Those of us who haven’t been afraid to honestly critique NBA 2K and extol the virtues of competition have pointed out the need for NBA Live, or another game, ever since NBA 2K effectively achieved a monopoly over basketball gaming. These social media and message board posts, these video essays talking about the need for another NBA game and suggesting a return for NBA Live…we’ve been saying that for years!
Of course, it would be unfair to lay the blame for NBA Live’s downfall at the feet of basketball gamers. It’s a lot to ask that consumers patiently support a product that’s struggling, especially while NBA 2K was really cooking. That said, it seemed like a lot of people – including pundits and influencers – delighted at NBA Live’s downfall, and eagerly danced on its grave. It was a convenient punching bag, and thumping it was a way to pledge allegiance to NBA 2K, and Take-Two’s community programs. “NBA Live should just give up and go away!” they smirked. I’d suggest that some of them are now far more familiar with the old adage of “be careful what you wish for”.
However, it wouldn’t be productive as a community to focus on that. More and more people are coming around to the idea of competition and alternatives, and NBA Live filling that role, so let’s stay on the same page here. With that in mind, how does NBA Live viably create an opportunity to succeed when NBA 2K’s brand remains so strong despite all of the gamer disgruntlement? I’ve said it before, and I stand by it: the best opportunity for NBA Live is to be a more traditional release. That doesn’t mean that it’s completely offline or eschews some important staples that a sports title must have nowadays, but it should try to cater to an audience that NBA 2K has been neglecting.
I am of course referring to hardcore basketball fans and gamers; the sim heads who are feeling disenfranchised and indeed disrespected by NBA 2K focusing on cosmetic items, modes that have little to do with basketball, and game design that’s more about generating recurrent revenue than being a fun and authentic virtual hoops experience. While NBA 2K continues to chase every trend and gaming demographic, NBA Live has an opportunity to cater to basketball fans that are increasingly being told that they aren’t the main audience for what is still at heart an NBA sim. It could be a title for basketball gamers who don’t want open worlds, mini-games, and other such nonsense.
That would hold great appeal to a demographic that is no longer feeling valued by a game they’ve been playing for years, indeed decades. Moreover, it would provide an actual alternative to what NBA 2K is doing, which is an important selling point. NBA 2K could continue to be a game that expands beyond the virtual hardwood and branch out into eSports and the competitive scene, while NBA Live is the more traditional sim title. Obviously it would still need robust online play, but instead of focusing on mechanics that cater to elite (and elitist) competitive gamers, NBA Live’s goal would be creating a fun, accessible, and overall still authentic basketball gaming experience.
Ironically, this would mirror the blueprint that allowed NBA 2K to overtake NBA Live in the first place: that the other game may be the best-selling series (as NBA Live was up until 2008), but if you’re a passionate basketball fan who desires an authentic representation of the sport, then this is the way to go. It’d still be a long road to truly competing with NBA 2K in terms of sales, but being the game of choice for hardcore hoop heads is an angle that could cultivate a dedicated following; one that’ll grow if the game delivers. That is vital – and we’ll come back to that – but the point is that catering to a crowd that NBA 2K is neglecting is a good hook for an alternative.
To that end, to capitalise on any opportunity to make a comeback, NBA Live would need to foster goodwill. That means not being snobby about the creators they work with, and in particular, not just selecting people who will promote the game and only tell them what they want to hear. That’s what NBA 2K is doing: hand-picking the creators and influencers who will play ball, pumping up the game and shouting down valid criticism in exchange for perks and access. Such a “corporate” strategy will throw away goodwill that NBA Live desperately needs to foster following so many missteps and false starts. Valuable, knowledgeable voices simply mustn’t be ignored.
Now, having outlined the design philosophy, let’s address the elephant in the room. None of that will matter if NBA Live still can’t deliver on the virtual hardwood. I won’t suggest it’s completely failed in that regard. As I’ve said, I feel that NBA Live 18 was a solid foundation that could and should have been built upon, but at the end of the day, it just wasn’t good enough to win basketball gamers over, and maintain a loyal audience. Even though the door hasn’t truly been slammed shut on NBA Live, that’s kind of a miracle in and of itself, and it’s what makes an opportunity to return seem unthinkable to sceptical gamers. Again, I completely understand the doubts.
In order to truly seize the opportunity to return, NBA Live cannot feel outdated. The animations can’t look and feel a couple of generations behind, and unpolished for that era besides. We shouldn’t be able to compare modes to their seventh generation or even sixth generation counterparts, and point out that the predecessors are deeper. It would be an impossible expectation to match NBA 2K in depth of modes and content – particularly the historical players – but there still needs to be an effort, rather than a barebones offering. It can’t just be a conceptually desirable alternative to NBA 2K; it needs to be enjoyable on the sticks as well. It needn’t be perfect, but it must impress.
Admittedly, it may be less risky to produce a new college basketball game instead, and return to the virtual hardwood of the NBA if it succeeds. As I’ve noted before – and I’m not the only one to make this observation – a college basketball title would definitely be an alternative that provides an experience that NBA 2K doesn’t, while still laying the groundwork for NBA Live to return if the tech and framework for an excellent hoops game is there. I wouldn’t be against that, and the success of EA Sports College Football 25 has been most promising. However, the NBA remains the most popular brand with basketball fans, so I’d suggest NBA Live would still be preferable.
On top of the NBA’s enduring popularity, NBA Live has brand recognition with basketball gamers. Granted, that reputation isn’t universally positive, especially for those who don’t remember the series’ golden age in the late 90s through to the mid 2000s. There’s merit to rebooting formerly popular and successful properties though, so along with the desire for an alternative, nostalgia certainly creates an opportunity for NBA Live to return. Despite the stigma that’s attached to the brand, NBA Live is still the name that EA should use for a new NBA-licensed game. It’s a much safer bet than bringing back a name like NBA Showdown, and NBA Elite is definitely out!
Considering all of the blunders, disappointments, and cancellations throughout the years, the idea that NBA Live not only has an opportunity to return, but that gamers actually want it to, may seem utterly unthinkable; or, if you’d prefer to reference The Princess Bride, inconceivable. Just as unthinkable – or inconceivable – is the casting of EA Sports as the good guys whose return to the basketball gaming space would be a boon to the genre. And yet, it does seem like our best bet, though I’d certainly still advise caution. There are no signs of an imminent comeback, the struggles on eighth gen shouldn’t be discounted, and EA is still EA. Let’s temper our expectations here!
Still, there’s a reason that NBA Live has a shred of an opportunity to return. For all of its success and strengths, NBA 2K isn’t universally loved or perceived as perfect. If nothing else, there are gamers who are growing weary of the greed and certain design choices, and desire an alternative. While 2K Sports might’ve become the darling of basketball gamers as EA Sports dribbled the ball off their foot and out of bounds, they’ve squandered goodwill, proving that they can be just as anti-consumer as any other company. And of course, some people still just prefer NBA Live’s approach to virtual basketball, even if they’re unsatisfied with the quality of EA’s recent releases.
No, I’m not as optimistic about NBA Live’s future as I was in 2018, or even in 2019 as they were seemingly buckling down to create something special after they cancelled NBA Live 20. I want there to be alternatives in the space though – at least two viable brands to choose from – and so I do hold a small sliver of hope. Put it this way: I’d love to see it happen, even if I’m uncertain that it will. More to the point though, it’s clear that I’m not the only basketball gamer who feels that way. And so, while it might be unthinkable, inconceivable, unlikely, even naively optimistic, NBA Live somehow still has an opportunity to return and succeed. I hope that EA Sports seizes upon that.
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