Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five reasons that NBA 2K now has a virtual monopoly over the virtual hardwood.

We’re fortunate that the NBA hasn’t followed the NFL’s example of offering video game developers and publishers exclusive rights to their license. In theory, we could still see an array of licensed NBA video games from a variety of companies, since there’s nothing legally preventing them from throwing their hat into the ring. Of course, in terms of feasibility and practicality, it’s not so simple. NBA 2K has set a high bar that sim basketball games are expected to clear and raise, meaning the NBA license alone won’t allow alternative titles to compete.

Since no one else is taking a chance on competing with NBA 2K, they have a virtual monopoly when it comes to basketball video games. Sure, there have been a handful of NBA Live games over the past decade – though none since 2018 – as well as two NBA Playgrounds titles. We’ve also seen some indie hoops games that don’t use the NBA license, including the outstanding Basketball Classics. However, NBA 2K is the only Big Name in basketball gaming, and the lack of alternatives and competition is essentially a monopoly. How did we get to this point? Here are five reasons that NBA 2K was able to establish a monopoly, with a little help from its one-time competitors.

1. NBA Live Took Too Many Wrong Turns

Looking back, NBA Live could’ve easily still been an annual release today, just as relevant and viable an option for sim basketball gamers as NBA 2K. There are gamers who like to say that Live was never good, or immediately became irrelevant once 2K arrived on the scene. Those people don’t know what they’re talking about, or it’s been too long since they played games from the early to mid 2000s! NBA Live had made a few mistakes by 2005, but NBA Live 2004 to NBA Live 06 was a strong run for the series. They erred when the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06 was barebones, and suffered a major setback when an attempted rebuild with NBA Live 07 utterly failed.

Despite some improvements over the next few years, and a very solid release in NBA Live 10, EA made some ruinous decisions. The attempted revamp and rebrand with NBA Elite 11 was a complete disaster, setting the series back for years to come and allowing NBA 2K – now the top-rated and best-selling NBA series – to establish a virtual monopoly even without the exclusive rights to the NBA license. Disappointing tech, drastic changes for the worse, stagnant modes, aimless direction, and a general lack of innovation, caught up to NBA Live and dragged it down, even with a chance to reboot on the eighth generation. 2K’s biggest competitor sadly took itself out.

2. 2K Became the “Cool” Game Before It Was a Best Seller

When rookie Adam Morrison was signed to be one of the faces of NBA Live 07 – in retrospect, a bad omen – he didn’t just give us a couple of classic commercials talking about moustaches and nicknames. He also talked about being a fan of NBA Live, as he grew up playing the games. That isn’t surprising, as like me, The Great Mustachio was born in 1984, and NBA Live was the sim game of choice for many of us in the 90s. To that point however, it’s one of the last times that you’ll see an NBA player talking about being a huge fan of NBA Live when they were growing up. These days, rookies and cover players will gush about seeing themselves in NBA 2K instead.

In fact, even as Adam Morrison was signing on with EA and recalling being a long-time fan of NBA Live, the series was losing its “cool” factor. There were still some great games in the NBA Live series up to and including NBA Live 06 PC, but it had been around for a while, and seen a couple of rougher releases. NBA 2K was the bold new brand that had already equalled or surpassed NBA Live in some key areas. At the same time, NBA Live still being the top seller afforded NBA 2K a sense of underdog coolness: “Sure, NBA Live is more popular, but NBA 2K is better. You’d know that if you played it!” Snobbishness aside, being the “cool” game greatly helped NBA 2K.

3. Console & Regional Exclusives Hampered Competition & Choices

It’s impossible not to feel wistful when you look back at the options we used to have with NBA video games. NBA Live and NBA 2K were the premiere brands by the early to mid 2000s, but there was also NBA ShootOut and the later NBA series by San Diego Studio, NBA Inside Drive, NBA in the Zone, and ESPN NBA 2Night. That’s just the sim games; we also had arcade games including NBA Jam and its sequels from Midway and Acclaim alike, NBA Street, and NBA Ballers. In many ways, it was a golden age for basketball gaming with an array of choices, all of which brought something unique to the virtual hardwood. Of course, that had a downside.

The glut of basketball games on the market definitely wasn’t sustainable in the long run. NBA Live and NBA 2K were able to compete with each other for many years, but other titles lacked the brand recognition (and sometimes quality) to challenge them. What really hurt those other series, however, was that many of them were console exclusives, and often regional exclusives as well. By 2003, Live and 2K were available to basically everyone on console. That wasn’t the case for PlayStation and Xbox exclusives, especially ones without a worldwide release. Those games went under, so when Live finally fell too, there were no other competitors to challenge 2K.

4. Other Developers Clearly Feel Intimidated

Given Take-Two’s firm grip on the market, it’s understandable that other companies might be hesitant to challenge the virtual monopoly of NBA 2K. Any sim title that comes out is going to be compared to 2K, and as NBA Live’s struggles since 2006 demonstrate, not even a behemoth with experience in the genre can be counted on to develop a worthy competitor. Even if there are producers and engineers that are willing and able to tackle the task, the lack of short term profitability in developing an NBA game to compete with 2K undoubtedly doesn’t appeal to the suits. Quite simply, it’s a big financial risk that most developers and publishers aren’t willing to take.

Furthermore, it seems that 2K is viewed as the gatekeepers of the genre, including by 2K themselves. As Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch revealed, the first NBA Playgrounds raised some concern at 2K, despite being a different style of game. It led to Karch meeting with 2K brass to show them Playgrounds, which ultimately led to a partnership with NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 that simultaneously benefitted and killed a burgeoning franchise. Frankly, it’s alarming that other companies feel the need to bend the knee and swear that they aren’t trying to compete with NBA 2K and its virtual monopoly. If you have the NBA license, you don’t need 2K’s thumbs up.

5. NBA 2K Consistently Improved & Did Things Right

Finally, let’s give credit where credit is due! NBA 2K didn’t just become the top-rated and best-selling basketball game – and eventually monopolise the genre – just because everyone else failed, handing them victory by default. It’s impossible to account for all of the additions and improvements that have made a number of games in the NBA 2K series so great in just two paragraphs, but the short answer is that NBA 2K had a sensible design philosophy. Whereas NBA Live constantly changed direction, NBA 2K stayed the course, building on a solid foundation. It continually innovated, and added more detail. 2K also borrowed some ideas from Live, and did them better.

That’s why 2K’s franchise experience is now incredibly deep, while Live’s fell behind. It’s why 2K introduced a full career mode first, even though there was a semblance of one in Live 09. Live neglected historical content, while 2K ambitiously expanded upon it with retro teams and challenge modes. 2K strived for realism and authenticity, with tech that worked; try as it might, Live struggled in those aims. Once 2K adopted the right stick dribbling controls that Live had pioneered, it had all of the advantages. There have been missteps of course, but NBA 2K has maintained a level of quality and consistency that allowed it to reach new heights…and gain a virtual monopoly.

What’s your take on the virtual monopoly NBA 2K has in the basketball gaming space? Which other series – if any – would you like to see return? Have your say in the comments below, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.

The post The Friday Five: 5 Reasons NBA 2K Has a Virtual Monopoly appeared first on NLSC.