2K Sports NFL Games To Feature Real Players, Thanks To NFLPA License

New football video games created by 2K Sports will feature real NFL players in addition to NFL teams, thanks to a new licensing agreement between the publisher and the NFL Players Association, the companies said Thursday.

The deal gives 2K Sports the right to use the names, numbers, pictures and likenesses of more than 2,000 current NFL players in its upcoming games. The financial terms of the deal – which was managed by OneTeam Partners, which represents the NFLPA in group licensing deals – were not disclosed, nor its duration. We have asked 2K for details and will update this article with all the information we receive.

Thursday’s news follows the announcement in March that 2K Sports was recovering in the video game football business, after signing a multi-year agreement with the NFL under which the publisher will produce several NFL-licensed football games. These will be 2K Sports’ first football titles since 2007 without a license All-Pro 2K8 Football.

What we do know is that 2K plans to produce football games “focused on fun, affordable and social experiences,” according to President David Ismailer. This is because its contract with the NFL is limited to “non-simulation football video game experiences” as Electronic Arts retains the exclusive rights to create NFL-licensed simulation football titles – under long-term agreements. for the Madden NFL franchise which EA recently extended with the NFL and NFLPA until May 2026.

2K did not provide further details on the games in question, saying only that it has several titles “in the early stages of development” and that they are expected to be released starting in 2021. Deployment is expected to begin during Take -Two Interactive’s 2022 fiscal year, which means the first possible release window is April 2021. (Take-Two is the parent company of 2K.)

At the risk of reading too much of the available information, we may try to deduce a few more details about the types of soccer games 2K makes. The publisher’s license agreement with the NFLPA covers thousands of current players, from top stars like New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley to unannounced contributors like the long snappers of a special unit. But it’s hard to imagine that 2K would bother to include a full roster of 53 active players for each of the league’s 32 teams in a no-simulation video game, unless it built something that was out of the picture. lively but ultimately a solid facsimile of football, like that of Metalhead Software. Super Mega Baseball Series.

Think of the NFL Blitz or NFL Street franchises, both of which offered arcade-style football experiences with seven-on-seven action instead of the 11-on-11 format of the authentic NFL game. 2K Sports’ own arcade basketball title, NBA 2K 2 Playgrounds, features current and retired NBA players in two-on-two matches. Now consider the following quote from 2K chairman Ismailer in Thursday’s press release.

“We are excited to be working with the NFLPA and OneTeam to bring the biggest and best football stars to the games we are working on,” Ismailer said. “We want to provide authentic, memorable and fun experiences for fans, and having a roster of true sports heroes through the Players Association and OneTeam is a critical part of delivering on that promise.”

While 2K may have signed a deal that covers everyone in the NFL, it seems the publisher is really only interested in the big names – after all, that’s what you’d want to highlight in games designed to be fun and affordable. and social experiences. Of course, that doesn’t mean 2K wouldn’t dive deeper into the NFL rosters for, say, a standalone MyTeam game with virtual trading cards. But it seems more likely than not that the initial 2K roster will include something akin to a football version of NBA 2K Playgrounds.