Best Franchise Mode in 2021: NBA 2K22

Coming into the 2021 slate of sports games, I think we were hoping this category would be a little more competitive than it ended up being. We knew Madden 22 was going to have a bigger focus on franchise mode, and last year FIFA and NHL also received some relatively sizable upgrades that we thought might be a sign of things to come. Then we had the sort of ol’ reliable franchise modes of NBA 2K and MLB The Show to look forward to as well. However, now as we look towards the ’22 slate of games, we have to sort of be hopeful once more because ’21 was not the best of years for franchise heads. I would not go as far as to say NBA 2K22 is the Best Franchise Mode in 2021 almost by default, but getting the gold was not as hard as it should have been either.

Best Franchise Mode In 2021: NBA 2K22

There is a perpetual state of dread that consumes a lot of franchise mode fans out there. I’ve spoken about it before, but it continues to permeate the discourse because many feel like every step forward with these modes still ends with them stepping on a rake that then rises up and drills them between the eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NUFHLngNEk

On some level, I do think there’s an element of a self-fulfilling prophecy playing out here. Folks assume franchise modes will only get worse or won’t get support, and then it almost turns into a situation where the mode is doomed to fail before it even sees the light of day. I don’t think that’s the main reason (or even a big reason) why franchise modes have gone through this rough patch, but I don’t think it’s very fun to work on franchise modes either when you know criticism could be (and probably will be) right around the corner.

Using Madden 22 as an example of this, a lot of folks came in with high expectations that ultimately were not met. The mode is absolutely better than it was before, but when you ignore something for years like the Madden developers did with franchise mode, you’re not suddenly going to flip the switch and make something universally applauded again. Before you can get to the “sweeteners” that make a franchise mode stand out like the “golden era” of Madden franchise modes from the PS2 era did with things like a radio show, you need to put in the work to make it a mode that is simply deep enough and polished enough to compete.

You’re not going to do that in one year — as much as that sucks to think about. While maybe we held out some hope that these “live service” updates would help to accelerate the process, the evidence we have at this point suggests those updates will be nice in some regards but still slow to come.

So with that in mind, Vegas odds would have had this as a battle between The Show and NBA 2K coming into the year, with maybe FIFA as this sleeper candidate. However, The Show removed some of the functionality that helped the mode stand out from the crowd (specifically year-to-year saves between games), and it ultimately tanked its chances from the outset.

With NBA 2K22, I would argue the trend here is that maybe the developers focus too much on “sweeteners” and not enough on polish. From my perspective, it seems like the folks who work on the MyNBA elements genuinely love the mode, but maybe they’re so excited to implement new ideas that they almost blow past the fact that a lot of them don’t work right or become really shaky as the years go by. And I get that because if you spent a year just saying you’re “fixing bugs” or whatever, fans would also be frustrated when they inevitably still found bugs and then felt like they were mislead and also didn’t get any of the new (sort of broken) stuff in the process. In other words, there’s probably less backlash by shipping “buggy” updates rather than “polished” retreads.

Regardless, the MyNBA mode is undoubtedly the deepest “traditional” franchise mode out there right now, and this is how NBA 2K22 wins the award. In a perfect world, MyNBA is polished while staying this deep, but it’s not a perfect world as of now. If the 2K developers can find a way to polish things up and update the mode in the same year, it’s fair to say no one will be able to keep up with NBA 2K in the current environment.

Community Vote – Best Franchise Mode In 2021 (NBA 2K22)

The community was quite clear as well with the selection of NBA 2K22, and I don’t think much needs to be added beyond that. There is a great community of creators that put together stuff like the Attention to Detail roster to try and keep the experience fresh and polished as can be.