NFL 2K Playmakers Can't Be the End of the NFL 2K Name

If you weren’t aware that 2K Sports released a new NFL 2K game this week, I would understand completely. NFL 2K Playmakers is the first NFL 2K game released since NFL 2K5, but it’s a card-based arcade game not unlike WWE SuperCard or other card games 2K has released in the past.

In other words, this is not what OSers have been waiting for 2K to release. A new NFL 2K game of any sort should be the biggest news in sports gaming, and it’s the biggest game that could return from the past outside of the now-returning EA Sports College Football. So this week’s release feels like a missed opportunity by 2K not stealing back some shine during NFL Draft week.

Now, I would be saying this regardless of the quality of NFL 2K Playmakers, and while this is in no way a review, it does not help that I did not like my time with NFL 2K Playmakers either. WWE SuperCard felt somewhat novel when it was released back in 2014, but even then most of the ideas in that game were played out. Now in 2024, the design here just feels so outdated and unimpressive for a mobile game. I won’t even get into the microtransactions or any of that, it’s just not a game that should have the NFL 2K brand attached to it. I know why the brand is attached to it, but it’s not a good look.

What’s worse, and this is on 2K to some extent as well, is that we’ve known some sort of game was being made by 2K for years because 2K told us that was the case way back in 2020 via news releases, forums being setup, and so on. You can trace the angst back to 2022 when it had already been two years since an “official” NFL 2K forum had been opened and there was no new info.

Fast forward to this week, and it feels a little deflating. In a sense, this year could have been the year football games were back, baby! We’re already getting college football back, and we could have gotten back NFL 2K in some form as well. But that’s not really the case, at least for now.

And 2K’s hands are tied in some regards. The NFL and EA have an exclusive “simulation” license until at least 2025 (with an option year for 2026 that seems likely to happen). EA paid in excess of a billion dollars to tie up this exclusivity in 2020, and as always it’s not just on EA here. The NFL owners are a conservative bunch when it comes to this stuff, and they probably don’t even pay a ton of attention to this aspect of licensing — TV rights and all that probably are what they actually focus on for the truly big bucks. In other words, the owners probably see a billion-plus dollars going in their pockets and think there’s no reason to change things up (same goes for the players union). Maybe they’ll change their mind next time around.

Still, even if “simulation” is off the table, we’ve known this was the case for years and OSers were still stoked about a potential NFL 2K game. Whether it’s NFL Street from EA or The Bigs from 2K (or countless other games), arcade sports games from both EA and 2K have been a source of good times through the years. There absolutely should be a market for an arcade football game with player licensing, especially if it gets the major backing of 2K.

Perhaps other arcade offerings from 2K in recent years (NBA Playgrounds) did not do well enough and scared 2K off from pursuing something big budget, or it could be a host of other factors, but the NFL 2K name is too strong to this day to let it end with some mediocre mobile card game. It’s been 20 years, and people still talk about NFL 2K5. That matters.

It’s the same argument I made for NCAA Football returning as EA Sports College Football. A strong brand is a strong brand (and yes I feel gross talking about “brands” like this but it is true), and that will continue to matter as long as you don’t soil its name with mediocre products that dilute it. Yes, the cache of being the only college football game (and being a simulation) means more than returning as an arcade NFL game, but 2K has to start somewhere.

If you just wait and wait for another chance at the simulation licensing in 2025/2026, who’s to say the NFL gives you the time of day? In the meantime, you have to keep the name alive. So unless you can somehow win a bidding war against a 20-plus year arrangement at that point between EA and the NFL, the future NFL 2K game has to be an arcade game first and foremost before any future steps can even be considered.

And those fans who have kept the NFL 2K name alive deserve a good NFL 2K football game that rekindles that fire and keeps it burning until we figure out what happens again in a few years with the NFL licensing.