Andrew wrote:Again, a majority of 2K's sales are on the console. That's the market that Live really wants to compete for. The numbers don't lie here: the PC market is not the primary audience, as it makes up a very, very small proportion of it. You keep mentioning 120 million Steam users, but the number of people who are interested in a basketball game on PC (or a basketball game on any platform) isn't anywhere near that. The sales figures and Steam stats bear that out; it's not even a quarter of a million right now. There is certainly value in offering up your game on as many platforms as possible, but again, the PC market is not a significant player when it comes to basketball gaming. The console versions are what sell, what makes money.
Also note that a digital only release of NBA Live is probably more likely to be available on Origin, rather than Steam.
Beyond that, you have the usual challenges of developing a PC port, and the need to focus on making improvements to NBA Live so that it's a better game that will sell more copies, on any platform. I would like to have a PC version, but it's a difficult sell.
We get that. But it's just another "take away" that hurt the series reputation. Lets see, here is what has been taken away from us
1. Local multiplayer Dynasty
2. Roster Editing
3. Create a player feature (Not talking about just the one "my player" type)
4. Legends in the main use of the games (all decade teams, or free agent pool of them)
5. PC version
6. All-star weekend
I don't want the excuse of "Well this was taken away awhile ago" etc. That means NOTHING. Numerous takeaways of important facets of the game, and hardly any addons that make anybody say "lets go out and get Live this year". Even minus the PC version, so many takeaways. No excuses, basketball games now NEED these features, they need them to compete and survive. This isn't even factoring in the gameplay which still needs to be tweaked.
That list is the essentials with no extras included. These should already have been in the game (Minus the PC version thing). I don't want to hear about not having enough money for development, or not having enough money for this or that. You are putting out a basketball game with the official NBA license, with the intention of competing. If you can't put out a product that even carries the bare essentials needed in a basketball game, don't put one out. It's wasting everybody's time. All I hear is excuses and excuses each and every year, and just another disappointing product.
Lets see:
Promotion of the game is weak
Execution is weak
Listening is weak (Don't tell me fans are being listened too, we are getting ignored, the same things we are asking for each year never get brought back or added on, those features above don't require any additional licensing, or approval)
Andrew, where I may sound frustrated is: this has been going on for YEARS, since the late 2000's.... What will it take for them to LISTEN to the fan base and implement what the fans really want? The facts above are just that, facts. No more excuses.
"Everyone likes to look at 2K Games as a helpless victim caught in the warpath of EA’s wrath. Yes, we all loved NFL2K, and it took a shifty exclusivity deal to help Madden recover the lost market share that NFL2K5 gobbled up with its $19.99 price tag. Or am I just old with that line of thinking?
However, how can anybody call 2K Games a victim after a smothering like this? For the third straight year, it’s NBA2K series has outsold EA’s NBA Live by claiming upwards of 98 percent of the basketball video game market. This year, NBA Live has sunk below the 1 percent line, selling just 8,000 units compared to NBA 2K16’s 1 million.
By the way, that 1 million sales made NBA2K16 the best selling sports game launch of the generation. Not bad." -Techno Buffalo
The whole "they made strides", "they made steps in the right direction", is not accurate. We hear that every year, and almost nobody is buying NBA Live. The numbers are just staggering.
No more excuses.