Sports games are kind of the black sheep of the gaming industry. They’re yearly releases that typically don’t get much better year over year. They charge for updated rosters and player ratings, essentially. Unfortunately, despite these drawbacks, there’s still an annual audience for the games.
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There is a way, however, to fix all of this. Make games like Madden, EA Sports FC, and NBA 2K fully live-service. Gamers typically don’t ask for more live-service games since they usually die off and are also somewhat of a black sheep, but this is a rare instance of a series being better that way. It’s totally feasible to think 2K Sports could’ve released a game with plans to update the same product over time, but it just hasn’t.
Sports Games Should Go Full Live-Service
Sports games are working in that they have an audience and plenty of demand. But they’re not working in the sense that gamers everywhere are somewhat fed up with them and view them as bad for the industry as a whole. They are growing a little bit more unpopular all the time.
This is also because, generally speaking, the arcade-style simulation sports games are usually more fun. Super Mega Baseball, Rematch, Rocket League, Backyard Football, and others are more enjoyable than Madden, NBA 2K, MLB The Show, or FC (FIFA).
Sports games are better when they lean into the silly, cartoonish nature of gaming rather than attempting to be hyperrealistic simulations of real sports. Plus, most modern sports games still haven’t mastered some of the most basic aspects of sports. Dribbling in NBA 2K is still not like it is in the real world. Most Madden mechanics are not quite realistic. The list goes on.
But they do present some value to the gaming community for having those realistic properties. It is undeniably fun to take control of a team, usually one that isn’t very good in the real world, and turn them into a legitimate dynasty. Collecting cards, even though it’s a bit of a gambling simulator, can be fun, too. Playing as a virtual version of your favorite athlete is special.
That’s why they’d do best as live-service games. They could utilize the players and the teams that so many gamers know and love. The arcade-style games, for all their good qualities, don’t have that. You can’t play Super Mega Baseball 4 as the New York Yankees.
There’s a perfect formula for this, too. It would be a little outrageous to charge a small fee to update rosters with current players and overall adjustments, but it could be an easy way to do it. The 2026 update, for example, could be a $4.99 DLC for the game. Either way, the games can easily make a lot of money back by charging for an annual pass for the card-collecting team modes.
The battle pass system is perfect for these types of games, too. Dynasty Mode, Madden Ultimate Team, FC Ultimate Team, and 2K MyTEAM are the moneymakers for their respective game series, so why not make the money on them? Charge for packs, battle passes, and more.
The microtransactions would be even more unbearable, but it’s a whole lot more excusable when the base game doesn’t cost $70 for a slightly different version every single year. And if there’s a major update, like with a console generation jump, publishers can release the newest version and start that as a live-service title or just charge something for the major update.
Ultimately, there would probably be some lost money, because countless players will pay at least $70 every summer for the newest Madden. Call of Duty is the same way, so perhaps this conversation could apply to all yearly releases and not just sports games. Either way, money would be lost, but so much goodwill in the gaming community would be gained. It’s hard to put a price on being a respected developer, especially when some of these, like EA and 2K Sports, are much-maligned right now.
Is this going to happen? Absolutely not. These sports game franchises exist solely to make money, and there’s less money to be made since there’s no shot that the communities that play these games will stop any time soon. The developers have zero incentive to change to a live-service model and lose some cash flow, but it would be nice if they did.
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