In what was the least shocking news of the past year, the MLB 2K series is not returning for another edition next spring/winter (depending on your definition of what March is).

What may be shocking to you is that this is the beginning of the end for 2K Sports and that we'll be writing something similar to this about NBA 2K within the next few years.

It won't be because NBA 2K is suddenly going to get 'bad'. It's because from a business standpoint, Take Two has shown it has no interest in sports gaming if a franchise is not a huge profit machine.

While it's clear this is not a good thing for sports gamers, it is the inevitable endgame of the current sports game licensing process/cost and Take Two's desire to move away from licensed properties and towards original IPs.

The licensing costs on top of development costs of sports games really puts a hamper on profits for sports gaming's parent companies. Given the emergence of the digital platform as well, smaller original IPs tend to make the most money and whether you want to hear this or not -- game companies have to answer to shareholders and the dreaded quarterly report.

And yes, I know what you are thinking. NBA 2K does makes money right now, but that doesn't mean it always will. Take Two isn't enamored by their sports division and really the only thing that has kept 2K Sports from being canned or sold off has been NBA 2K's strength in the marketplace.

Did you read that? There's nothing in between 2K Sports dying other than NBA 2K.

That's it.

Of course, the question people might not consider is who would even buy 2K Sports if Take Two were to try to sell it. EA, Activision, THQ or Konami are the only suitable buyers of the franchise on the surface. Activision could, but has no desire to do sports or else they'd likely be doing them already. On the other side, THQ and Konami don't have the money to make a major in-road into the American Sports Market.

And EA kind of already has a sports division.

The licensing costs involved in even getting into the sports game market are astronomical compared to other properties. Thus, the risk of developing quality games in the face of competition is simply too high for companies without plenty of cash to incur. This means companies like THQ have to be very careful about the licensed properties they go after.

This is also why sports games have become more scarce over the past few years and why licenses have been bid out to a premium to gaming companies on an exclusive basis.

It's also why 2K Sports is now 2K Basketball and Tennis.

While no one (including me) wants to hear it, the writing is on the wall. 2K Sports won't be expanding into other sports from where they are through the rest of this console generation.

Football -- both pro and college are owned by EA on an exclusive basis. College basketball is owned by EA on an exclusive basis as well (sorry College Hoops 2K fans, it's never coming back). 2K just gave up baseball and 2K also gave up hockey just last year.

It seems when the going gets tough, Take Two gets going (away) and cancels a sports franchise.

And this year EA Sports is relaunching the NBA Live franchise with what will almost certainly be a strong effort to try to match what 2K Sports has done. EA will not match NBA 2K for years in terms of quality -- NBA 2K is a masterpiece of a game and I see no way for EA to match it in quality. But in terms of sales EA can certainly gain ground quickly because they can outspend 2K rather easily in marketing.

The end result will be a sad and familiar one. When NBA 2K loses it's market share and sales begin to slip and profitability wanes due to increased competition -- Take Two will do just as they've done the last five years, except this time it'll mean the closure of the brand.

The sad reality of 2012 is, the pie is only big enough for one company in any particular sport to pay for the licensing, developing, marketing, and release of a game. The company with the deepest pockets and biggest tolerance for failure will win every time in these market conditions.

And folks, that company isn't Take Two.

What a sad day that will be indeed.