Where did all the sports games go? -- And why they're not coming back. - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

Where did all the sports games go? -- And why they're not coming back. Stuck

Posted on July 14, 2010 at 11:46 AM.

(21)

Think back just a short decade ago.

Sports games were everywhere. Pro football had 4-6 titles each year, NBA fans had multiple titles to choose from and one year there were no less than five MLB games which garnered good to great reviews across the spectrum.

What happened?

Today there is one NFL game, on NCAA game, two MLB games, two NBA games and one and a half hockey games. It's almost like someone came in and turned the power off to the party while everyone was still dancing and having a good time.

I think there are a couple of rational explanations for why those games disappeared and also why they're never coming back. Let's dissect both:

There wasn't enough pie to go around- As much as this sucks -- because I'd love for sports gaming to be much bigger -- the sports gamer is a smaller sect of the overall video game picture than the Final Fantasy/RPG nerd is. (I'm a FPS nerd, so don't start claiming I'm hating here) Plus, Sports games tend to get repetitive whereas in other genres companies can change the rules and scenery of the games. You can't do that in sports. The NBA is still the NBA, whether it's in a game made by EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Take Two, or Sony. The same rules (mostly) still apply to any NBA game ever made. Therefore when push came to shove, there just wasn't enough customers to fund multiple games in each sport in the genre.
Games are getting really hard to make- The smaller projects all but died out (or are becoming internet/downloadable phenoms) because games in this generation require a huge investment in both time and money to make. We as customers demand a more authentic experience to go along with our more powerful hardware and when things don't match up -- we complain. From shoelaces, to jersey types, to lighting intricacies, to the finer points of gameplay which developers didn't have to worry about in generations prior. We basically want our safe and comfortable family car, we just want it to have a big engine and go really fast too.

As we go forward into the future, don't look for these trends to change. Even if the market for sports games grows, the necessary price of entry for new companies with no existing code base sitting around will start to become prohibitively high. The cost will be especially high to compete with the titans at EA and 2K with very intricate systems already in place. In fact, I see a future where sports games become even more scarce, not more bountiful.

I guess the party's over after all.

Why do you think sports games have disappeared? Do you think we'll ever see another year with over 16 games released in major American sports?

Chris is the Executive Editor of Operation Sports and maintains this blog on the site. He is also a native Oklahoman and avid storm chaser. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisSnr.

Comments

# 1 bigsmallwood @ Jul 14

I would hope to see a year where we can have 16+ sports games again. They all brought something special and some of them were quite underrated. Exclusive licensing and costs of production have cut back on the # of sports games we have seen.

In my opinion there should be at least two-three titles available for each genre. That way we as gamers have a choice...and everybody loves having options!

# 2 DubTrey1 @ Jul 14

I think you are right on. There will be less games in the long run and those with the $ now, will probably continue to be the leaders in the future. EA and 2K will probably be the sole runners in this race with Sony trailing them with MLB. I think as technology has grown, so has the end User base. As gamers, I think we all have come to expect games to grow leaps and bounds over our last generation of consoles and gaming, but it seems like baby steps rather than magnificent leaps.

# 3 Felkmaster @ Jul 14

Exclusivity deals is a big reason. Developers don't want to make games without official licensing. I remember EA having the best MLB game & 2K having the best football. It's a shame EA signed a deal with the NFL & 2K with MLB.

# 4 veritas1 @ Jul 14

Those are your two reasons? Exclusivity never cross your mind? I mean really?...

# 5 adayinthelife @ Jul 14

When games like COD and Halo are hauling in millions and in some cases BILLIONS, I think the earning expectations for the entire industry go up. More and more expectations all around the gaming industry are constantly on the rise, especially recently. Look at reviews; don't you remember when a 7/10 meant that it was a pretty good game and it was rare to see any game crack the 9 threshold? Now if it's anything less than 8.5 it seems to be considered sub par. ****, I don't even remember the term 'AAA title' being tossed around 10 years ago.

It's really not just sports games either. Actually, to use one of your references, the same situation can be seen in the RPG market. You have your big crappy titles like FFXIII, etc. that do well and will always do well, but at the same time there just straight up aren't many other options like there were back in the PS1 and PS2 days.

The gaming industry has grown so much over the past decade and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie. The unfortunate reality is that of all the "new" gamers who have picked up the hobby this console generation, I'd say maybe 10% (if that) actually have gaming interests outside of the COD/Halo/Madden (read: mainstream) world.

# 6 smithdynasty @ Jul 14

As it pertains to this article ALL i care about is 2k sports bringing back College Hoops 2k11/2k12. Hopefully someone writes an article about that because I NEED THIS GAME. GTA is cool, Halo is cool but CH 2k8 was the most played game I have ever owned. Hopefully they bring it back with updated game play and I'll be perfect. I never would have thought that 2k8 would be the last. SMH!!! I still play that game.

# 7 malachijohn666 @ Jul 14

Smithdynasty, CH 2k11 would rock. I too am addicted to 2k8, in fact I just had to buy another copy because my disc cracked! Uggg!

As to the article, I totally agree with your points. But you also have to consider that there were more companies floating out there to make these games. Right now, there aren't many companies out there willing to invest serious $$$ for an un-licenced game. That was why I was so happy to see Back Breaker. I don't own the game, but I think that there is nothing wrong if you are playing a sports game without the lisence. Tecmo bowl anyone? Sports Talk Baseball? I believe they were un lisenced.

Plus also, there has been a trend over the last decade or so to marketplaces to get smaller and smaller as more companies buy out smaller competitors.

# 8 Vermin @ Jul 14

I still think that All-Pro Football 2K8 is one of the best-playing football games out there. It looks and sounds very dated by today's standards, but the gameplay is solid and I still see some pretty cool animations that add a lot of flavour to the play. Somewhere around here, I still have a copy of ESPN NFL 2K5.

I don't understand why in this age of exclusivity, we can't still see more of the arcade-like games. Have gamers really given up on games like Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball, Baseball Simulator 1.000 and Mutant League Football? Why not slap a license on those bad boys, pump 'em out at a digestible price on PSN and XLBA and let people have fun again.

# 9 RaychelSnr @ Jul 14

@Veritas: Exclusivity in most cases has been a symptom of a lack of games, not a cause. Look at the NBA games, it's not like a bunch of companies are lining up to produce games for the league, you still have just two even though there aren't any exclusive deals in place. I don't think it'd be much different across the whole of the sports gaming genre, we'd have a couple of other games (one or two NFL games maybe along with another MLB game or so)....but that's still nowhere near where we used to be. Thus, exclusivity is nowhere near the factor these other two are.

# 10 ven0m43 @ Jul 14

I'd love to see 2k and EA each have their own game in each sport, like in the NHL and NBA. They will only be pushing each other to make a better game. I really miss College Hoops 2k and NFL 2k, and wish no one company can create an monopoly with the damn exclusivity bs

# 11 RaychelSnr @ Jul 14

@SmithDynasty - I have serious doubts we'll see a regular college basketball franchise ever again. The sales don't even begin to justify it. Check out these two graphs for overall sales and you'll see both NCAA Basketball and College Hoops were very small sellers compared to the big picture:

# 12 GaryT531 @ Jul 14

I'd love to see what Rockstar Games could do with an NFL title....

There isn't a doubt in my mind that it would not be amazing based on the track record of quality games that company has consistently put out over the years.

# 13 Potatoes002 @ Jul 15

I use to love the multiple baseball games. If I went to one friends house he had All-Star baseball. Another one was the High Heat guy, then there was the Slugfest friend and so on.

I miss those days

# 14 Potatoes002 @ Jul 15

Also, are those graphs correct? I thought 2K basketball outsold NBA Live.

# 15 Eski33 @ Jul 16

I agree with one poster that exclusivity is what happened to sports games. In regards to the NFL, it was the reason for the exclusive deal. I think that many of these leagues want to have some sort of control over what is getting released.

There were many issues with some of the arcade-type NFL games in which over the top play was part of the equation and I think the NFL does not want any game to be released without some sort of regulation as to the content. NFL Blitz being one of those games.

It isn't just the NFL, it is all leagues. This is why there is no blood in NHL. These "companies" don't want any negative perceptions of their sport plastered in video games...

I am one of those people that miss those alternative type sports games...

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