MLB 2K13 News Post

2K Sports Confirms They Are Done With Baseball

07:04 PM - January 6, 2014 by RaychelSnr

In a move that was neither unexpected nor surprising, 2K Sports today confirmed in a statement to Polygon it is not renewing the MLB license and thus, the MLB 2K series was (for the first time) confirmed as dead.

"We have decided not to renew our MLB 2K series for 2014," 2K Sports said in the statement.

If you recall, last year everyone presumed the franchise was dead but 2K stayed quiet about it's future until MLB 2K13 was surprisingly announced just before release. That will not be the case this year, as 2K Sports' statement leaves no wiggle room for a return of the franchise this year.

There is some hope that another company will take up the baseball banner on Microsoft consoles, but who that will end up being does remain a mystery. EA thus far, denies any interest in pursuing the baseball license even though they would seem to be the most suitable candidate to give baseball a try.

With no MLB 2K, both the XBox 360 and XBox One will be without an MLB simulation experience in 2014.

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Member Comments

# 21 ctsoxfan @ 01/07/14 02:20 PM

No baseball sim on xbox this year? Not a happy dude...

# 22 malky @ 01/07/14 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Money99


	With no football, hockey, boxing and now baseball game, can they officially change their name to 2KSport?

2k sport, is so true, they really need to make another football game, don't care if it's a fake league, but they need more sports games for a video game sports company!!!!

# 23 elgreazy1 @ 01/07/14 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogunofharlem3


	Saw the news about the cancellation last night. Sad indeed. I really enjoyed 2k12, alot. The community was amazing in improving and updating the game. It did play a great game of baseball. Just got to thinking of my game collections........NHL 2k, 2k2, 2k3, 2k4, 2k5, 2k6, 2k7, 2k8, 2k9, 2k10, 2k11........World Series 2k through 2k12 (no 2k8), NFL 2k, through 2k5 and All Pro 2k8. Now, I have nothing to choose from. My 3 major sports I play from the company I liked the gameplay most from has no options. Ugh. Now what?

I'm in the same boat. I think this is the year I quit video games altogether.

# 24 pietasterp @ 01/07/14 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elgreazy1


	I'm in the same boat. I think this is the year I quit video games altogether.

I'm certainly on the verge of quitting sports games altogether...the sports gaming landscape it just so depressing now. Going into the next gen (I guess now current/new gen), I can't imagine a more bleak sports gaming landscape. I thought things were supposed to get better over time, no?

# 25 shogunofharlem3 @ 01/08/14 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce LeRoy


	Games cost too much to make these days, if you can't be the best at making a particular sports game its better not to make it at all financially speaking. Because you're just not going to get the return on your investment. Its just matter of time before NBA Live folds. Sports gaming is in the worst shape in history and I don't see a return to the good old days when we had 2-3 different games to choose from in any given sport. I just hope this means they are investing in a NFL game because anything the NFL touches is gold in the US.

Nice user name!!!!!! Who'z da Masta?

# 26 bigfnjoe96 @ 01/08/14 02:02 PM

RIP MLB 2K you will be missed.....

# 27 J_Posse @ 01/08/14 02:37 PM

Damn, another sad day in sports video game history. We really are headed down the path of extinction. Never thought as a kid that sports games could become so real looking, but the options would get shorter and shorter every year. *Sigh*

from Spurs Nation/Bills Backer HQ using Tapatalk

# 28 Money99 @ 01/08/14 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingofATL


	But as far as NFL 2K* is concerned, I believe they will focus their attention on obtaining the NFL License now. By cancelling the MLB game they free up capitol to use for an NFL game.*

Capitol was never the problem between 2K and the NFL.
The NFL was mighty ticked-off when 2K sold 2K4 for $19.99. They felt it undervalued their brand.
So when they decided to go the exclusive route, they went to EA first - who had no problems handing over a truck load of cash to be the only game in town.
And that's how it's going to be for good.

There is probably a greater chance of 2K developing another baseball and hockey game before they get the NFL license again.

As far as MLB2K is concerned, while it clearly wasn't as polished as The Show, it was still a quality baseball game.
From the analog pitching, to presentation, commentary, MLB Today, Hitters Eye,... it did a lot of things very, very well.

I for one will miss this series greatly. I think if VC was given the reigns 2 or 3 years earlier we'd be waiting on the release of 2K14.
Sadly, the series changed hands one too many times, and during that process, there were too many mistakes made.

I'm holding out hope that we'll see the return of 2K baseball down the road.

# 29 Nexgenrulz @ 01/08/14 07:18 PM

No big loss. The Show on PS4 is all you need!

# 30 Money99 @ 01/08/14 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanLR101


	Weird, VC is hiring for people to work on a baseball game.

Seriously?
Can you provide any links?

# 31 Blzer @ 01/08/14 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nexgenrulz


	No big loss. The Show on PS4 is all you need!

Unless you have an Xbox.

# 32 nbman @ 01/09/14 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Money99


	Seriously? Can you provide any links?

I looked it up on their website. Visual Concepts studio in Korea is hiring for a baseball game.

# 33 24 @ 01/09/14 12:46 PM

I'm Sure either EA or Microsoft will pick up the license. I would not be surprised if High Heat or MVP Baseball made a come back.

# 34 RangersCruz @ 01/09/14 06:12 PM

Imagine if MS made a baseball game that was great and made it exclusive for their consoles like Sony did with the show

# 35 havoc00 @ 01/09/14 09:36 PM

why the hell couldn't MS, buy the rights or pay Konami to port over Konami PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL for the One? Sucks we wont have a baseball game this year

# 36 Money99 @ 01/10/14 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingofATL


	So you telling me that the NFL is holding a ten year grudge over a $19.99 game??? I have a hard time believing that after all these years they won't give the rights to 2K Sports for something that happened 10 years ago. I think it has more to do with EA strongly having a hand in the process of blocking them. EA and the NFL have formed a strong bond over the years due to the popularity, money and fan base Madden has brought to the NFL. But it would make more business sense to just let 2K make a game, they would triple the profits. I don't think they would pass up money because of some stuff that happened ten years ago. Especially after the super large following that NBA 2K has right now. But if they don't let them make a game, then the NFL is truly dumber than I thought. If what you say is true that it's over the price of the game, then that problem is easily solved. We all know that the prices of new games are pretty much set at $65 now-a-days. So whatever happened 10 yrs ago has nothing to do with now. A lot of things were different then. It has to be more "under the table" stuff going on here we just don't know about, that is preventing this from happening. But hey, that's just my opinion....

That's how it started.
But right now, the NFL loves it's exclusive deal with EA. They're dealing with one of the top developers in the world, who's brand is highly visible.
I also believe the NFL is making more money with this exclusive deal than they would with opening it up to more companies.
On top of that, the NFL is very controlling with what it wants in it's games. So only having to deal with 1 company as opposed to 2 or 3 makes for less hassles.

I don't have all the answers and I'm not saying I'm 100% right about all of this, but I've read enough and been told by a few insiders (on both EA and 2K's side) that this exclusive deal is and was not EA's idea. It all came from the NFL.
EA didn't approach the NFL to squeeze out the competition. But when the NFL offered this, EA jumped at the chance, which any company would. 2K would have done the same.

As long as Madden keeps selling millions of copies this will never change. The NFL is making a boat-load of money off of this deal. So until this partnership becomes a financial burden on EA (like MLB was with 2K), don't expect anything to change anytime soon.

# 37 Money99 @ 01/10/14 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbman


	I looked it up on their website. Visual Concepts studio in Korea is hiring for a baseball game.

Weird. I wonder if they're going to make a game for the Japanese league?

# 38 DJ @ 01/10/14 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elgreazy1


	I'm in the same boat. I think this is the year I quit video games altogether.

I hear you, Greazy. You should look into getting a 3DS or Wii U. I picked up a 3DS a couple of months ago and it's been a breath of fresh air for me. I've also started to go back and play a lot of non-sports games on my 360 and PS3, so there's still plenty out there to keep you entertained.

The news from 2K wasn't surprising, but it was still crushing. While MLB The Show has been a system-seller for me (PSP, PS3, Vita), I still enjoyed what 2K brought to the table with its baseball offerings, and it was nice to have a baseball option on my 360.

NBA 2K/NBA Live
Madden
MLB The Show
NHL
UFC

That's all we have left for sports games on the PS4/Xbox One. That is very sad. We had it so good in the PSOne/PS2 days where you had 2-5 options for each sport.

I don't think sports games will ever completely go away as there's too much money for the leagues to make off their respective licenses, but, it surely looks like the days of having multiple games for each sport is over.

So, that leaves us gamers with some tough decisions. Either adapt and learn to like the one game that is being made for the sport you like, or find something else to play.

The Wii U is looking more and more appealing each day ...

# 39 m1ke_nyc @ 01/10/14 01:09 PM

I think EA will eventually bring back MVP Baseball. Maybe in a couple years. I would like to hope 2K is taking a few years off to rebuild the game from the ground up and reintroduce it. As far as the whole NFL 2K talk, I think we are still a long ways away from seeing another football game in town. EA and the NFL consider eachother one of their top partners. Besides the NFL is going exclusive in almost all aspects of its business to control its image. I just dont see them partnering with anyone besides EA for a football game.

# 40 Flaxseed Oil @ 01/12/14 08:35 PM

I probably played MLB 2K7 more than any baseball game ever. It was and still is my favorite. However, I don't think they would have ever gotten back to that level. I also think they need to sell the pitching mechanic code to Sony.

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