NBA 2K17 News Post

NBA and Take-Two Launching NBA 2K eLeague in 2018, Teams Operated By NBA Franchises

01:22 AM - February 9, 2017 by bostonchipster

As pictured in the image above, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, joins NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, at the league’s headquarters in New York, N.Y. on Wednesday, February 8th, 2017, as they announce plans to launch the NBA 2K eLeague, a new, professional competitive gaming league. NBA 2K eLeague will bring together the best basketball gamers in the world, and marks the first official eSports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league.

Read the official press release below. More details are scheduled to arrive later today.

NBA AND TAKE-TWO TO LAUNCH NBA 2K eLeague

First Official eSports League Operated by U.S. Professional Sports League Set for 2018 Debut

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced plans to launch the NBA 2K eLeague, a new, professional competitive gaming league that will bring together the best basketball gamers in the world. This marks the first official eSports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league.

Set to debut in 2018, this groundbreaking competitive gaming league will consist of teams operated by actual NBA franchises. The founding teams, each composed of five professional eSports players who will play the game as user-created avatars, will be announced in the coming months. The NBA 2K eLeague will follow a professional sports league format: competing head-to-head throughout a regular season, participating in a bracketed playoff system, and concluding with a championship matchup.

“We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop something truly special for our fans and the young and growing eSports community,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “We look forward to combining our best-in-class NBA sports team operators with Take-Two’s competitive gaming expertise to create a brand new league experience.”

“We are proud to expand our strong relationship with the NBA and co-create the NBA 2K eLeague,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “Through the NBA 2K series, which is renowned throughout the world for capturing the authenticity of the NBA and the passion of its fans, we have a proven track record of highly successful collaboration. With this new venture, Take-Two and the NBA aim to fuel the accelerating growth of eSports and take the thrill of competition to exciting new heights.”

The relationship between NBA and Take-Two dates back to 1999, with the NBA 2K series selling over 68 million units worldwide. The most recent release, NBA 2K17, is the highest-rated annual sports game of the current console generation and the highest-rated title in the history of the NBA 2K series.(1) To date, NBA 2K17 has sold-in nearly 7 million units, and is poised to become 2K’s highest-selling sports title ever.

In December, 2K launched its second official eSports competition, NBA 2K17 All-Star Tournament, which offers teams of gamers the chance to win a trip to NBA All-Star 2017. The 5-on-5 tournament, featuring a $250,000 grand prize, will culminate on Feb. 17 in New Orleans.

NBA 2K17 screenshot gallery - Click to view

Game: NBA 2K17Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 14 - View All

Member Comments

# 1 Jrocc23 @ 02/09/17 01:35 AM

This is nice as hell. I would love to do something like that but it seems it'll be almost impossible to get a spot.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 2 fakeassc @ 02/09/17 01:54 AM

Wow. No wonder 2K gave up on making gameplay fixes for 2K17. They're putting all their energy into next year's release, like they always 'supposedly' do; like how in 2016 they were putting in effort for a good 2K17 release right?

This is getting ridiculous if 2K promises, "Next year is our year, we'll do it better, we'll iron out all the recurring bugs and issues that people have with our game." So as consumers, we're expected to repeatedly buy the NEXT iteration of 2K's games without really seeing much major improvement over the years.

Admittedly, up until 2K16, it looked like 2K was really getting somewhere. Then 2K17, in my opinion, completely flopped, not in terms of sales, but in terms of player experience. It was a massive step backwards in gameplay.

I guess people, including me, are just going to buy 2K18 soon or on release date (I'm definitely going to wait for some initial opinions on OS). I'm expecting it to be amazing because 2K have the bravery to set up a full-time full-scale tournament.

I guess 2K really just wanted to disappoint us with 2K17 so we would set the bar lower for 2k18, and therefore be way happier with 2K18 if it even puts up a decent showing.

I highly doubt 2K has the bravery to put out an awful product and turn it into an esport. I can almost guarantee 2K18 will be better, but that's no praise. That's saying 2K neglected loyal consumers who continually return to this franchise (because it's the only one). That's saying 2K expects and knows that we, as consumers with no other choice to turn to, will inevitably purchase their annual product and that they can put out untested and unpolished games that will still turn a profit.

I just want 2K to put out another gameplay patch. We're still half a year from the next release, so put out another gameplay patch. But 2K probably won't since we'll all buy 2K18 anyway. 2K probably think, "Why use the extra manpower to fix a broken game? They'll come back next year like they always do, spending on microtransactions, etc."

I really hope 2K18 is better because I'll still buy it, albeit later. But please salvage what you can from 2K17 and release a big gameplay patch for the time being.

# 3 King_B_Mack @ 02/09/17 02:18 AM

Never been big on the online gaming scene and that kind of stuff but this is amazing. Cool stuff to think that NBA games weren't considered to ever be big sellers and just not a big market and here we are. The NBA is actually operating a basketball video game eleague. Insane

Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

# 4 EveretteWarren @ 02/09/17 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jrocc23


	This is nice as hell. I would love to do something like that but it seems it'll be almost impossible to get a spot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All YouTubers. *sigh*

But I'm hoping for the best!

# 5 Jrocc23 @ 02/09/17 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EveretteWarren


	All YouTubers. sigh But I'm hoping for the best!

You're right. Sucks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 6 OhNoTheBanHammer @ 02/09/17 03:35 AM

If it mirrors the NBA season and will debut in 2018 doesn't that mean this will drop with NBA 2K19?

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

# 7 jyoung @ 02/09/17 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yesh2k


	They also need to be careful to to overreach; it would be embarrassing if people are constantly getting kicked etc

4 of the 5 Pro Am tournament qualification events for 2K17 were marred by frequent in-game lag and lots of prematch/midmatch player disconnections.

Plus multiple players from multiple teams got lagged out of the Pro Am tournament games last weekend, even when $250,000 was on the line.

And 2K's in-game Streamcast feature was bugging out most of last weekend, making it difficult to watch the tournament games live.

The technology powering Pro Am still has a ton of improvement to make before it's ready for big-money esports.

2K has gotten away with a lot of technological blunders in Pro Am this year because no media outlets are covering the mode right now beyond reposting the occasional press releases that 2K sends their way.

If people like ESPN are going to cover this mode, though, and actually shine a spotlight on it when things go poorly (as has been the case many times this year), then 2K has a lot of technological refinement to do if they don't want this venture to blow up in a bad way.

# 8 Mintsa @ 02/09/17 08:21 AM

This is my "video game" goal of my life......LOL!

I need to find a way on that virtual raptors team, I'd honestly even ride the bench for sparse minutes.....LOL !

# 9 E The Rhymer @ 02/09/17 08:58 AM

I wanna be hyped but I can't see this working well. I guess I'm just having hard time getting past the letdowns we have already had. And I'm pretty sure even if this does work like someone else said it won't be for the average guy it's most likely a marketing ploy where all the players are gonna be streamers and YTrs

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 10 Steve_OS @ 02/09/17 09:08 AM

Just updated the OP w/ the full press release. More details are coming later today.

# 11 basehead617 @ 02/09/17 09:26 AM

I'm assuming these games will be in person on LAN so likely no server or network issues.

# 12 Breakstarter @ 02/09/17 09:50 AM

Holy crap...they sort of listened to me...heh hayyy

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...m-leagues.html

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ate-union.html

I called it man....I knew this was the direction they should have been going.

Now let's see how those servers work live on ESPN and the world watching.....

Nothing more embarrassing than playing 5 vs 5 online on a nationally televised game sponsored by the nba and getting an update required or even worse, folks not even making it into a game.

If 2k can actually get this right tho....

# 13 Man2ManD @ 02/09/17 10:32 AM

So basically a mix of Teamup and Pro Am? I just hope we get more freedom to pick what kind of player we want to be.

# 14 NYCDaFuture @ 02/09/17 10:55 AM

Idea is cool but no.. yall got the pro am stuff ok cool. You want a big tournament? Make it head to head. Let me depend on my own skills and play with my own team. Even if it's my team let me just be able to control all 5 players. U know how madden nation did it? even NBA Live had a big tournament where you relied on you own skills. Sick of how esports is representing 2k for tournaments to be honest. Before it was about who had the stick skills of your own team. This direction where Im usin my myplayer or teamup player is bad. Great idea but bad execution..

# 15 ksuttonjr76 @ 02/09/17 10:55 AM

Real question, and please don't take this as complaining. Is this REALLY a legit market for this? Personally, I don't watch esports shows, so I have no idea how popular it is overall. In my mind, I think eSports is just a passing fad, or do I need to do some actual research?

EDIT: Based on the complaints from other users (this year, I haven't dabbled in MyPark or ProAm), I can't see people being that interested in watching games where people are exploiting 3's and screens while playing "hectic" basketball.

# 16 ksuttonjr76 @ 02/09/17 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yesh2k


	I don't want to be a Debbie downer, but the introduction of competitive esports into this title has coincided with the downward trajectory of the game, as finding balance has become the main objective. Interested to hear peoples thoughts on how this move will affect those of us who aren't really interested in this.

Good question. I don't think it will impact us that much per se. The marketing of the game will CLEARLY change, but I think Wang and crew will continue to develop the best basketball game possible. I wouldn't be surprised if certain modes and features remain stagnant or get removed. They'll probably follow the COD model. Single player modes will still be there, but the MAIN focus will be the multiplayer aspect.

However, I can see Operation Sport becoming a very valuable feedback tool in tweaking the gameplay, so it doesn't become too arcadic. People like Wang and Czar will still look out for the "simheads", but upper management will push them to maintain their primary focus on the MyPlayer modes.

Welp, I better getting my feedback ready regarding the new shot stick mechanics. I'm pretty sure they'll want the feedback in order to keep the new league based on "stick skills".

# 17 JazzMan @ 02/09/17 11:14 AM

This could be awesome

However, as the game is currently constructed, there is no way this is going to work. The game isn't balanced at all. When everybody can shoot 60% or better from three, then you have issues with your game. If they make it truly sim, where a 40% shooter from three is VALUABLE and NOT a liability, then this could work.

But right now, there's no reason for teams to not go into Pro Am with anyone but playmakers and sharpshooters.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

# 18 jfsolo @ 02/09/17 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksuttonjr76


	Real question, and please don't take this as complaining. Is this REALLY a legit market for this? Personally, I don't watch esports shows, so I have no idea how popular it is overall. In my mind, I think eSports is just a passing fad, or do I need to do some actual research? EDIT: Based on the complaints from other users (this year, I haven't dabbled in MyPark or ProAm), I can't see people being that interested in watching games where people are exploiting 3's and screens while playing "hectic" basketball.

Yeah, there is a big market for this, and it's growing and growing. A large percentage of the people who play and watch these games, actually don't care about the rampant exploiting, sub par A.I. or any of the other gameplay flaws other than "wanting to make all wide open shots".

A lot have the mindset of, "It's a video game", so anything goes in trying to win. Of course 5 on 5 play will mask many of the A.I. flaws, and given how the game keeps growing sales wise, most seem not to really care about the nonsensical basketball play styles.

For the first time in the history of the series, I'm not optimistic about the gameplay/A.I. in the upcoming game.

# 19 ksuttonjr76 @ 02/09/17 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfsolo


	Yeah, there is a big market for this, and it's growing and growing. A large percentage of the people who play and watch these games, actually don't care about the rampant exploiting, sub par A.I. or any of the other gameplay flaws other than "wanting to make all wide open shots". A lot have the mindset of, "It's a video game", so anything goes in trying to win. Of course 5 on 5 play will mask many of the A.I. flaws, and given how the game keeps growing sales wise, most seem not to really care about the nonsensical basketball play styles. For the first time in the history of the series, I'm not optimistic about the gameplay/A.I. in the upcoming game.

I must be getting old. I just remembered that one of the major cable companies (TNT?) had announced an eSports show. I guess I can't wrap my head around watching other people play a game.

To be fair, back when Video Arcades were common, I used to watch other people play Street Fighter and Mortal Combat for hours. Times are changing, and I guess I'm acting like a stubborn old man, lol.

# 20 Korrupted @ 02/09/17 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EveretteWarren


	All YouTubers. sigh But I'm hoping for the best!

Nah. It's so many legit players in the pro-am community it won't be that easy for youtubers. Good ole Scott Gallagher knows this.

« Previous12 3 4 5 Next »

More Links

NBA and Take-Two Launching NBA 2K eLeague in 2018, Teams Operated By NBA Franchises