Much like the NBA, the NFL used to shop around a bit more when it came to video game licensing. NBA rivals EA and 2K Games used to have competing football series, but eventually EA dropped the dosh for exclusivity. Now, after years of EA’s lordship over the NFL brand, 2K Games is once again back in the saddle. Well, sort of.
Via press release, 2K Games and the NFL announced that they’re back in business with each other with a brand new partnership. Most notably, this partnership is for “non-simulation” games, so something that directly competes with the Madden series won’t be coming from 2K. Considering the rest of 2K’s sports offerings are in that territory (except for NBA Playgrounds, which was acquired after it was already in development elsewhere), it’ll be interesting to see what 2K has cooking for multiple software products.
While neither party revealed the financial aspects of the deal, it was announced that this is a multi-year partnership with multiple titles involved. No names, developers, or release dates were part of the release, but it was confirmed the games are in early development now, and planned to begin launching in 2021.
EA released a statement in response, asserting its rights to official NFL simulation games, as well as pointing out that the agreement between it and the NFL was always open for other licensed, non-simulation titles from other companies.
Source: Press Releases