As announced by 2K Games and the National Football League (NFL), the companies are reviving their collaboration for the first time since 2004. The result of the partnership: From 2021 onwards, non-simulation football video games are to be published, several at the same time. 

Electronic Arts faces competition: From 2021, 2K Games will again publish football video games with the official NFL license. The National Football League (NFL) and 2K today announced a multi-year partnership. While EA Sports is the exclusive publisher for simulation football games - the company also announced that it will leave its partnership with the NFL intact - 2K will specialize in the opposite and develop non-simulation games.

More NFL video games are coming - but more accessible ones

2K Games will not bring a new Madden-like football video game onto the market, that is currently reserved for EA Sports. Given the high quality level of the Madden series, it would be difficult to actually compete with Electronic Arts anyway, because EA does not weaken with these franchise games. Instead, 2K Games wants to focus on titles with easily accessible gaming fun, which among other things focus on “social experiences”. The games are non-simulation football games.

Despite the new partnership between 2K and the NFL: EA Sports remains true to the simulation series. Image rights: EA

Despite the new partnership between 2K and the NFL: EA Sports remains true to the simulation series. Image rights: EA

The titles, developers and release dates of the games will be announced at a later date. However, 2K confirmed that the projects are in the early development phase and should appear from the calendar year 2021, i.e. in the course of the financial year 2022 of parent company Take Two.

As an international developer and publisher of interactive entertainment based in Novato, California, 2K previously published an NFL-licensed video game series from 1999 to 2004 under the company's own label “2K Sports”. Six main games and a spin-off came on the market, the ratings were mostly positive at the time.

The NFL is one of the most successful sports brands in the world and is known for bringing incredible entertainment experiences to their fans. We're excited to be working with the NFL again to create multiple video games designed for easily accessible gaming fun and social experiences. Bringing 2K's experience in creating award-winning sports games together with the NFL's reputation as a world-class entertainment and sports organization is an exciting project.
David Ismailer, President of 2K
Other games published by 2K are the NBA video game simulation series NBA 2K as well as WWE 2K and The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR, but also action games such as Borderlands, BioShock, Mafia, Sid Meier's Civilization and XCOM.
 “Expanding the NFL presence in the gaming world is the focus of the league in order to reach the next generation of our fan base. The revitalization of our partnership with 2K is an obvious step in this process, ”said Joe Ruggiero, Vice President of Consumer Products at the NFL. 2K Games is a global leader in sports video games and has a track record of “first-class, award-winning titles”. More details about the partnership will be published soon, says Ruggiero.
Today's announcement of its partnership with the NFL was preceded by several other growth announcements from the publisher and its development studios. "It's an exciting time for 2K and our fans," emphasizes Ismailer.
Not least because the new cooperation is intended to expand the range of sports on offer. The other sports series would also continue to be supported in the future. “All of this with the aim of providing our fans with even more fantastic games and entertainment experiences in the years to come,” said 2K President David Ismailer.

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