The idea of paying $69.99 for an annual sports game seems excessive enough, but can you imagine if it had advertisements that you were forced to watch? Sadly, that is shaping up to be a reality for NBA 2K fans who are jumping into the next generation of consoles.
According to various posts on social media (via NeoGAF), 2K Games has reintroduced – yes, it’s happened before – “unskippable” (loading screen) ads into its premier basketball franchise. A video shared by Okami13_ (via Stevivor) shows a commercial for the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset before a match, while others have sounded off on advertisements that are political in nature.
“So I’m playing #NBA2K21 and a political ad comes on in game,” tweeted one user. “Not only has politics entered the #nba its in video games. It’s supposed to be a release from reality, and I don’t give a Fawk what side you believe. You’re paid to entertain me. Do your job and that’s it.”
“Seeing ads in triple AAA, full price games ($60+) is f*cking disgusting,” ranted another. “F*ck you @NBA2K.”
We’re guessing that these advertisements will also plague the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of NBA 2K1, which is particularly disappointing due to the $10 pricing premium that 2K Games has placed on its next-gen titles.
Now, if only people would vote with their wallets.
Looks like unskippable ads are back in NBA 2K21.
— Okami (@Okami13_) October 18, 2020
This ad for Oculus Quest 2 shows up when you're loading into a game.
$70 game btw. pic.twitter.com/EjrEs7qbXV