The NBA 2K franchise has been the subject of criticism for several years now, as their popular MyCareer mode is constantly pushing players to open up their wallets in order to purchase more of the game’s virtual currency. Basically, everything you could ever want in the world of NBA 2K costs something. In fact, prior to the most recent release, it would cost an absurd amount of VC just to get a different hairstyle.
But, while 2K Games has thankfully, at the very least, made if free to change up a characters’ hairstyle, they’ve instituted something that’s perhaps even more polarizing, which is adding unskippable commercials to their loading screens.
Prior to playing a game in any of NBA 2K19’s various modes, players will be hit with a paid advertisement while waiting for their game to load. What’s worse than that is that users will be unable to do anything during the commercial, even if the game has fully loaded. In fact, there have been times where a game is 100% done long before the commercial has concluded, but you’ll be forced to watch the rest of the ad before you can proceed to the game.
The paid advertisements were added very recently, and they haven’t been a welcomed addition, to say the least.
In recent years, each installment of the NBA 2K franchise has released in early-September, with the most recent game being released on September 7 of last year. Moreover, the studio usually releases a MyCareer prelude a week prior to the main game’s release, which has traditionally been free.
So, it won’t be long until 2K Games starts pushing the upcoming NBA 2K20, which will likely be released immediately following the end of the summer.
As of this writing, it’s unclear if 2K will go ahead with the paid advertisements in the next installment of their NBA series. Perhaps adding them in the final months of NBA 2K19 was a bit of an experiment, and by the time 2K20 drops, they’ll have a better idea of how to properly integrate these ads into their game without annoying their fanbase.
Also, 2K hasn’t yet revealed who the cover star for 2K20’s game will be. The cover star for the Legend Edition of the upcoming NBA game was reportedly leaked last month, as it looks like former Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will be on the cover.
As for the standard edition, it’s very possible that the cover star will be league MVP and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
