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NBA 2K21 now comes with unskippable adverts despite being a $60 AAA game

NBA 2K21

2K Games are no stranger to forcing unethical monetization down its consumers’ throats. Be it placing a free to play business model in a AAA game or the classic use of loot boxes, 2K has done it all. But today’s finding of what gamers have come across in NBA 2K21 might just top it all.

When loading into a game on NBA 2K21 there’s a chance that, instead of the usual 2K TV showing, you’ll be forced to watch an advert. I say forced because there’s no way to skip regardless of how fast your game loads. This was most notably highlighted by PC players who’s would reach 100% loading very quickly but not be given an option to proceed.

This isn’t the first time

NBA 2K21 microtransactionsNeedless to say, forcing your consumers to watch an advert on a product they paid for is bad enough. What’s worse though is that NBA 2K21 isn’t even 2K Games’ first offence.

Back on NBA 2K19 the publisher put the game on a 95% sale but then proceeded to run several unskippable adverts. Presumably, the intention was to increase the cost of the ad space by building a player base up quickly.

As many industry experts have noted, the main reason for this behaviour is likely a lack of competition. Ever since Electronic Arts’ NBA Live franchise fell apart NBA 2K has gotten worse every year. Arguably, NBA 2K21 is the most anti-consumer entry of the franchise yet.

It sparks an interesting discussion as to what we should expect for the upcoming next-gen version. Even though we only have NBA 2K21 on console right now, the Xbox Series X and PS5 versions are right around the corner. Given the new consoles’ advanced hard drives will effectively eliminate loading times, it’ll be interesting to see if 2K does this again.

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