By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Basketball can’t be contained in the borders of the courts and gamers know this. After the official announcement of the Euroleague mode of NBA 2K14, Eurohoops had to get in contact with 2K Sports and learn a little bit more about the game. Jason Argent, senior vice president of operations at 2K Sports, answered our question and here’s what he had to say, specially about the rosters of the Euroleague teams and the stats of the players.
– The 2K series is the biggest basketball brand in gaming. That’s why you expanded after the FIBA championships to the Euroleague? How did you decided to include for the first time European clubs in your game?
“Yes, the NBA 2K series has been the top-ranked, best-selling NBA simulation game for 12 consecutive years, and a large part of that continued success has been the expanding global popularity of the brand, particularly in Europe. We’re committed to growing our fan base internationally, and we see the introduction of Euroleague teams into NBA 2K14 as a big step in that direction”.
– The fact that there is a vivid mod community in Europe, making “adjustments” to your games every year in order to recreate virtual Euroleague games contributed also to your decision?
“The decision to include Euroleague in NBA 2K14 was driven by the popularity of global basketball, and our effort to recreate that with the addition of these teams in our game”.
– The Euroleague version of the game will be published only in European editions of the game, or it will be a standard feature internationally?
“Euroleague teams will be included as standard in all PC and console versions of NBA 2K14 globally (PlayStation 3; PlayStation 4; Xbox One; Xbox 360 and PC)”.
– Will you able to track the stats of the players and their tendencies during the season like you do in the NBA? Also, you are using a Euroleague line up of clubs for the 2012-13 season. We guess the rosters will be updated for the start of the 2013-14 season?
“The Euroleague rosters in NBA 2K14 on the day of release will be accurate as of the end of the 2012-13 season, however we will make every effort to update rosters during the upcoming season with regard to player movement”.
– Do you have the temptation of adding some extra notorious moves in the Euroleague mode, like flopping or the Eurostep?
“All gameplay actions in the Euroleague will accurately reflect basketball moves found in the NBA 2K series”.
– Was it a difficult job to get all the correct data in order to produce virtually the difference of ability and skills level between NBA and Euroleague teams?
“2K has been working very closely with Euroleague Basketball to ensure the stats for Euroleague teams and players in NBA 2K14 are properly balanced and as true to life as possible, just as we do with NBA teams”.
– Is the Euroleague mode going to be a standard in future NBA 2K games, or can this year’s edition be the first step even towards a Euroleague 2K series?
“We’re not discussing future plans at this stage, but we have a multi-year agreement with Euroleague Basketball, and you’ll need to stick with us for future announcements”.