Lebron James featured in marketing for a special edition of NBA 2K19. — AFP Relaxnews
In advance of this September's anticipated release of a new NBA 2K basketball sim, its immediate predecessor, NBA 2K19, has been deeply discounted, but players have been looking for ways to turn off the unskippable ads they did not expect to have to watch.
If a video game is on sale at a 95% discount, is it OK to show players video advertisements while they wait for matches to begin?
Mid-June sales saw the latest edition of a popular basketball franchise reduced to under US$3 (RM12.43) on multiple download stores, including some or all of those for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam-connected PCs.
NBA 2K19 was greeted by good reviews upon release although, like its immediate predecessors, was chided for aggressive use of microtransactions.
Franchise fans knew what to expect but the practice caught new players unaware, resulting in a strongly worded pushback from posters (and upvoters) on the game's Reddit community.
Community members have been advising each other to enter the game's settings and turn off a 2KTV option, instead watching videos intentionally if they want to accumulate extra amounts of virtual currency.
Others sought to establish whether the uptick in ads was an intentional change made by publisher 2K Sports.
Video game publishers have been under scrutiny over the past week as the UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee questioned a number of games industry executives over current money-making practises.
A representative from Electronic Arts, well known for the FIFA Soccer and Madden NFL series, as well as Star Wars Battlefront II, suggested that blind-box virtual items should be compared to Kinder Eggs or Hatchimals, children's toys with a surprise element, rather than be considered a form of gambling, despite the ease with which virtual loot boxes can be purchased and opened.
Similarly, a representative for Epic Games, maker of mobile, console and computer blockbuster Fortnite, argued that their game was better defined as a fun, engaging and generous form of entertainment rather than a manipulative profit exercise. – AFP Relaxnews
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