Jan 30, 2018
The Video Game We All Want
Disclaimer: If you work for a video game company, please keep reading. I am writing it down here- I will not care if you take this idea and run with it. I will not try to seek payment, damages, or any sort of compensation if you develop and launch this game. I would like it if you threw me a few bucks and a free copy of the game, but I don’t even care if you do that. My name somewhere in the credits would be nice, because even though nobody watches those, it would be nice to throw on the old resumé. But seriously, I am putting this idea out into the world in hopes that some company will take the idea and run with it. So go ahead and keep reading. This one’s on me!
Let me start with an admission: I am not a “gamer”. Don’t get me wrong, I love to play video games. I buy Madden and NBA 2K every year. I buy most of the Call of Duty games (with the exception of those based in space- I know I’m not the only one) and I really hope there are more Grand Theft Auto games in the future (please give me a fake Chicago). But I am by no means a “gamer”.
I don’t play games against other people on-line. I would play on-line with my friends, but most of them don’t play video games and I don’t really want to play against some eleven year-old that’s going to beat the crap out of me in Madden and then start talking about my mother. I came up in the 90s, which means I’ll figure out where you live and show up at your house (just kidding…sort of). Put that on Worldstar, kid. And yes, I just threatened an eleven-year old.
I also don’t spend money on games once I’ve actually purchased them. That means if you are a video game company, you can count on me for $50–65 each time you release a game, but I’m not going to then spend $200 (99 cents at a time) on “micro-transactions”. If I’m going to have an imagined life of athletic or military achievement, I’m going to earn it the hard way, dammit. Plus, I’m an adult so I have better things to spend my money on, like alcohol. Or my newborn son’s diapers. Not in that order…always.
When video game companies see me, I’m sure I resemble a fossil, a worthless one at that. To frame it with marketing buzzwords, my “lifetime customer value” is not impressive, as I have far fewer gamelpay years remaining than your average twelve-year old and my “willingness to pay” is lower than that of some brat whose mom gave him her credit card number to shut him up. I’m wise enough that you aren’t going to sucker me into a pair of imaginary Nikes when there are real Nikes in my shopping cart.
And, admittedly, I’m also not particularly good at most games. I’d guess I’m better than most people my age or near it, but that’s really not saying much. Yes, I am that guy that plays against the console, and typically not on the hardest level. I usually have the difficulty set to the middle level. Usually. Every now and then I get cocky and turn the difficulty up before inevitably turning it back down after my next game. I want a challenge…but I want to finish the mission on COD within an hour. And I want to amass some pretty sick stats in any and all sports games.
So that’s how I’ll open this up. With an admission that I am not a “gamer”.
So now I’ll proceed to tell the video game companies what game they should develop next (other than college football, because no game in the world should be a focus before a college football game is reintroduced). That’s not exactly how a marketing professor would tell you to open a pitch, but oh well. Here goes.
Sports games, like Madden and NBA 2K, allow you to live out the sports fantasies you would never be able to in real life. In its most recent release, 2K’s makers even provided opportunities for gamers to supplement their on-court lives with off-court aspects. The game allows you to play arcade games (even do some gambling!), record music, get haircuts, shop for sneakers and gear, and even choose which products to endorse. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow you to choose your friends, however, because if it did, I would have kicked that annoying B-Fresh girl to the curb within two seconds of meeting her. Truth be told, since this isn’t real life anyway, my preference would be to throw her out the window of my penthouse apartment.
Which brings me to another type of game, which I guess they call “action-adventure” (though I think some would call them “fantasy” games). Exhibit A: Grand Theft Auto. Rest assured, the makers of the GTA games would have provided me the option to throw B-Fresh out of my window or kill her in any number of ways (any would suffice and bring me great pleasure). Please note, this is not an endorsement of violence, particularly of violence against women, but play 2K18 and I guarantee you will walk away with the same desire to eliminate B-Fresh from the game through whatever means available (come to think of it, that might be the one thing I would pay money within the game for…food for thought 2K makers).
GTA and similar games allow you to engage in all kinds of illegal activity without any repercussions or consequences. In the most recent version of the game, the makers of the GTA series seemed to have concluded that one criminal character is no longer enough to satisfy the depraved fantasies of players, so they developed three characters for players to switch between. You could be one guy if you wanted to cook meth in the desert, another if you wanted to be a “sophisticated”, middle-aged, mafia-type gangster, and yet another if you wanted to be a thug from what we all know was Compton or Watts. And IT. WAS. AWESOME. (Yes, I qualify as one of those players with depraved fantasies…shrug).
Like many of my friends, I always wanted to be a professional athlete. Like just as many of my friends (maybe more if I’m being honest), I also fantasized about being a gangster. None of my friends have professional sports careers. (Sometimes, it’s what you don’t say that speaks loudest).
What appealed to me about being a professional athlete? Of course I think it would be cool to be one of the best in the world at something and to be paid to do something I love…but there was more to it than that. I also wanted the lifestyle. I wanted Jordan’s jewelry (rings- get it?), but I wanted Iverson’s just as much. Maybe more. I wanted the cars. The dope ass mansions. The VIP treatment at the club. The hordes of fans. And groupies. Yeah, I wanted the groupies.
And maybe throw in a pet tiger while I’m at it.
And that’s where NBA 2K comes up short. 2K allows me the opportunity to live out my on-court fantasies, but it ends there. What I wanted just as badly as the lifestyle of the athlete…
…was that of the gangster (well, the successful ones- the ones that don’t die but get chubby and move to Miami [credit: Jay-to-the-muah]).
You see, growing up I watched NBA games and NFL games, but in between them, I watched Scarface, King of New York, Paid in Full, Menace II Society, and plenty of other movies that depicted the gangster lifestyle.
And that’s where Grand Theft Auto picks up- where 2K leaves off.
So it occurred to me, why not combine NBA 2K18 and Grand Theft Auto, and give everyone the game they REALLY want.
When my player isn’t on the court (or the field), I don’t want to go get a haircut and record music as much as I want to use my hard-earned money to flip birds and build a cocaine empire to rival that of Escobar. It’s fucked up, I know, but trust me- it’s not just me. I want to be equal parts Lebron James and Delonte West (maybe a poor choice given the history…guessing Maverick Carter won’t be calling me about a video game venture anytime soon). Wininng Finals MVP one day and being chased by the cops on a three wheel bike with a shotty in a guitar case strapped on my back the next day (look it up…).
I want to be Russ Westbrook meets Pusha T. Steph Curry on the court and Young Jeezy in these streets. Kevin Durant in the arena and Too Short on the boulevard. I want to play by Michael Jordan’s “Jordan Rules” and institute El Chapo’s “Cartel Rules”.
That’s the life I would want to live if I could live my fantasy life. Biggie said you need to slang crack rock or have a wicked jump shot, but with all due respect, I want both…and to maybe do a little pimping and commit the occasional armed robbery on the side.
And so, for shits and giggles, I looked into how much it would cost to make an immersive video game on par with Call of Duty, GTA, Madden, or 2K. A quick Google search told me what I figured already- I wouldn’t be financing the development of this game by myself. Everything I found on-line estimated that games like this cost at least $50 million to develop. All in, with marketing and other costs, this number could soar to $200 million. And that’s to make a game like COD or GTA, not for the sports games. There’s another cost that goes into those, and that’s licensing costs (player and team names, etc.). Those aren’t cheap…and I probably have to give up back-end economics? Damn!
But I was intrigued, and I tend to like business problems, so I started to think through the different aspects of the game. Maybe it could be done…but I would need to think through a few things.
- Problem 1: I’m pretty sure this game would be Roger Goodell’s worst nightmare. The only things that could make it worse for him would be if we made Colin Kaepernick the cover athlete and marketed the game with the punchline “Won’t cause CTE”. That leaves Adam Silver as the other option to deal with. He seems pretty progressive, what with endorsements on uniforms and a proposal to legalize gambling on NBA games, but still, I think he would draw the line at cutting off people’s hands over gambling debts and setting up the Carter next door to the Staples Center. So it’s safe to conclude that neither the NFL nor NBA would want to be associated with this game in any way, shape, or form. I guess that’s understandable. Well, my mom taught me to always look for a silver lining, and I see one here. If the leagues don’t want to license anything to us, we don’t have to pay them expensive licensing fees. Problem solved. The solution is to not use real players and teams. And our margins just improved significantly. Ask the makers of Madden if they liked having the NFL weigh in on all the cool details they had in the game. Remember that ambulance that used to drive onto the field when a player was injured to pick him up (driving over the other 21 players on the field in the process…)? The NFL made Madden remove that! (And there’s more changes the league forced, as Sports Illustrated revealed wiht this article: https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2014/03/12/ea-sports-madden-features-nfl-remove). My developers are going to have a field day- no handcuffs team!
- Problem 2: In many cases, when solutions are found, they lead to new problems, and that is the case here. You see, a lot of kids want to play games with their favorite teams and players in them, and the fact we won’t be partnering with the leagues will prevent us from offering this opportunity to gamers. Well, that’s okay, you see, because gamers will still be able to buy 2K and Madden; that won’t preclude them from buying this game as well. Most kids buy multiple games, so there’s always room for a game that offers a different experience or meets an unmet need. The key is to make sure we provide an experience that is different from any other game and that the gameplay is of the highest quality. That means the on-court gameplay will have to rival 2K or Madden and the “action-adventure” gameplay will have to be on par with GTA or even COD. It also means you need to nail the details- so no crappy uniform designs. And by the way, I’m going to let you choose the fit on the uniforms. You want the snug uniforms that guys are leaning toward these days? Fine. Me, I’m going with the baggy fit from the 90s. And I’m not talking about slightly baggy like the Fab Five rocked; I’m going full-on Nolan Richardson Arkansas baggy. And 1 mixtape baggy.
- Problem 3: All the professional athletes from the NBA and NFL work with the makers of 2K and Madden on motion capture in order to deliver the best possible gameplay and most realistic animations. This is an easy one to address. Keep in mind there are plenty of college athletes that won’t make it to the pros each year. When they finish school, we’ll have a bunch of them come and spend a few days with us, allowing us to capture their almost-elite movements. I’m sure you will find plenty that will gladly accept the paycheck and look forward to seeing themselves in a video game (since that fucker Ed O’Bannon effectively ruined any chance most college athletes had of realizing that dream- and that is coming from a UCLA alum). You can argue they aren’t the movements of real professionals, but the difference is incremental. Trust me, nobody will mind.
In summary, I don’t see why such a game can’t be successful just because the NFL or NBA doesn’t want to be associated with it. And the benefits are great: much improved margins and much greater freedom to develop the game.
So what would this game look like? I’m glad you asked, because I have given it quite a bit of thought. Are you surprised?
We agreed that we need to have good sports gameplay. If the gameplay sucks, gamers won’t be likely to buy our game. I am a big believer that quality products win out in the end, and if you try to short-change your consumers, you end up short-changing yourself. We will bring in former college athletes to privide us with the animations, so I don’t see what would prevent the game from having great gameplay. Let’s assume the gameplay is sufficient.
Next, we need to put the gamer into the game. Not all aspects of the character experience can be completely customized and unique to each gamer, but many aspects can. And here’s what that could look like (for the basketball version of our game).
When you start the game, you will of course customize your gameplay experience. This is a pretty standard process. You choose your difficulty level, how many teams there will be in your league, etc. For this game, here are the options I would propose:
- League type: “International” or “Unites States/Canada”
- Number of teams in league: “16” (four divisions, each of four teams with eight teams in the play-offs) or “30” (six divisions, each of five teams with sixteen teams in the play-offs)
- Number of games in season: “32", “48”, “64” or “82”
- Hometown: That’s right. You get to choose where you are from. And yes, it will (minimally) affect your storyline. For instance, if you are from New York, characters may make references to New York when speaking with you. And when you play games in your hometown, maybe you’ll run into some old friends.
Next, you would go through the typical steps of customizing your character’s physical attributes. NBA 2K allows you to scan your own face in. I would love to offer that feature and then let gamers choose things like height, weight, skin tone, jersey number, dominant hand, etc. All the typical stuff. NBA 2K is really the gold standard for this. I’ll throw in some of the uniform stuff here (shooting sleeve, headband, etc.) as well as how you want your uniform to fit.
As is almost always the case with sports games, you will have to make some choices about your strengths as a player. Are you an outside shooter? A great dunker? Great rebounder? You’ll have points to allocate across categories such as stamina, vertical jump, mid-range shooting, etc. Pretty standard stuff here. We don’t want everyone creating a perfect player on day one, and I think the pot of points for the gamer to allocate addresses this.
This is where it gets more interesting. Your next task is to select your playing style, and you have four options: Flashy, Fundamental, Clutch, or Bruiser. Your selection will determine your attribute ratings across nine categories: Turnovers, Gambling, Trick Moves, Clutch Play, Streakiness, Volatility, Trash Talk, Fan Likeability, and Teammate Likeability.
For example, let’s say you choose the “Flashy” playing style. That has implications. A flashy player has a high probability of turning the ball over, so his passing rating decreases by 5%. But he is more likely to pull off flashy, trick moves. What’s the benefit of that? Well, fan likeability also increases. When he pulls off a flashy move, the crowd gets pumped up and more engaged in the game. There are other implications- his gambling is high (since he is looking to make big plays), which decreases his defensive score (since he is always going for big blocks and/or steals). His streakiness score also increases, as flashy players tend to get either very hot or very cold. His teammate likeability score isn’t all that high (that flashy fucker gets ALL the girls) and his trash talk score is high. Oh, did I mention that trash talking is part of this game? More on that later. A flashy player has a moderately high clutch rating, which means his attribute ratings all increase by 3% in the final two minutes of games. And finally, there is his volatility score, which is moderately high. This makes him more likley to get technical fouls or get in fights- yes, we have on-court fights as well.
I have created a spreadsheet that shows the multiplier, for each of the nine categories (and what measures are included in each), for each of the four playing styles.
So you’ve chosen your playing style and accepted the implications of your choice. Now you have to choose your storyline, and again, you have four options: Superstar, Gym Rat, Tycoon, or Thug. Each choice has implications for your character- his positive and troubling attributes, as well as his “special” attributes:
- Superstar: Charming and dynamic with the media, women, fans; natural talent; natural product endorser; confident BUT can be taken advantage of by others (or maybe blackmailed); enjoys partying too much (maybe drinking and drugs to go wth the women); can be arrogant; finds himself in compromising positions; can be distracted by “non-basketball” shit. The Superstar has the highest peak playing level and upside. (Think: Iverson)
- Gym Rat: Hard worker; surrounds himself with good people; solid all-around player; focus eliminates distractions from upending his career; often underestimated; loved by coaches and organization BUT shy and uncomfortable with media and endorsements; poor business sense (though he saves money); skeptical of outsiders, even those that may be good for him; doesn’t always get love from other players. The Gym Rat has the longest career potential and the lowest risk of injury. (Think: Kawhi)
- Thug: Very talented, with a natural ability; highly aggressive and competitive; tough, with a compelling personality; physically gifted; can’t be intimidated BUT many negative influences around him; tends to engage in the mpst illegal off-court endeavors; very distracted; volatile; does not get approached with many endorsements; targeted by the media; potential to bring negative attention to the organization, whch can decrease his value to the organization. The Thug has the highest intimidation and toughness level and is well-respected by his teammates. (Think: Artest, maybe?)
- Tycoon: Very intelligent and talented; endorsement-friendly; great business sense; surtrounded by smart people; always says the “right” thing; has many opportunities outside of basketball; very driven BUT often focused on non-basketball opportunities; seen by many of his peers and fans as insincere or not genuine; too “fabricated”; not loyal; superficial. The Tycoon has the highest career earnings potential and great negotiating abilities. (Think: Lebron, I guess)
Once these choices have been made, all that’s left to do before you get started is to choose your team. The teams come from a variety of cities. Obviously, if you chose a North American League, all the teams are from Canada and the U.S. If you chose an international league, there would be up to eight additional teams from outside North America. The North American teams are primarily from cities that don’t have NBA teams currently, though there are some major cities in the game that do. Here are the teams:
- St. Louis Arch
- Baton Rouge Jesters
- Miami Nights
- Chicago Brawn
- Atlanta Junction
- Pittsburgh Ironmen
- San Diego Wave
- New York City Skyline
- Los Angeles Spotlights
- Jacksonville Comets
- Scottsdale Scorchers
- San Jose Stallions
- Austin Riders
- Oakland Panthers
- Nashville Notes
- Seattle Haze
- Baltimore Bullets
- Las Vegas Luck
- Vancouver Lightning
- Montreal Lions
- Raleigh-Durham Triangle
- Beijing (China) Dragons
- Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Stampede
- Belgrade (Serbia) Sidewinders
- Abuja (Nigeria) Eagles
- Tokyo (Japan) Cranes
- Sydney (Australia) Boomerangs
- Barcelona (Spain) Matadors
- San Juan (Puerto Rico) Gulls
Most of the team names (and colors, mascots, and uniforms) relate to the cities in some way. They have been chosen based on quire a bit of research and thought. For instance, the Raleigh-Durham area is known as the “Research Triangle”. Nashville is known for its thriving music scene, thus the notes. Seattle for a haze of fog (or is that weed smoke?). Oakland was the birthplace of the Black Panther Party. And on and on. Don’t test me.
As for the uniforms- well, I am not a graphic designer and I’m certainly no wiz on Adobe Illustrator, but I started to work on some uniforms for some of the teams and I have ideas for the rest. Team colors have been selected and key elements for the uniforms have been selected as well. For instance, Baton Rouge is known to have the nickname “Red Stick”, so the uniforms and the court incorporate a red bar. St. Louis, obviously known for the Arch, incorporates the Arch into the uniforms and court.
When you pick your team, you aren’t just picking your uniform and favorite city, however. You are also picking the owner and locals you will be dealing with. If you choose to play in St. Louis, you just may run into Nelly (I think he’s free right now and don’t see why he wouldn’t jump in on this). Maybe if you choose to play for the Miami Nights, you will deal with Rick Ross sitting courtside. Maybe you’ll have more opportunities to get into the coke game in Miami. Or gambling and prostitution if you choose Vegas. Maybe in Miami and Vegas you will have more nightlife opportunities, but more endorsement opportunities in NYC or LA. And if you’re in Austin, maybe you’ll be tempted by some UT co-eds. Hook ’em Horns! Each city will offer you an assortment of paths to pursue in your off-court life, though your storyline choice will narrow them to some degree.
And now, your story begins. The game will kick off with a short background movie reel. A little behind-the-scenes look at your life and athletic career leading up to this point- a week before draft night. You’ll learn a bit about your family, your socio-economic background, your college career, and your friends and influences. Don’t worry, Spike Lee will have nothing to do with any of this, so you won’t have some outdated, stereotypical, cliche backstory. You also won’t have the awkward situation of being a white player with a twin sister and parents who are Black, as was the case with NBA 2K16. It was really so bad, and your mom REALLY looked like a crackhead in that game.
So now you know what you’re dealing with and you take care of a few things (picking an agent, dealing with some storyline-specific drama, etc.) before draft night. Then, you get drafted and get going.
Of course, there will be games to play, and you will earn points that can be used to improve your player based on your performance in those games. There will be practices, but we will take the Madden approach to those, not the NBA 2K approach. That means once you have completed a practice session related to a specific skill, you can choose to simulate that practice in the future and get the same performance bonus as if you participated in the practice. Because, really, who likes all the practice crap in 2K?
In between games, you’ll have choices to make. You can chill if you want and just skip ahead to your next game, but where’s the fun in that? Other options could include: hook up with groupies (watch out for unwanted pregnancies!), go to the club, pursue an endorsement, hang out and record with a rapper, start a drug empire, kill someone (for a reason or just because you feel like it), throw a party on a boat, or maybe pull a bank heist. The options presented to you will be determined by which storyline you chose. Maybe you chose to be a Tycoon and you’ll have the option of buying cars and homes before long. Or maybe you chose to be a Superstar and you have to choose which nightclub to pull up to (and which girls(s) to bring home each night). Maybe you chose to be a Thug and you’ll have to choose whether or not to ride with your boys on that drive-by they’re plotting. Or maybe you have chosen to be a Gym Rat, in which case I guess you could go to the gym and then hit the weight room…but maybe you’ll meet a nice girl at the protein shake bar at the gym (you never know!).
As the game proceeds, your player will be evaluated on the progress he makes toward achiving his two primary objectives, which are unique for each storyline, as indicated below:
- Superstar: On-court Respect Level and Celebrity Status
- Tycoon: On-court Respect Level and Tycoon Status
- Thug: On-court Respect Level and Street Credibility
- Gym Rat: On-court Respect Level and Organizational Status
Players will also be evaluated on an ongoing basis based on the following categories:
- Teammate Appreciation
- Organization/Coach Appreciation
- Fan Base
- Career Earnings (Endorsements, Contracts, Off-Court Endeavors, etc.)
- Progress toward the “Walk if Legends” (a variation of the Hall of Fame)
Back to the trash talk. To date, no game really lets you talk trash on the court. This one will. You can choose from a long list of phrases to customize your trash talk arsenal. If your playing style is “Fundamental”, your arsenal will be limited. Maybe you yell “Cookies” when you get a steal. But if your playing style is “Flashy”, best believe you will have a list of catch-phrases as long as a grocery list…and you will talk A LOT of shit.
And another thing- as you earn money in this game, you can spend it. Not on little shit like sneakers (though you can) but on houses, boats, cars, and clubs. You can cop a Bentley in you want, or go for something a little flashier like a new Lambo. You want a house in Malibu? Cool, so go ahead and design it. Hot tub and helicopter pad on the roof? If you’ve got the cash, we can build it. Want to blow $10k in Vegas playing Blackjack, buying the super magnum bottle of Ace of Spades, or maybe just on ammunition for a bazooka at the shooting range? Step right up. We will have it all.
And finally, as a side note, let’s not forget that the soundtrack for this game will be unbelievable.
All this is good and nice, of course, but people come up with ideas for video games all the time. I learned this when I asked my friend, who works for a video game company, if they ever take ideas for video games. First, he told me he can’t listen to any ideas, in case they have something similar in the works already and I try to claim later that they stole my idea. Then, he told me every asshole in the world (he didn’t say “asshole”, that was my interpretation) has an idea for a video game. I checked online to see if he was telling me the truth and got the same answer. Dammit!
I thought about making an app that could introduce the concept of the game. I even thought about making some sort of companion app that would piggyback off your 2K character. I figured your 2K information (performances, etc.) could be linked to the app and our game would supplement 2K with the “off-court” experience. And then I realized what a logistical nightmare that would be, so I scrapped that idea.
So maybe the best thing to do is to just throw together the sales pitch for this game, with a business case to support the idea. So here it is. Let’s call the game “Life in the WWBL”. If you read the whole article, please note that most of what is below is a “formal” version of all that was said above, until you gt to the business case, which is bolded.
Life in the WWBL is a “sports fantasy” game set within the fictional Worldwide Basketball League (WWBL). Whereas most of today’s basketball games focus heavily on “on-court” aspects of basketball, Life in the WWBL allows players to live out aspects of their sports-related fantasies that go beyond the court, in addition to competing in on-court gameplay.
Many young adults (and adults) that dream of playing professional sports fantasize about being exceptional athletes and excelling on the court, but as we gain more insight into the lives of our favorite athletes through the media, more youngsters are also fantasizing about living the lives of their favorite athletes off the court. In today’s world, we don’t just see game highlights on ESPN and Fox Sports. Today, we read on-line about the lucrative contracts and endorsement deals our favorite athletes sign. We see the homes they buy and the cars they drive on social media. We watch their captivating stories on sports shows like 30 for 30, A Football Life, and E:60. We learn about their personal transgressions through TMZ Sports and the numerous sports networks available to us. We use apps that track the release of the shoes they endorse. We watch fantasy depictions of their lives in shows like Ballers.
The personal lives of athletes are compelling to us because the sports world is the setting for some of the most engaging, character-driven stories of our time.
As we learn more about the opportunities afforded these celebrity-athletes, we also develop a greater longing to be in their shoes. How many of us wouldn’t want the opportunity to buy the things they do or meet the people they meet? How often do we support them or criticize their actions, whether the situation is Lebron James’ “Decision” or Johnny Manziel’s partying, thinking that we could make better decisions than they do? Would you make disparaging comments about an opponent before an important play-off game or would you keep your mouth shut? We wonder this every time an athlete opens his mouth to criticize or taunt an opponent. Would you choose to go to the gym to get in some extra shots before your first professional game or would you spend the night before your first game celebrating at a nightclub? Would you loan your childhood friend money in support of his business venture? Who would be in your entourage? What car would you buy?
Many of us fantasize about living the lives of professional athletes and Life in the WWBL provides players with this full fantasy experience for the first time.
While the NBA 2K franchise has built elements of an athlete’s “off-the-court” life into its MyCareer storyline, the game’s association with the NBA has prevented the franchise from exploring many of the storylines that are most compelling to gamers and sports fans. Life in the WWBL would not have such restrictions, as it would not have an association with the NBA or its current players. This would allow the game to differentiate itself from other sports games, positioning the game as a combination of NBA 2K (or Madden Football) and Grand Theft Auto, some of the most successful gaming franchises of all-time.
Would the lack of real NBA players or teams hinder the game’s sales potential? Certainly, there will be some gamers that want to play with their favorite NBA stars such as Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, or Lebron James, and many would miss the opportunity to represent their favorite teams. There is no denying the appeal that real athletes and teams have. But while this aspect certainly helps to drive sales of many sports games, it also drastically eats into the profit margins on those games (due to expensive licensing deals), especially in cases in which two games (NBA Live and NBA 2K, for example) compete in the same space and find themselves dividing a market.
Life in the WWBL would take a different approach. By including engaging and edgy, even controversial, aspects in its gameplay and storylines, the game would attract a large portion of gamers that fantasize about living the lives of professional athletes (wealth, celebrity friendships, business opportunities, endorsements, girlfriends, fans, homes, cars, etc.) while keeping margins at a much higher level. Even if there was a desire to engage athletes or celebrities, it could be done in a manner that would be far less financially-restrictive. For example, celebrities like rappers or retired basketball players could be engaged to add a draw.
Life in the WWBL is as much a fantasy game as it is a sports game. It introduces a new category of games that your company has the opportunity to create and define. If the company is able to prove this category to be financially lucrative, it will have a first-mover advantage and the opportunity to gain a competitive foothold on the category that can ensure a significant revenue stream for years to come, especially as the company branches into similarly-inspired versions of the concept in other sports such as football.
As this game represents a new genre, there is an inherent risk in this endeavor. This risk can, of course, be minimized via market research and the introduction of apps and online assets that introduce and test the concept before full-scale production of the game begins.
The “M for mature” rating also introduces a potential obstacle to the success of the game. While this has traditionally been seen as a significant limiting factor in the movie and video game industry, recent smash successes such as the movie “Deadpool” and the gaming franchise “Grand Theft Auto” and “Call of Duty” suggest this long-held belief no longer holds true.
The financial concern (and thus, risk) that has traditionally been associated with sports games revolves around the significant costs associated with licensing deals that need to be established with the governing bodies of the respective sports leagues. Some may even believe that in order to launch a successful sports gaming franchise, such an agreement is mandatory. Life in the WWBL challenges this industry belief and eliminates this financial hurdle. In fact, the absence of a licensing deal and its resulting content limitations are believed to be the enablers of success for Life in the WWBL, as the game will garner user interest via the inclusion of its mature content. This will also provide a natural barrier to entry for companies that have well-established relationships with various sports leagues, as they will be unable to pursue a similar strategy. Of course, other companies may choose to enter the space if Life in the WWBL proves to be a success, but in such a case, Activision will have a first mover advantage. Many movies, TV shows, and even video games have proven that success can be attained without using real athletes or teams. Movies such as Any Given Sunday, TV shows such as Ballers, and many early sports video games have been successful while using fictional athletes and teams.
If there is a concern that some level of endorsement is needed to draw fans to the game and drive sales, there are other avenues for exploration. Agreements can be constructed with retired athletes, who can appear in the game. Rappers or well-known actors can appear as themselves in the game, playing the roles of influencers, friends, or even team owners. Even well-known sports personalities (journalists, bloggers, etc.) can appear in the game. For example, the rapper Nelly, who has a strong association with sports and the city of St. Louis, could be the owner of the team in St. Louis. The same could be done in Atlanta with the rapper 2 Chainz, who played college basketball. Snoop Dogg, a fixture on the Los Angeles sports scene, could be involved in the team based in Los Angeles. An example of a retired player that would be an ideal fit for this game is Allen Iverson. Iverson became a sports icon, not only because of his success on the basketball court, but because of his off-the-court lifestyle. Iverson could play a role in the game as a mentor, teaching life lessons to players. Additionally, noted sports fans such as actor/director/producer Peter Berg could be involved in either development or in the gameplay.
Finally, the future financial opportunity represented by this game is tremendous. If the initial effort proves to be successful, the same concept can be applied to other sports, with the most logical follow-up being football, as it is similarly popular with the target audience, its players have similar stories to those of basketball players, there is a similar media focus on the personal lives of football players, and the construct for the game could be quite similar (international vs. domestic leagues, number of teams, team cities, etc.).
Additionally, just as other games have developed companion apps for mobile devices, so too can Activision with Life in the WWBL.
There are many indicators that Life in the WWBL can be a huge success. As the game is being positioned as a combination of elements of NBA 2K or Madden Football and Grand Theft Auto, these are the most relevant comparable games to use in analysis. (Data from Take-Two’s 5/18/16 earnings call- yes I need to update these numbers but I did this anaysis quite a while ago and didn’t feel like digging around today- sorry!)
o Note: The Madden franchise has sold over 100 million copies, representing over $4 billion in sales
· Grand Theft Auto V: Over 65 million copies sold, representing sales of approximately $3.25 billion
o Note: the GTA franchise has sold over 235 million copies, representing almost $10 billion in sales
· NBA 2K16: Over 7.5 million copies sold, representing sales of approximately $400 million
Other comps can be used as indicators for a variety of reasons (rationale outlined):
· FIFA Soccer (sports video game): over 100 million copies sold
· Kim Kardashian Hollywood App (celebrity-fantasy app): over 42 million downloads (through Feb. 2016)
· Deadpool movie (movie with mature content): over $760 million in sales (with DVD/Blu-Ray recently released)
· Call of Duty (mature content video game): over 250 million copies sold
· Any Given Sunday (movie with fictional sports teams and athletes): Over $75 million in box office sales in 1999
