NBA 2K21 Unskippable Ads Play Before 2KTV Episode, Frustrating Fans
Don’t look now, but NBA 2K21 unskippable ads have hit the game, bringing plenty of backlash from fans. The return of these ads has brought out all sorts of frustrated comments across the boards. The news of the advertisements in the NBA 2K game arrives well over a month since the game’s release. It’s also just over three weeks ahead of the next-gen consoles’ arrival which will bring an upgraded version of the game too.
NBA 2K21 unskippable ads appear during 2KTV
Just days ago, VGR reported about the More Than A Vote segment in NBA 2KTV, the in-game video series that appears in 2K21. That segment was an effort to appeal to voters of specific demographics, almost in place of a PSA. However, there are also NBA 2K21 unskippable ads that have shown up during the 2KTV episode.
According to Polygon’s report, (originally reported by Stevivor) an advertisement for the Oculus VR headset was appearing prior to the 2KTV episode. They mentioned in their report that the placement of the ad is such that viewers can’t skip it. Typically an “Edit Lineup” or other option arrives on the bottom corner of the screen with a button to press. However, the ad was arriving before those options were even available.
The Polygon report goes on to say they couldn’t find the NBA 2K21 unskippable ads on Monday morning when testing the game on Xbox One. However, in our test on Monday evening (around 7:40 p.m. ET), the ad showed up ahead of a Quick Play game on the PlayStation 4. Here’s a look:
The clip is brief in terms of length, but still can be frustrating since gamers already paid to obtain a copy of the game. A similar issue was showing up for EA Sports’ UFC 4 game involving an advertisement for Amazon’s The Boys series.
Reportedly, the NBA 2K21 unskippable ads showed up on Xbox One, PS4, and the PC version of the game.
Angry fans react to advertisements in 2K game
A few threads have popped up on the Reddit games forums, including this one, which currently has over 800 comments about the NBA 2K21 unskippable ads.
“Imagine paying for a full priced game which already has a tonne of real-world ads in it and then being blasted with additional ads. I wouldn’t play something like that unless it was f2p but realise I don’t represent the average consumer. I’m just interested in what the breaking point for a sports game fan is,” one Redditor commented.
“Add on the fact that this game was the first to announce higher pricing for next gen. I’d honestly take it a lot better if it was something like cyberpunk or the next gta but this game is horrible about milking every dime out of the consumer,” another commented.
The second comment refers to the various microtransactions within 2K21, among other sports games, where consumers have to spend real money to get currency for items or upgrades in the games.
The Next Gen 2K21 game will cost $69.99 for the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X(or S). Gamers who purchased the current-gen Mamba Forever Edition for PS4 or Xbox One (at a cost of $99.99) will get the Next-Gen free of charge if they get a next-gen console of the same brand.
As fans of the 2K franchise have learned, there is already all sorts of product placement in the game including Gatorade, various shoe and clothing brands, and a soundtrack full of music artists. The game advertises in multiple ways, but fans seem justified to not want to sit through an ad on a loading screen.
Visit our NBA 2K news page for more of the latest updates.