The past few weeks have been a mix of Battle Royale’s and Zombie themed games, however this week we wanted to take a softer approach and cover the more inclusive category with Sports. There are a number of studios that release sport themed games every year, but the two most popular studios are 2K and EA Sports. EA or (Electronic Arts) has been making the famous Madden football games for well over 30 years and has generated over four billion dollars over that span. While EA is most known for their games surrounding the NFL, they have also created the popular FIFA series and the soon to be back NCAA football series.
Canceled after the 2014 season, EA was forced to stop making the series due to numerous NIL (name, image, and likeness) lawsuits. However, in the past 12 months the NCAA has written new rules allowing players to earn compensation for their image/likeness. This has caused EA to take advantage of the new rule and bring back one of the most successful franchises of all time. 2K studios is most known for their creation of NBA 2k Basketball. This popular franchise began in 1999 with the release of NBA 2K. Hall of Famer Allen Iverson was represented as the cover athlete that year, and since then the series has sold over 8 million copies annually. The gaming industry understands there is a high demand for sports games and that’s why studios like 2K and EA release yearly projects.
This week I will be streaming Madden 22 and will dive into what makes the series so popular and how the franchise has survived for well over 30 years. Madden 22 is EA’s latest take on NFL football and features the game’s two most popular athletes in Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. Madden 22 allows its players to compete in real time with other players across the globe in hopes of winning the Super Bowl. The game features the most updated and best looking graphics especially with the creation of next generation consoles with Xbox Series X and the Playstation 5. Also included is Madden’s Ultimate team which gives players the chance to create their own teams and draft players that would normally play for their own specified team. Similar to Fifa’s EA game, this mode is often quite popular with players and takes up a majority of the online players. Madden is currently the only licensed american football game being produced across systems. This will change soon as EA has decided to bring back the NCAA football series after years of legal cases. The new NIL law, Name image and likeness, allows athletes to earn money by allowing companies to use their name. This was the previous reason for why the game ended originally, but there is hope for the series to return by summer 2023.
This week Maslim will be playing a familiar game in Rocket League. You’ve seen Jonathan play it earlier in the semester, and now I’ll be showing off my talents and trying to win the competitive soccer game. With options like Solo, duo, and trios I’ll be able to bring some friends along in hopes of winning a few games. Released in 2015, Rocket League quickly took the gaming community by storm. This new sports themed game brought the love of fifa and cars and put them together in a masterpiece of a game. I’ve played since its launch and I’ve never gotten bored of trying to build a win streak. While the community is quite competitive, the game introduces rank tiers to help give players a better idea of where their talent level is. Starting with bronze and going all the way up to grand champion there’s endless tiers to set your goals for. Like other games, Rocket League has seasons which last up to 90 days and lets players unlock items through its battle pass and its season ending awards. I definitely recommend giving this game a try if you haven’t had a chance to play, especially with friends.
