NBA 2k14 for Xbox One

I bought an Xbox One the day it was released. I know it isn’t really worth the price tag and I anticipate running into early release bugs for a little while. Not too big of a trade off for the reward my inner gamer receives. I mean, it’s just so damn pretty.

My first few moments with NBA 2k14 were spent obsessing over the improved graphics (and whipping up on people in the Mostly Serious office). Assuming you are able to ignore the menu designs, which are always a pain point for designers, there is little to complain about when it comes to the aesthetics of this game. In fact, I would say of the four games I have played for Xbox One, it is the best representation of nex-gen graphics.

I then spent some time exploring the different game modes. MyCareer—where you create a player and live their life from an NBA rookie showcase game through retirement—was completely overhauled with a nice scripted story and special events. Then I moved on to MyGM—an overhaul of the Association mode (or Franchise in Madden)—that also included a newly implemented story. It was a great experience through the first week, filled with unexpected improvements to most of the game modes.

Then MyGM crashed to the main menu. Thinking it was just an odd glitch, I launched MyGM again. This time, my team had been replaced with a fantasy drafted team I had never seen before. I closed the mode and discovered my previously saved game had disappeared. I went back to MyCareer and it also crashed back to the main screen. These issues started over a month ago and 2K support has offered no time estimate for when it will be fixed. Even worse, through a post-release patch that added DRM, these modes are now unplayable offline.

Over the next month, I contacted 2K Game’s support staff twice. They offered no help and stopped communicating after acknowledging they were attempting to fix this issue. No timetable, no special offers to help ease the pain of an unplayable game, and no apology.

Typically, my response to this type of issue would be to trade in the game and move on with life. There is little hope of getting a refund to a game unless the release is as disastrous as Sim City (although you could argue NBA 2K14 is coming very close), so those effected have few options.

The reason this game has struck a special nerve is due to their in-game purchasing system. Over the course of the last few years, NBA 2K has moved toward a system where VC (virtual currency) is at the core of each game mode. You play games to get VC then spend it on improvements. This year, they took steps to increase the impact of VC. Want to edit your lineup? Pony up some VC. Want a trade to go through? VC. Want to sign that free agent who is holding out? Fuck you, pay me some VC.

I’m not upset that 2K Games has decided to make money at the sacrifice of their game’s quality, that is just the latest trend. It’s annoying but avoidable as a player, as there are other ways to earn VC outside of buying it. What they have unintentionally done, due to the unfinished product they have released, is create a game that will sell a user VC bundles then crash and remove the last saved file (stored on their servers)—effectively stealing that VC back from users. Unlike Sim City, who offer digital products for sale in their store, NBA 2K does not ensure that this VC transfers in the event of randomly removed files caused by their unfinished game.

Releasing a broken game is bad. Releasing a game that steals from its users is unacceptable.