Sports Games Are Stuck In A Rut

If you buy the yearly iteration of your favorite sports video game, chances are you haven’t had much to cheer about the last few years. To put it bluntly, the genre is struggling, and even the new console generation hasn’t been the answer to rejuvenating it. Just this year is an example. For the most popular sports, Metacritic scores don’t look impressive. Madden NFL 22 received an awful 60. NHL 22, promising to improve its metagame, earned a disappointing 74. NBA 2K22 is still the best franchise. However, it has only a 76 score, which is one of the worst scores the series has ever seen. FIFA 22 and MLB: The Show 21 earned the highest averages, around 78, but it’s telling that none of these franchises could even crack the 80 mark. 

This downward trend has been going for some time now, and I’ve grown irritated seeing modes largely untouched and similar technical errors carrying over year to year. It’s like watching your favorite sports team when they’re in a slump. Do you want to wait and see the losses continue before you give up and just hope that next season will be better? 

The problem is, the hope that the following entry fares better has lingered for too many seasons now, and it’s not just with one or two franchises. It’s across the board. Sports games have seen a boom in innovation and are now closer to reality than they were last year. Developers were also looking for innovative ways to create a community and appeal to multiple players. This included creating strong franchise models or offering skill-based online gaming. Most importantly, the developers were looking for new ways to seduce sports fans. Visual Concepts showed the power of sports storytelling, making NBA 2K’s MyCareer a must-play by letting you create a player and take them on a cinematic journey that delved into the highs and lows of stardom.

It opened a world of potential and lit a fire in their competitors, with FIFA creating Alex Hunter: The Journey and NHL’s Be A Pro becoming a choice-driven story. Heck, Visual Concepts had so much success it even implemented a storyline into NBA 2K18 and 19’s franchise mode,Even though there were mixed results. Developers were still trying out new ideas, taking chances, and sharing their knowledge about engagement with one another.  

These days, sports games play it safe, offering graphical upgrades and a few new features to get by, but no series is really trying to reinvigorate the formula or shake up what’s been done before. And even when efforts are made, they feel half-hearted. NHL 22 attempted to take inspiration from Madden and introduced Superstar X-Factors. It also tried to change up its metagame. Problem? These X-Factors ended up being a non-factor in making the gameplay more rewarding or exciting, and the metagame didn’t change enough to be notable, except for its flaws.

What’s more frustrating is watching various modes just go neglected without meaningful changes for years on end. I can’t remember the last time NBA 2K, NHL, or FIFA really touched Franchise mode. Madden attempted Franchise mode this season, but not nearly enough to make it mandatory. Even worse is the stuff that doesn’t work or needs improving stays the same; NHL’s dialogue in Be A Pro is laughable, and The poke-check While Madden remains powerful, it is full of glitches and an interface that’s clunky. 

Sports games’ annual releases don’t allow time for wide-scale changes, but each year has always been about the developers making smart improvements to the foundation. I’ve come to expect a game in any sports franchise will play smoother each year, and specific modes will get a bigger focus with more effort toward meaningful additions. And when the gameplay starts to fizzle, developers will begin to invest in new strategies to keep it interesting, like finding ways to change the metagame or implementing a new system that changes how the gameplay feels, like NHL 19’s improved skating. Too much can be too boring in many franchises. Madden’s gameplay code is so old at this point that the developers are just working around the same problems, from snapped-to animations to players running into each other post-play, even when they try to add new features.

Sports games feel like they are in a crossroads when it comes to deciding what their needs are for the next generation. I don’t envy this decision, as there are many different reasons sports fans pick up the controller. Ask anyone what their favorite mode is and why, and you’ll get a multitude of answers. However, one thing is constant: these games should have a long tail that can be used year round. Many developers have invested heavily in web-centric mode that allows them to keep the game updated throughout the year. Even so, even though the benefits are great, many developers feel that their implementation is very limited.

The limited resources don’t make the decision of what to focus on easy for developers. It’s a constant tug-of-war between keeping the hardcore fans happy and bringing in new players via more casual offerings, like FIFA’s Volta, Madden’s The Yard, and NHL’s Pro-Am. Someone is always left behind, especially lately. it’s been the players dedicated To more single-player ventures such as franchise modes. Let’s face it: Modes like these don’t bring in any extra cash. 

NBA 2K22 probably made the most significant leap this year, trying to merge its popular MyCareer mode with The City, its bustling online world, where players can play against each other in pickup games and tournaments and shop around. Visual Concepts still has a long way to go with dialing down its intrusive microtransactions here, and it’s still too empty to be fun to explore, but I see the potential. 

To give WWE 2K22 more time, it has decided to discontinue its autumn release. Although the series has had its ups and downs, I enjoy the series’ creativity and its ability to cater to those who are passionate about hardcore wrestling. There’s 2K Showcase Mode, WWE 2K’s playable documentary where you follow the career of a legendary wrestler or a historical period and take on pivotal matches; My Faction allows you to assemble and manage your own stable to rival greats like The Four Horsemen; and this year, it’s introducing MyRise, a new spin on MyCareer that allows you to guide a WWE rookie to stardom in a choice-driven adventure. 

While COVID-19 has made it more challenging and demanding for this genre, I think that’s fair. However, these problems were already coming to a head at the end of the previous generation, and they’re not going away. A roster upgrade just isn’t enough these days to keep fans at bay, and it’s the loyal fans who end up feeling burned for getting their excitement up for another season, only to see the same problems pop up again.

It is important that developers are not afraid to press the reset button, or take extra time to think about their games. As it is, sports contain a great deal of creativity and excitement, but that experience isn’t translating video games. Why? It’s because developers continue to use the same approach. They don’t want to take the risky play that nets the glory for fear of failure, but I’d rather see these games try something new and fail than give me the same tired experience I’ve played for years now.