2K’s NBA 2k21 released a month ago for the premium price of 59.99 USD, players are now infuriated with the developer after the inclusion of in-game ads in the loading screens.
Reports from Stevivor confirmed the news via a gameplay video captured by a player who was shown an ad for the Oculus Quest 2. The news outlet can confirm that the ad is being shown on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, ads are unskippable, even if an SSD is used.
Check this video down below:
It’s important to mention that some players affirm that the ads are in fact skippable if the player removes the 2K TV feature in the game’s settings, however, long time fans of the franchise will confirm that this is not the first time that the developer shows ads in the exclusive NBA 2k series.
As reported by EuroGamer, in August 2019, PEGI said that it was “very aware” of 2k “getting “too close for comfort” to teach gambling to players in an NBA 2k 20 trailer that features a roulette, a pachinko, and a slot machine.
Recently, EA faced a similar backlash for showing in-game ads on EA Sports UFC 4, the developer affirmed that ads are not new in the EA Sports UFC franchise.
This type of advertising inventory is not new to the UFC franchise, though we have typically reserved displaying ads to specific main menu tiles or Octagon logo placement. It is abundantly clear from your feedback that integrating ads into the Replay and overlay experience is not welcome.
EA Sports UFC 4
promoted the Amazon Prime’s The Boys, the logo of the show showed briefly in the middle of a replay. The logo of the TV show was also evident on the floor of the ring. Certanely, promoting a +18 show in a game targetted for Teens is hard to understand.
Source: EuroGamer
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