Having become a more than privileged partner of the NBA, 2K Sports was of course part of the “NBA Paris Games”, with gaming terminals at the Accor Arena, at the NBA House and the NBA 2K25 logo featured on just about every marketing material for the league.
World-renowned ambassador of the benchmark basketball simulation on PC and consoles, Ronnie 2K also took part in this Parisian week. The opportunity for him to participate in a question-and-answer session with European media including DNA of Sports alongside Dave Brody, vice-president in charge of international partnerships at the NBA.
Obviously, Victor Wembanyama was on everyone's lips, even if we will still have to wait for official announcements such as the possibility of seeing the Frenchman become a “cover athlete” of the game or to transcribe his story in a “MyCareer” scenario!
Ronnie 2K, what is your view on the overall evolution of the game over the past two decades now?
It's truly dazzling. With 2K, we just celebrated our 20th anniversary together this week. To give a quick recap, this is the 26th NBA 2K title, ESPN distributed it until 2005 before we took over, and Visual Conepts designed it from the beginning. It's a really great team with brilliant people. It's been special to see this evolution over the years, on all points. We haven't always been the benchmark in terms of basketball simulation. And now, we are one of the most played sports simulations in the world, and even one of the most played games at all. This growth, this authentic, realistic side, it's impressive, and also thanks to this exceptional partnership that we have established with the NBA, which helps us set the course and which we try to follow down to the smallest detail.
What details, for example?
For example, regarding the Tissot announcement which will accompany match wear in Europe for the next ten years, we will have to import it into our game by integrating the specificities of this partnership. We are at a crossroads on many things that go beyond basketball, whether in terms of culture, fashion, music. Who would have thought that a basketball game could bring so much together, mean so much to so many people around the world and serve as a platform to raise awareness for a wide range of brands? It's really incredible and from the start, my adventure with them has been really great, in the way it has multiplied the audience, via social networks, influencers and lots of other fun things that we have been able to launch at over time. I could talk about it for hours (laughs)!
How do you perceive the attention that NBA players pay to the game, in relation to their ratings in particular, but not only…
NBA players are, of course, some of the most competitive athletes there can be. So I never thought that their notes would appeal to the greatest number of people. This is the case for the players and we also see it in the conversations that these figures can generate from fans. For me, it's always something beautiful to see, because it means that it's something that's important to them. They are all in, they are part of our feedback loop that we can expect from them. They are also attentive to the way we capture their movements… We just put out big regular updates on hairstyles, tattoos and likenesses just a few days ago. I may be close to certain players, but not to the point of being informed when they change their hairstyle!
This is what allows us to always be on top, authentic, up to date and it is one of our priorities. In this sense, the conversations we can have with NBA players help us move in the right direction. They could be a little nicer sometimes when they complain about the grades, but that's fine with me, I'll keep doing what I know how to do!
How important is it for NBA 2K to be present at these events outside of North America, and what favors the market in Europe?
The NBA is very focused on how it can continue to grow internationally and that's the case for us as well. You could say that most people who live in the United States already love basketball, and those who play console probably love our game. So our development is going to come from parts of the world that are up for grabs.
What we also feel, and we see it in Paris this week, is that having a local player helps a lot. I was at last year's game between the Cavs and the Nets and it was really great. But this year it's different. There are other parameters that can favor one region over another, but having a star in the making like that boosts the French public's interest in the match. The public wants to be able to support someone with whom they identify. I hope that other countries, like maybe England, where my father comes from, will also have a star player like Victor Wembanyama in France.
With Wembanyama, there are no more limits in creating a player
In terms of the game, can we measure the impact of Victor Wembanyama?
Yes of course ! Without going into very specific details, we see a big evolution in the “Quick Game” and “Play Now Online” modes in which the Spurs were selected. This goes up to +517% compared to two years ago, when Wemby was still playing in France. It goes beyond Spurs. The figures between his first year and this season are also incredible since we go up to + 107%. For the MyCareer mode in France, the participation of players who took the Spurs to win a title increased by 91%. The Spurs are also more taken up in MyLeague and My NBA, up to + 60% in France.
He is also a player from the young generation and we see that the players like to play these young players. And it also makes sense in relation to the fact that we also have the feeling that the players want to build their franchise around international stars. But coming back to “Wemby”, we had never seen an increase of this kind, on this scale, in its impact. It's quite exciting for the future, and San Antonio also has reason to be.
We hear that Victor Wembanyama is the “NBA 2K” player par excellence, like a “cheated” player who has no faults. Are you satisfied with the rendering offered in the game?
It's true that we've never had this kind of player, a center of his size who knows how to dribble and shoot like he does. This is the kind of player that we created in MyCareer, and that you could say didn't really sound “authentic.” Now, as weird as it sounds, it's become authentic, because it's so strong. And it's true that in the game, it becomes scary because the players start to become extremely competitive with this player in the game. How can you not want to shape a player like Wemby, with his size, his talent?
We continue to think about these questions and how we are going to make all of this evolve. He's such a big defender, it's very hard to score on him. It reminded me of when we played with Yao Ming in his prime. Both have similar sizes, although of course Wemby can shoot from further away and is more skilled with the ball in hand. But until then, Yao Ming was our best position 5 to ever play in the game.
If Victor stays healthy, and he continues to progress as we saw between years 1 and 2, the experience he will acquire will make him even better. He's still learning the nuances of the game, about when to go in the paint, how to score effectively at that level. It will be up to us to see how to develop his game around his qualities while trying not to make him too unplayable a player. We don't want to lose the realistic side just because it's so strong.
Stephen Curry forced 2K Sports to evolve the game
A bit like when the generation of very, very long distance shooters began to emerge?
That's exactly it, it reminds me of when we had to completely review the concept of the game on NBA 2K16 with the advent of Stephen Curry, when he suddenly started to string together seasons with over 300 3-point baskets per season. season. We are at a fairly similar stage. This is the next evolution of the game. If we want to remain authentic, we too will have to follow the way the league evolves, and that doesn't just concern Victor Wembanyama. Today's pivots are players who have a lot of qualities. It has become a bit of a new trend which also impacts the way teams draft and develop their players. We also have to adapt to all that. But it's true that about every ten years the game changes in some way. We can start from Shaquille O'Neal in the 90s-2000s, then Stephen Curry ten years ago and therefore the next step will undoubtedly be Wemby. We must continue to adapt to the way basketball is played.
What are the nods to the NBA Paris Games in the game?
We celebrate the NBA Paris Game in the game with our global audience. We set up challenges in the MyTeam and MyCareer modes for season 4, from January 20 to February 22. In “The City”, if you win a 3×3 match over two events, you can unlock clothing content from the Spurs, the Pacers and also the “NBA Paris Games” for MP. For MyTeam, if you win the challenge, you receive a pack of ten French players. It's super exciting to broadcast this globally about what happened in Paris.
Could we imagine one day a “MyCareer” scenario which would tell the story of a French player, with the start of his career which could begin in Paris, or even repeat this same story from another country in Europe or Asia? , from South America or Africa?
It’s clear, it’s something that’s taking up more and more space. We have never seen so many players arrive from international territories and we must support that in our scenarios. These are clearly stories that we also need to tell more and that we need to look into more.
This is a bit of the story we witnessed this week with Wemby, who is back in his country as an NBA superstar…
Probably one day when he's our cover athlete, it's something we could imagine. It would be cool to model some places in Paris and integrate certain parts into the story. We'll see that when it's on the cover. It’s clear that Wemby is going to be important for us in the future. I don't know when it will happen. But when it's Wemby's turn, it's sure to be exciting to tell the story he lived here in Paris. We'll go here to try to get as close to this story as possible and see it come to life in the game. It should be a lot of fun to do.
Do you already have anything new to share about the 2K26 edition?
Unfortunately, no. We are still very involved in 2K25, with the seasons and our fairly regular updates. Of course, we have a team that is already working on the next opus and there will be plenty to get excited about too. But for now, I don't want to divert attention around NBA 2K25. It's still January, the game was released just over three months ago! If I start teasing the next one now, it's a long road ahead of me (laughs)! But it's clear that I'm very excited about what's to come for NBA 2K26.
Comments collected in Paris
