• 2K Sports to Publish NBA 2K Playgrounds 2, Coming This Fall

    After being delayed earlier this spring, today 2K Sports and Saber Interactive have announced that the rebranded NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 will be available this fall and published by 2K Sports.

    Per the game's community group on Facebook, Saber's Matthew Karch said it "would be a good guess" to expect Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to be added to the game due to their agreements with 2K Sports. In addition, the title will now receive '2K flair' and increased polish and gameplay modes per 2K Sports' Jason Argent, Senior VP for Basketball Operations.

    Continue on to read an excerpt from Polygon.

    NBA Playgrounds 2 has a new publisher — 2K Sports.

    The arcade-style basketball game will thus be rebranded as NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 when the game launches this fall. 2K Sports and Saber Interactive announced the deal in a statement this morning.

    “The original NBA Playgrounds was a fantastic throwback to the glory days of arcade-action sports,” Greg Thomas, the president of Visual Concepts (2K Sports’ studio) said in a statement. He added that the sequel will have “a bit of added NBA 2K flair.”

    “We can’t wait to share more on how we’re teaming up to make NBA 2K Playgrounds 2’s incredible arcade action bigger and better than ever for players,” Matt Karch, Saber’s chief executive, said in the statement.

    Karch told Polygon the decision to go with 2K wasn’t because of any problems with Mad Dog. “Everyone feels that 2K gives the NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 the best chance for success and future growth,” he said.

    For 2K’s part, Jason Argent, the senior vice president for basketball operations, said the partnership was a natural fit. “We couldn’t ignore the fact [the first NBA Playgrounds] sold about a million units, all digital,” he said. “With a solid foundation already built for the Playgrounds franchise, combined with 2K’s product development and marketing strengths, 2K and Saber agreed that a collaboration could lead to even greater success. Plus we’ve been pretty open about 2K’s desire to expand our footprint in the basketball games.”


    Courtesy: Polygon