NFL 2K

NFL 2K
Genre(s)Sports
Developer(s)Visual Concepts
Publisher(s)Sega
Platform(s)Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube
First releaseNFL 2K
September 9, 1999
Latest releaseESPN NFL 2K5
July 20, 2004

NFL 2K is an American football video game series developed by Visual Concepts and published by Sega. The series was originally exclusive to Sega's Dreamcast video game console due to the absence of EA Sports's Madden NFL series on the system. As the foremost "2K" title, it marked the beginning of a running athletics series that eventually led to the spinning off of 2K's sports publishing business under the name of 2K Sports. Upon the Dreamcast's discontinuation, the series continued to be published for other sixth generation game systems and became the chief competitor of the Madden series.

After the competitively priced NFL 2K5 significantly reduced sales of that year's Madden release, EA signed an exclusivity deal with the NFL that made Madden NFL the only series allowed to use NFL team and player names.

In 2020, 2K announced the NFL 2K series will return in 2021 as an arcade video game.[1] In May 2021 2K announced that the game had been delayed until March 2022 and was delayed multiple times after that.[2]

In April 2024, 2K Games released a mobile video game titled NFL 2K Playmakers, a card game similar to Madden NFL's Ultimate Team mode.[3]

  1. ^ "Why Players Are Hesitant About 2K's New Football Game". CBR.com. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  2. ^ "2K's NFL Arcade Game Delayed Past March 2022". IGN. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. ^ "NFL launches new 'NFL 2K Playmakers' video game with Texans' C.J. Stroud as 2024 cover athlete". 23 April 2024.