Sega Sports Drops 2K Brand

By Fennec Fox
June 18, 2003 10:08 AM PST
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A brand new ESPN game series is born.

Sega Sports and Visual Concepts Entertainment announced at a press conference today that the company is establishing a closer alliance with the ESPN sports network, dropping the 2K brand for their sports games and adapting the ESPN name instead. The name change will officially begin later this summer, with NFL 2K4, NBA 2K4, NHL 2K4 and NCAA College Basketball 2K4 getting renamed to ESPN NFL Football, ESPN NBA Basketball, ESPN NHL Hockey and ESPN College Hoops, respectively. An ESPN World Series Baseball is also slated to launch next year.

"With ESPN Videogames, sports gamers will experience the same level of fun, realism and competition that they know and demand from the '2K' games, but with an all new presentation and attitude only ESPN can help us deliver," said Visual Concepts head Greg Thomas. "We are making great game changes this year and players can look forward to seeing the new ESPN integration and innovative features not only this fall, but year after year."

Sega Sports took up the ESPN license from Konami late in 2002 and used it in all of their 2K3 sports titles. This year, though, gamers can look forward to a load of new features and updates that make fuller use of the ESPN license. Chris Berman, one of the sports network's most revered anchormen, will provide commentary and recaps in ESPN NFL during the pre-game, halftime and post-game wrap-ups, while Gary Throne and Bill Clement will handle full announcing duties for the new NHL title. ESPN-style stat displays and elements, from the NFL Countdown animation to the SportsCenter studio, will also be included in each game.

ESPN viewers can look forward to a TV marketing blitz for the series beginning with the NFL game, which features a sweaty Warren Sapp on the cover and is tentatively due out September. "ESPN Videogames opens up a world of opportunity and new game play experiences for consumers," said Steven Raab, head of marketing for ESPN Videogames series. "This brand is about fun, competition and a realistic sports gaming experience. We look forward to further driving home that message with consumers through our marketing and our unparalleled titles."