However, they could only be used in a single-game exhibition mode known as “Play Now” where commentators rarely used team or player names. But until a couple of years ago, video games ignored the fact that women play basketball.ĮA broke the gender barrier in 2017, when NBA Live 18 became the first basketball game to feature WNBA teams.

The company hoped that this newest installment could revive the series, and maybe even put it on par with the immensely more popular NBA 2K franchise, which was made by rival publishers, 2K Sports.īasketball video games are some of the most popular in the sports game genre. However, their basketball franchise had always struggled, and the 2010s had been particularly bad for the series. When it came to sports games, EA had found success with games like FIFA and Madden. Mahar was in the middle of promoting NBA Live 19. “Basketball lends itself to equality,” Mike Mahar, a senior producer at the video game developer EA, told Katie Barnes of ESPN in July of 2018.

Basketball video games need to start showing the WNBA the respect it deserves

Nba live 16 dynasty mode