NBA 2K21 Follows EA’s Lead By Adding Wretched Unskippable Ads To Loading Screens

NBA 2K21 players are now discovering that ads are being inserted into the game; specifically during the loading screens. Gamers unfortunately aren’t being given the option to skip the ads. And even more egregious is the fact that these ads are often longer than the actual loading screen, which means that you’re sitting there waiting for these ads to end before you can get into the action and travel up and down the court while playing James Harden.

On top of all of this, you have to realize that this is a game that you’ve already paid for. And Take-Two feels the need to bombard you with ads — in this case for the Oculus Quest 2 — that prevent you from getting into the action faster. 

Electronic Arts caught flak for putting full-screen in-game ads in EA Sports UFC 4 back in September. In that case, the ads were for the Amazon Original series “The Boys”. That boneheaded move by EA was met with swift backlash, and the company quickly removed them and apologized, writing, “The advertisements have been disabled by the team and we apologize for any disruption to gameplay that players may have experienced. We realize that this should have been communicated with players ahead of time and that’s on us.”

It remains to be seen how long it will take for Take-Two to respond, as the ads are currently showing up in the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game. And when you consider that basketball fans are paying at least $59.99 and upwards of $100 for some editions, this is a practice that needs to end now. If Take-Two is reticent to taking action, the backlash could grow once the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions of the game launch next month priced from $69.99.

When you add in the microtransactions that plague the game, NBA 2K21 is turning out to be one of the most critically- and gamer-panned entries in the franchise. And moves like this don't extend any additional goodwill for Take-Two. Tell us what you think about Take-Two’s actions in the comments section below.