Although they might not necessarily draw the attention of hardcore gamers or the gaming industry press, there is no getting away from the fact that sports games are by far the biggest earners for many video game developers.
The combination of obsessive fans — who often find themselves checking the latest MLB lines each week on their sportsbook of choice to get an edge — and the annual development cycles, mean sports game franchises can easily generate much needed capital for developers to pursue more expensive projects.
This reality is reflected in the ranking of the highest-grossing video games franchises, with the FIFA series having sold an estimated 325 million copies since it was first released.
With that said, sports games clearly form an important part of the video game world. Each year, millions of eager video game fans line up to spend their hard-earned cash on acquiring the latest instalment of their sports franchise of choice.
But of the various sporting franchises, which are the best?
NBA 2K
Following the downfall of the much loved — but filled with faults — NBA Live series, the rise of NBA 2K has been nothing short of incredible.
First released on the Sega Dreamcast all the way back in 1999, the NBA 2K series has been somewhat of an unexpected hit in the modern console era. Despite getting it’s start on a console that quickly became part of video game history, the NBA 2K series has had a dominant run.
Much of this is due to the creativity and technical expertise of the developers behind the series. It features a fantastic career mode with surprisingly compelling storytelling, excellent commentary, deep player rosters and intelligent game mechanics. For these reasons, NBA 2K has proved a global hit while also garnering strong reviews and sales figures in equal measure.
FIFA
You would be hard pressed to make a list of the most important video games franchises and to not include the FIFA series. With well over 300 million copies sold since the series emerged in 1993, there are economic reasons why its inclusion is imperative!
In many respects, the eventual success of the FIFA series was pre-ordained given that soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world.
Beyond the popularity of soccer, however, there is a surprising amount of innovation and technical expertise behind the series which has helped it to achieve such success. This has led to FIFA beating out rival soccer franchises such as ‘Pro Evolution’.
There is also an amazing amount of consistency to the FIFA series. Despite being slaves to an annual release cycle, the developers consistently turn out games that build on their predecessors while also delivering innovative new features each year.
It is this combination that has helped it to become the behemoth it is today!
Madden NFL
Despite the fact that American football has the bulk of its fanbase located in one territory — which, as the name suggests, is America — the Madden NFL series has achieved some incredible successes so far.
To date, the Madden NFL series has sold a whopping 130 million copies and amassed over $4bn in sales. For its developers EA, the latest Madden NFL release forms one of the most hotly anticipated parts of their annual release calendar.
However, in recent years, some fans have criticized the series for failing to introduce any real innovations. This has been worsened, no doubt, by the fact that EA’s Madden series is effectively the only option when it comes to American football video games, with any competition that once existed long since having died off.
MLB: The Show
Another major player in the rankings of the best-selling and most loved video games franchises, is the MLB: The Show series.
In recent years, this series has achieved a relative position of dominance, having effectively killed off its closest competition when the MVP Baseball series was discontinued.
MLB: The Show is loved by fans of the game and video fanatics for being the most realistic depiction of baseball in video game form. When combined with excellent career building options, this is one of the most polished sporting franchises in the video game world.
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