Unsealed testimony says 2K has no technical solution to carry Virtual Currency between annual NBA 2K games and does not want to build one.
In-game currencies have become a staple of modern gaming, and as a result, players spend a lot of money each year on V-Bucks in Fortnite, Shark Cards in GTA Online, and VC in NBA 2K games.
New, unsealed testimony, as reported by Stephen Totilo of Game File, cites legal arguments from 2K’s representatives explaining why they don’t transfer VC between games and why they simply don’t want to. One argument is that they want every game to feel like a fresh start; by not transferring VC from previous games, Michael O’Dwyer, vice president of product management at NBA 2K, argues that every player starts on the same playing field.
We want every new game that we release to be a completely fresh start where every user, regardless of whether they’ve been in a prior game or they’re entering our franchise and seeing this current game for the very first time, that they all come in with an exactly equal opportunity.
Furthermore, 2K argues that transferring VC between games would require inventing a technical solution to make it possible. They would also have to distinguish between earned VC and paid VC. Philosophically, they do not want to do this.
We know it‘s a massive undertaking which would come at the direct cost of many other things we want to invest our dev, time, and resources in. Not to mention we don‘t even think the player benefit is there, so we don’t want to do it.
Take-Two Tracks NBA 2K Playtime, Modes and VC Spending
Court filings shared by Game File show Take-Two can track NBA 2K play sessions, game modes, Virtual Currency balances, purchases, and spending by day.
Part of the lawsuit, filed in 2023 by “J.A.,” a minor, and his mother, asks whether Take-Two has an obligation regarding how minors use its game and interact with VC. The company says it does not track players’ ages and cannot know the age of people who purchase virtual currency.
However, the company does collect a substantial amount of other information about players. In an unsealed spreadsheet, Take-Two tracked and collected information regarding J.A.’s play and payment histories. For example, the company collected data for each daily session of NBA 2K20, including how many games J.A. played in the various NBA 2K modes–MyCareer, MyPark, MyTeam, ProAm, MyLeague, and Quickgame.
The company also recorded how much time he spent playing NBA 2K21 per day, in minutes. This data also includes information regarding various purchases. Also, in the lawsuit, 2K seems to take a shot at the plaintiff for continuing to play their games after the lawsuit was filed.
“Conduct authorized by the Terms is not wrongful, and VC that exists by license agreement is not stolen. Plaintiff consented to the Terms in every NBA 2K title he played online, including in the three NBA 2K games he started playing after filing this lawsuit alleging that Defendants were converting and stealing his unused, purchased VC.”
Insider Gaming will continue to monitor the story and report any updates as more information becomes available. What do you think of this lawsuit and the comments made by Take-Two representatives?
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