Play by Play Studios has announced its new basketball game, The Run: Got Next. The game comes from a studio featuring numerous former EA developers, including former general manager Scott Probst, Madden creative director Mike Young, and more.
The game is being touted as a spiritual success to the NBA Street franchise of the early-to-mid 2000s.
“There was a lot of us that worked on NBA Street that always wanted to bring it back. I think it is difficult for a company that has a game like a Madden or an NBA Live that is so big. If you’re putting all your resources to that, I think it was challenging to think about a secondary game,” Young told IGN.
“Introducing The Run: Got Next – a character-driven, full court 3v3 hoops game that celebrates the attitude, style and skills of streetball culture,” the game’s description reads. “Bring your squad to some of the most legendary street courts around the world and see how long you can go on a Run.”
In a welcome note on the studio’s website, Probst says that the goal of the studio is to bring fun back to sports games in a way that doesn’t exist anymore.
“As the years have gone by the gaming industry has grown exponentially, and in many cases the business has taken precedence over the fun of a particular experience – that sucks,” he said.
“I’ve found this myself in many sports games today where I feel like I have to grind hundreds of hours to be good, I have to pay hundreds of dollars (on top of the $70 I already spent for the game itself) to have an ok time, and I have to go out on random quests to do things that don’t really have anything to do with the fun of the game or the sport.”
The Run: Got Next launches in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
We need a spiritual successor to Def Jam and SSX too. Would love a game that’s Jet Set Radio fused with SSX 3. They need to get on those too.