Industry giants2K have reportedly teamed up with Lego to create sports and open-world racing games. The report perked the ears of sports fans all over the world, as many of them have grown tired of a perceived lack of innovation in the sports genre in recent years.
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Lego first delved into the gaming industry in the 90s, where they released a handful of games across a wide range of genres, including action-adventure, construction, and racing. Everything changed for Lego in 2005, however, when British studio Traveller’s Tales developedLego Star Wars: The Video Game, which introduced the “collect-a-thon” formula that has become a staple of Lego’s gaming releases. The company has used a very similar gameplay style with numerous notable IPs since then, includingHarry Potter,Lord of the Rings, andIndiana Jones.
Like the sports genre, some players are starting to feel that Lego’s collect-a-thon gameplay style is becoming stale and needs a shake-up. Suffice to say, there is plenty of excitement for the reported 2K and Lego partnership, with many players already thinking about their dream releases. With that in mind, here are a handful of games that we’d love to see the duo provide.
5Lego Racers 3
When it was reported thatthe 2K and Lego partnership would include an open-world racing game, theLego Racersseries sprang to mind for many people. The firstLego Racersgame was originally released on PC in August 1999 before arriving on PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, and even Game Boy Color in the months and years that followed. The game featuredsolid kart-racing gameplaywith creative Lego tracks and stood out with its character and vehicle customization that was reminiscent of building with real Lego.
The secondLego Racersgame was released just a couple of years later in 2001 and offered players more freedom by letting them freely drive around a handful of open areas and talk to NPCs. Despite years of requests from fans, aLego Racers 3was never released, and most fans had long given up hope.
With the report that a Legoopen-world racing gameis in the works, many people have had their hope reignited that the kart-racing series could be returning, with players set to challenge Rocket Racer one more time.
4Lego WWE
2K has been releasingWWEgames for almost a full decade now, with the March 2022’sWWE 2K22being their latest release. The game marked a return to form for the series, exemplified by its76 critic score and 7.8 user score on review aggregator Metacritic, which far exceeds the43 critic score and brutal 1.6 user scorethatWWE 2K20received.WWE 2K20was plagued by technical issues and glitches, which led to 2K and developers Visual Concepts taking a year off from their simulation-style releases.
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AlthoughWWE 2K22has restored the faith of some fans, there are still many people who would like to see something new. A spin-off Lego wrestling game could be a perfect alternative to the main series, and Lego versions of characters like The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and John Cena would make marketing the game easy.
3Lego Soccer
As mentioned at the top of this article, many sports fans are growing tired of what they believe to be a lack of innovation in the genre. Licensed franchises like EA’sFIFAandMaddenare dominating the genre, with their microtransaction-heavy mode Ultimate Team generating eye-watering sums of money for the American company. Consequently, EA and 2K heavily prioritize these game modes, which has frustrated those who want more innovation andfocus on single-player modes.
WithFIFAbeing the most-played sports game and soccer being the world’s most popular sport, it could have a very positive effect on the gaming industry worldwide if 2K released a successful Lego soccer game with plenty of emphasis on single-player and little-to-no microtransactions, especially withMario Strikers: Battle Leaguealso releasing in June 2022.
Electronic Arts tried their hand at releasing a Lego soccer game in 2002 withSoccer Mania,though the game’s underwhelming quality dented Lego sports games at the time.
2Lego Basketball
Lego Basketball is on this list for a very similar reason as Lego Soccer. Like theFIFAseries, many fans of theNBA 2Kseries have grown tired of the lack of innovation and heavy-handed implementation of microtransactions and are ready for something new.
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A Lego Basketball game could be a ton of fun, as games likeNBA JamandNBA Streethave shown how enjoyable arcade-style basketball games can be, which is presumably the style that the 2K and Lego games will be geared towards.
1An Open-World Sports Game
Instead of releasing a handful of different sports games, 2K and Lego could, in theory, release one massive open-world sports game with basketball courts, wrestling rings, soccer pitches, and much, much more for players to utilize. The project would need a significant amount of money and time in order to be successful, though 2K and Lego can cover both those bases, and ninth-generation consoles would certainly be able to handle it.
Open-world gaminghas taken the industry by storm over the last decade, with many iconic franchises now getting in on the act. Although implementing a range of different sports could result in a quantity over quality type of product, the idea of an open-world sports game that is a success is surely a tempting one for 2K and Lego, as the prospect of having a player base that consists of fans from many different sports will surely have directors seeing dollar signs.
