Ex-EA Devs Form New Studio to Develop a Spiritual Successor to NBA Street on Unreal Engine 5
Several former EA developers, including former Visceral Games GM Scott Probst, have formed a new studio to make a spiritual successor to NBA Street — the beloved 3v3 street basketball series released back in the early 2000s.
Titled The Run: Got Next, the new project developed by Play by Play Studios is a “character-driven, full court 3v3 hoops game that celebrates the attitude, style, and skills of streetball culture” developed in Unreal Engine 5, with players stringing together an extended winning streak against opponents either solo or with friends online (discussions are “ongoing” about whether it will include a complete offline mode). Similar to roguelites like Balatro, players will be able to visit a shop between games to acquire “items, sponsors, abilities, kicks, and more.”
The gameplay on the court will focus on unique characters with various strengths, weaknesses, and playstyles. The trailer introduces some of the initial characters including Spin Cycle, High Wire, and the powerful Zamboni, each of whom can perform powerful dunks and other moves.
Speaking with IGN, co-founder and former Madden creative director Mike Young says that the team’s goal is to make “defense as fun as offense” — a feat that can be difficult to achieve in sports games.
“Stars feel like stars. I think if you go back to the old school games like Nintendo Ice Hockey with small, medium, and large, you could clearly see the abilities of the characters. They had towering strengths and they had glaring weaknesses, and it made construction of a lineup for a 3v3 game very interesting,” Young says.
“Do I want a fast lineup, but we’re going to be weak and get checked? Or do I want a powerful lineup that’s slow, but we can shoot and check?…We had a Hall of Famer like Shaquille O’Neal, who in real life had great handles. But in our game, he couldn’t do say Tier 2 or Tier 3 trick moves. He would fall down and lose possession…So we want to bring that to life. The way the characters move. They’re all unique. They have special moves.”
Asked if The Run: Got Next will feature microtransactions, Probst told IGN that there may be cosmetics items at a later date, but The Run is not free-to-play and that there are currently no plans for microtransactions that directly impact the gameplay. As for the online play, a Play by Play Studios representative confirmed that there will be crossplay and cross-progression, but that it will not feature couch co-op at launch.
“Right now we’re focusing on making sure we get the online working right for our launch,” the representative told IGN. “Like everything else to do with the game, we’ll listen for feedback and interest and go from there.”
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
The Run: Got Next will seek to fill the void left by arcade sports games like NBA Street, NFL Street, and FIFA Street, which have either been relegated to basic modes in larger licensed titles (like EA Sports FC’s Volta) or eliminated entirely. Notably, The Run: Got Next has a direct connection to the original NBA Street, with Young having served as an associate texture artist on NBA Street Vol. 2.
“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 says.
“I was there when the Tiburon Studio brought back [NFL Blitz]. Some of the things I’ve seen in the past, they’re just nostalgia plays and they kind of haven’t evolved to a modern game. I think they don’t have staying power, so they have to come out at a smaller price point. You may only attract the people who liked them, and then they play it for a weekend or a couple of weeks or bring it out every once in a while…”
“What we think the opportunity is us to bring this type of game, which doesn’t necessarily exist anymore, to Gen Z, which is social. Play with friends, play against friends. We’re trying to fit in with what the sim games aren’t offering us. Modes like Superstar KO that were sort of one and done. We want to make the best version that would make that the game.”
A different kind of sports game
In a letter introducing Play by Play Studios, Probst similarly took aim at the current sports gaming landscape, which is dominated by sims like NBA 2K and the recently-released College Football 25.
“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 wrote. “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.”
To that end, he says, The Run will “double down on fun” while not worrying about “overly complex menus, GM modes, micromanagement of rosters, opening packs or playing a game that feels like I’m watching a broadcast.”
“We look at a game like Rocket League, which is, like, you can jump in and five seconds you’re into a game. They do fantastic,” Probst says. “They focus on the action and the game itself. So the longer answer is that’s what we want to do, is we want to get you into the game. We want you to enjoy the sport of basketball, and we absolutely want to bring tone and personality and character back and do it in a really meaningful and memorable way that feels distinct.”
Ultimately, The Run’s biggest challenge may be its lack of real-life players. Unlicensed sports games have had a dismal track record over the past decade. Probst acknowledges that there have definitely been “conversations” about how important licenses can be, but that ultimately they’re focused on building a “really, really fun basketball game.”
“I think we want to create a fabric and a framework where we could bring in real world personalities, be it athletes, celebrities, influencers, et cetera,” Probst says. “But I think first and foremost, our focus has been on the game that we’re creating and bringing our characters to life.”
We’ll be able to see for ourselves whether The Run: Got Next is able to inaugurate a new era for arcade sports games when it launches in 2025. It’s currently under development for PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
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