NBA didn’t make an exclusive contract with 2K Sports after all.
2K Sports is now sharing the NBA video game license with a new franchise.
Play By Play Studios has just announced _NBA The Run_. Or, as reported by Gematsu, they have just re-revealed _The Run: Got Next_ under its new title _NBA The Run_.
Play By Play Studios just acquired the license from both the NBA and the NBA Player’s Union. This means that they can use the name of the NBA itself, the different teams, and the players themselves.
_NBA The Run_ is a casual basketball game that focuses on 3v3 gameplay in non-professional courts. Some press have already compared it to EA Big Sports’ _NBA Street_.
That’s because they said this in their FAQ:
_A lot of our team used to work at EA, many of us for 10+ years. We’ve also got team members who have worked at Riot, Epic, Crystal Dynamics and some members who come from outside games too. We are fully independent, our own, small team – about a dozen, and we have some key partners as well._
However, they also said that this is more than an _NBA Street_ spiritual successor:
_Street and games like that are definitely the inspiration. But we also want to make something that introduces some of the fun elements from different genres we all have loved playing since Street._
NBA 2K has had an informal monopoly in basketball games for years now. This news clearly shows they don’t have an exclusive contract to force a monopoly.
But, if you check the recent history of basketball games, other companies have not been making them for years. The last time EA made a basketball game was 2016’s _NBA Live 16_.
The last time NBA got a game outside of 2K was Saber’s _NBA Playgrounds_ in 2017, but 2K then published its sequel in 2018.
Outside of that, the last two basketball games were the basketball mini-game in _Nintendo Switch Sports_ and this year’s _Drag x Drive_.
As [reported](https://www.gematsu.com/2025/10/the-run-got-next-rebranded-nba-the-run-launches-in-2026) by Gematsu, the press release promises a lot of great features. That includes rollback netcode, the unicorn of competitive fighting game tournament play.
Fittingly, there will also be online multiplayer Knockout Tournaments. Play By Play Studios is not showing their full hand yet, so we’re looking forward to learning more here.
They also say you can choose to play Solo or in Squads. That sounds like the team gameplay system for JoyCity’s _3on3 FreeStyle_.
So this may cannibalize some players from _NBA 2K_. But it could also add to the overall number of basketball video game players. And they may then go play _NBA 2K_ too.
For now, we’d like to congratulate Play By Play Studios. You can watch the official trailer below.