It’s Official: Michael Jordan On The Cover Of NBA 2K11Right after EA Sports announced that they’re changing the name of their long running NBA franchise from NBA Live to NBA Elite, 2K Sports came back with an announcement of their own: they’re putting Michael Jordan on the cover of NBA 2K11.
What was rumored last week, Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports, confirmed to CNBC.com’s Darren Rovell today.
“We’ve made a lot of progress over the past 10 years, but we know we have the best NBA video game ever made here,” says Argent. “So we thought to ourselves how can we embody that and there was only one person on that list who we wanted to have and that was Michael Jordan. Actually getting this done is the most ridiculous win of all-time.”
“Michael’s last appearance in a video game was in 2004 and over that time the video game industry had continued to grow,” says Estee Portnoy, Jordan’s business manager. “We had been hearing that there was demand from the gamers to have him in the game and this came along and made a lot of sense.”
“It’s an honor to be featured on the cover of NBA 2K11,” Jordan said, in a statement. “I have no doubt that NBA 2K11 will be a big hit with gamers and basketball fans alike. I’m looking forward to getting back out on the court, virtually.”
So what does this mean? While Argent didn’t discuss exactly how Jordan would appear in the game, according to Rovell, he did however “guarantee that the game would be the best selling game in the 10-year history of 2K Sports.” And that’s saying something.
As all true NBA video game fans know, to be able to actually play with Jordan in the game would be an impressive feat. As Rovell notes, “Due to a licensing agreement he had with the NBA, his rights weren’t part of the group licensing agreement that included all the other players—meaning his likeness didn’t automatically appear in many games while he was playing.” The last game that Jordan was a playable character in was NBA Street Vol. 2, while he is an unlockable character in NBA 2K10.