LEGO will help bring 2K Sports' billion-dollar brand to casual gamers
LEGO is licensing its brand out to 2K Sports, who has conscripted Sumo Digital to make new sports games for mainstream market.
With the help of LEGO, 2K Sports is about to get even bigger.
2K has signed a deal to license the LEGO brand for a new wave of casual, kid-friendly sports games. Sources tell Video Game Chronicle that Sumo Digital, the developers behind Crackdown 3, Team Sonic Racing, Little Big Planet 3, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, are working on the first game in the series. It's believed to be a soccer game slated for 2023.
Another racing-based LEGO game is coming from Visual Concepts, who are responsible for the NBA 2K and WWE2K games.
The 2K Sports brand is one of Take-Two Interactive's most lucrative business segments, and is largely responsible for billions of dollars of recurrent consumer spending every year. NBA 2K alone helps drive a significant portion of overall sales, net bookings, and microtransaction earnings on a consistent annual basis. However these mainline sports games are tailor-made for enthusiasts.
The new LEGO games will be made to sway mainstream consumers and younger audiences into Take-Two's powerful live service ecosystem. Expect online play, microtransactions, and tons of content over time.