An alleged anonymous 2K employee posted on Operation Sports that 2K Sports is releasing an NFL-licensed football game titled Joe Montana Football 16 for Xbox One and PC this summer.
How? Apparently the EA/NFL exclusivity deal has a loophole for first-party titles, hence this title will be exclusive to Microsoft's platforms (and will release as a "Microsoft" first-party game)
Both Montana and 2K have leaked tiny hints of something going on, but this info comes from someone anonymous that allegedly has all the details. Still, for the time being, this remains unconfirmed. But read the link, it's pretty compelling.
I know you won’t believe me, but I can assure you this is accurate, and in time you will see these truths unfold. I feel you need to know so you can prepare as a gamer (save up money, make arrangements and plans, etc).- First and foremost, this game will be for XBOX One and PC only. This is why they haven’t mentioned platforms. They’re taking early advantage of the Windows 10 cross-plat tech and the game will be out as part of 10’s 3-month launch cycle in the middle of this year.
So now that you know, you can make plans to purchase an XBOX One or Windows 10 if you don’t have one of them already.
- The game is called Joe Montana NFL Football 16. This is an NFL game. First-party stipulations that the NFL has always left open & the NFL’s exclusive relationship with Microsoft allows for Microsoft to have an NFL game. Microsoft Studios is the publisher. Microsoft is deadly serious about gaining ground and winning the console war (doubtful to happen at this point though) and throwing tons of money at incubation and trying to buy new IP that they can turn into big series’ titles is top priority for them right now. They believe this game can be many times bigger than MLB The Show due to the larger NFL fanbase, and because so many XBOX One owners identify as serious NFL fans.
- The game was demoed and it went well. Actually, “well” is an understatement. People went crazy. NDA’s were and still are in place for them. That’s why you haven’t heard anyone saying anything, but a lot of people are having a very hard time because what they seen was unbelievable and it’s been impossible to go back to Madden or even take Madden seriously after that. It’s like, how you felt when you had an NES and you saw Sega Genesis for the first time. The step up in quality is THAT big.
(...)
- 2K is involved. Should be obvious from some tweets/re-tweets and comments both Joe Montana and Damon Grow have made. Some tech and manpower was purchased from 2K and is deeply incorporated into this game.
- The franchise mode will be able to be managed on mobile devices and it’s really deep.
- The iMFL app was never meant to be released. Its entire production was a prototyping run for its franchise mode and management system with the intent of using it in Joe Montana NFL Football 16. Even the TechCrunch interview was part of the staging. It was brilliant. Everybody bought the staging. So, don’t wait for that app, it’s never coming.
- There are a few important modes. One is a story mode and it’s pretty cool. Think NBA 2K My Player. That’s what you’re getting.
-The graphics, animations and AI are all obscenely good and modern. It looks like a game that was built for this new generation, not just a port over from last generation with a ton of sloppy tweaks. The animations are easily the most crisp of any sports game ever made. Comparing the animations to Madden, it’s going make Madden look like a PS1 game by comparison. This is going to be embarrassing for EA Tiburon, like The Show Vs MLB 2K and NBA 2K vs NBA Live embarrassing.
- Expect Joe Montana NFL Football 16 out in Mid-late July.
That would be so awesome.
The original Joe Montana Football on the Genesis was a horribly flawed game in a billion ways that doesn't change the fact it's probably my favorite sports game of all time. Abusing the glitches and terrible AI was more fun that anything else.
So, I'm seeing an NFL license, but is that inherently tied to an NFLPA license? In other words, you get the teams, but are players inherently included in that as well? Not sure. Regardless, I'm . . . dubious. It's been a really, really long time since 2K's glory football days.
For some reason I'm reminded of that Sega CD Joe Montana game.
It's been a really, really long time since 2K's glory football days.
And yet, an HD 2K5 would be the best football game on the market right now.
So, I'm seeing an NFL license, but is that inherently tied to an NFLPA license?
They are not inherently tied together, as we've seen in a couple of games in the mobile world. However, the state of these exclusivity agreements seems to be a bit of an unknown, as the deals were to expire after 2013, and there's a bunch of stories about "oh, they're being renewed", but precious little in details.
One detail we do have, however, is that EA's payouts to the NFLPA have dropped like a stone.
Noice.
Screw Madden and the broken horse it ran into the ground. Eight years ago 2K had a better game. EIGHT YEARS! And Madden hasn't even come close to that with their horrid movement engine(s).
One detail we do have, however, is that EA's payouts to the NFLPA have dropped like a stone.
It almost certainly has to be tied to the CBA. The timing's too close to be a coincidence.
Or...
It almost certainly has to be tied to the CBA. The timing's too close to be a coincidence.
Or...
I had the same thought, but then I couldn't reconcile how the CBA would affect a direct agreement between EA and the NFLPA. Unless the deals are not, in fact, independent.
Either way, the fact on the ground is that the NFLPA is getting a sliver of the license money they used to. Provided there aren't any barriers to a licensing agreement, I would have to think the NFLPA would jump on a licensing agreement with a new AAA football game.
Likewise, I don't think a game like this happens without both licenses. No way does Microsoft put out a Madden-challenging game with players like QB#10.
...just a few weeks too early for April Fools.
Joe Montana Football will not carry either the NFL or the NFLPA license.
...just a few weeks too early for April Fools.
Joe Montana Football will not carry either the NFL or the NFLPA license.
Buzzkills are not allowed in this thread!
If reality comes along and stomps our dreams dead, so be it, but dammit, we will not accept that until it happens for certain.
I don't care - put the game out with the city names, nicknames and player names in text files and the real names will be in place ten minutes after the game releases on PC.
Just bring out a good football game, 2K.
Hell, I would take an APFB 2K16.
Hell, I would take an APFB 2K16.
As would I.
There's been some chatter about this over at Operation Sports for a number of weeks/months now. They ran an article in late February about the 'mystery' of what the game is.
There is now confirmation by both Destructoid and Polygon that the game is real (or at least that a press release about the game is real). No details at either place about the nature of the game and the NFL license.
Still, if it's a current-generation update to APF 2k8, I'll buy it happily on day 1.
If it really is a platform-exclusive NFL license...well, that's really, really interesting. I'm not even really into the NFL these days, but from a video game business perspective, that's interesting. And if it is being sponsored by or driven by Microsoft, what does that do to their relationship with EA? The XBO is the only platform hosting the EA Access service. There seems to be a good relationship there, but this hits at their most important franchise (or second most important, depending on how you view FIFA v. Madden).
Still, I say cool as hell. Bring on more football games.
Yeah, there's basically no way I don't buy this, whether it's NFL license, APF historical players style, or just Joe Montana himself playing against a bunch of automatons.
EA and Madden have killed what was one of my favorite game genres. I haven't been invested in a football game since 2K5. I had some issues with APF 2K8, but they were the sort of things that would have been ironed out if that had continued to be an ongoing franchise.
Doesn't look like the NFL license is present in this screenshot...
Maybe it's the league from Any Given Sunday? The Replacements? That short-lived show on ESPN?
That short-lived show on ESPN?
Sure looks a lot like the APF 2k8 uniforms to me. I've got dibs on any stadium with a mechanical scorpion!
I will buy an XBox One for this, unhook my PS4 and put it in a closet.
Yep. As much as I loved the latest Madden, this is also most likely a day one purchase for me.
But I'm not really getting to many of my hopes up. There is a lot that still doesn't make sense about the rumors. Seriously, there is no way Microsoft sets themselves up to compete with EA and their sports franchises. They closed down their sports division to lure EA into XBL, and have a close relationship to this day with EA. And Microsoft needs EA more than EA needs Microsoft. I just can't see Microsoft willingly taking advantage of a hole in EA's exclusivity deal with the NFL.
I wish Joe Montana had played baseball, though. That's what they need someone to bring to the Xbox One.
I don't think this will have an NFL license...but...MS is on record as having paid the NFL a lot of money through an on-going marketing contract. Is that just to get the Surfaces on the sidelines? Do the XBO apps justify that huge expenditure, $400M over 5 years?
Probably. But it'd be cool if they also snuck a game license into that amount! 
Yep. As much as I loved the latest Madden, this is also most likely a day one purchase for me.
But I'm not really getting to many of my hopes up. There is a lot that still doesn't make sense about the rumors. Seriously, there is no way Microsoft sets themselves up to compete with EA and their sports franchises. They closed down their sports division to lure EA into XBL, and have a close relationship to this day with EA. And Microsoft needs EA more than EA needs Microsoft. I just can't see Microsoft willingly taking advantage of a hole in EA's exclusivity deal with the NFL.
I wish Joe Montana had played baseball, though. That's what they need someone to bring to the Xbox One.
My thought as well. I just don't see the value for Microsoft potentially upsetting their relationship with EA for a football game. The potential upside doesn't outweigh the potential downside.
Methinks this ends up more a football arcade like game with fictional players and teams rather than a direct competitor to Madden.
Methinks this ends up more a football arcade like game with fictional players and teams rather than a direct competitor to Madden.
Most of us that played so many seasons of the NCAA series came from several seasons worth of league play in APFB 2K8. We even created house rules that allowed us to draft and create our own teams. Drafting players while considering the value of the best Bronze versus Silver versus Gold caliber players was almost as much fun as playing the game. The game was set up that you could take two Gold, three Silver, and six Bronze players.
The fun was finding those valuable bronze players that could really perform, and trying to decide how many offensive or defensive players you wanted to use. The balance of your team were random guys that fell below Bronze ability. That forced you to consider OL when you really wanted to draft offensive stars. Or how decide to emphasize DL, LB, or DB on defense. No matter what you did, you had holes that cold be exploited. The second and third seasons became more fun as we learned how to take advantage of those weaknesses, and what players the favorites of certain owners.
I always hoped APFB 2K8 would have gotten a sequel, because there was just a really fun layer of strategy that could be expanded upon. I don't think the game needed multiple seasons, as t was actually more fun to start from scratch again. But there were some things they could have done expand on what was more interesting than copying the real life NFL. And being able to have a league with X number of friends versus having have 32 teams, most of which are controlled by the AI is something Madden sorely lacks.
Personally, I think the attempt to make player acquisition and team building reflect real life so closely has hurt many sports games. But if they were to add some stuff like Madden Ultimate Team has, like classic coaches that boost certain qualities, I think there is lot to build on.
I miss those days. I loved the strategy of drafting Bronze players early to try and grab the really good ones before they were gone. That wasn't quite the grownup video game version of building a fort, but pretty close. We had a lot of fun with that in spite of there being no infrastructure for what we were doing.
The thing I liked best about the whole APF concept was that it was a vehicle to put money in the pockets of retired players, at a time when we are looking back at the toll the game took on old players who didn't make the same caliber of life-changing money that even average NFL players make now.
The problem for 2K was that getting the rights to players' likenesses had to happen on a per-person basis, since there is no all-encompassing NFLPA license for guys no longer in the game.
What the NFL should do is embrace the historical player's game idea, and tie it to the recently established retired player's fund. In order to receive benefits from the fund, former players sign an agreement that makes their name and likeness available for video games. In exchange, those video games pay for a license the way they do with the NFLPA, and those proceeds go into the fund.
The thing I liked best about the whole APF concept was that it was a vehicle to put money in the pockets of retired players, at a time when we are looking back at the toll the game took on old players who didn't make the same caliber of life-changing money that even average NFL players make now.
The problem for 2K was that getting the fulfill to players' likenesses had to happen on a per-person basis, since there is no all-encompassing NFLPA license for guys no longer in the game.
What the NFL should do is embrace the historical player's game idea, and tie it to the recently established retired player's fund. In order to receive benefits from the fund, former players sign an agreement that makes their name and likeness available for video games. In exchange, those video games pay for a license the way they do with the NFLPA, and those proceeds go into the fund.
I could fulfill my dream of having Randall Cunningham hand the ball off to Chuck Muncie
I miss those days. I loved the strategy of drafting Bronze players early to try and grab the really good ones before they were gone. That wasn't quite the grownup video game version of building a fort, but pretty close. We had a lot of fun with that in spite of there being no infrastructure for what we were doing.
All I'm saying is that this game better have Earl Mother-f'ing Campbell in it!!!
I miss those days. I loved the strategy of drafting Bronze players early to try and grab the really good ones before they were gone. That wasn't quite the grownup video game version of building a fort, but pretty close. We had a lot of fun with that in spite of there being no infrastructure for what we were doing.
So, I just reread that whole thread. Now I'm ready to play some APF with pretty graphics. 
Because I am impatient, and Pred can only pick a bronze player, and I can only pick a silver player, I'm going to jump the gun, and make my selection.With their final selection of the Season Four draft, the Hawks (formerly known as the Gunslingers for the last three seasons) have decided to beef up their defense by selecting OLB Chuck Bednarik. Anybody curious about what this guy does can reference this photo.
That is all.Thanks to *Legion* for one of my favorite pre-release moments in regards to APFB 2K8. I mean, I've had other much better "pre-release" moments. But let's not get into that here.
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