20 Years Ago, ESPN NFL 2K5 Changed Football Forever

If You Come At the King..

It seems like a lifetime ago (and for many of our readers it was) but once, gamers had multiple licensed NFL games to choose from. The chain of events changing all that began July 20, 2004, with the release of ESPN NFL 2K5, still hailed by many as the greatest football game of all time.

Sega and Take-Two Interactive co-published the game, with Sega devising a brilliant plan to cut into Madden NFL's market share. Convinced of its game's quality, the publisher knew it had hit potential. But if the football titles were released simultaneously, Madden would dominate sales as it did annually. After all, even the most diehard football lovers probably wouldn't buy two $50 games.

The underdog hit shelves three weeks before Madden 2005. NFL 2K5 debuted at $19.99, an unheard-of price point for a big-budget licensed sports title. The low price ensured both big headlines and big sales numbers. However, the price wouldn't have mattered if the game wasn't fun. Like a showstopping rookie blowing past a veteran to take his spot, NFL 2K5 did the thing. It married the ESPN and NFL licenses better than any title before or since. Chris Berman's halftime highlight show is the stuff of gaming legend.

His ESPN cohorts Trey Wingo and Mel Kiper Jr. also combined to put what felt like a real-life version of SportsCenter into a video game. It was mistaken for an actual NFL broadcast in my home more than any football game I have ever owned.

"There has never been a better $20 game than ESPN NFL 2K5. End of story," IGN's Chris Carle wrote in his review. "For the price of a two-week rental, you can buy a footballer that is every bit as deep, feature-packed, and addictively playable as Madden."

We take a seamless online experience for granted these days, but in 2004 most titles didn't dare promise that. If you didn't have the internet speed required for that sort of thing, which many folks didn't in 2004, NFL 2K5 still had your back. Its VIP system tracked how you played, right down to the specific plays you would run in any situation. The AI could learn to play like any opponent it encountered, so players always had competition. It is wild how far ahead of its time this system was, and how nothing like it exists in sports offerings two decades later.

Sega also spent big on celebrity power. It granted VIPs to stars including Jackass performer Steve-O, who said he pulled down $100,000 to lend his voice to the experience. Your celebrity "friends" would call you up to challenge you to games. As I remember this, I am more and more certain that NFL 2K5 was an ancestor of Chat GPT. This was gimmicky and as early 2000s as a feature could be. But it showed a willingness to try new things that is missing from the current sports sim landscape. Plus, if you had ever wondered what play Baywatch bombshell Carmen Electra would run on 4th and 1 at midfield, you finally had your answer.

NFL 2K5 continued making us feel like ballers with the Crib. It was a virtual clubhouse featuring everything from paper football to trivia games. It also allowed players to collect furniture and sports memorabilia. If NFTs were this fun to acquire, people wouldn't despise them as much. 2K Sports' own NBA 2K series is still - wait for it - cribbing details from this mode.

ESPN's 25th Anniversary Challenges allowed players to relive classic moments ranging from the Ice Bowl to the Buffalo Bills' miraculous comeback against the Houston Oilers. 2K Sports has more spiritual successors to this in NBA 2K11's Jordan Challenges and WWE 2K's now annual Showcase modes.

Madden's Response Was Maddening

Madden 05 came out as planned in August 2004, playing to rave reviews in its own right. A year after the offensive-minded Madden 04, the new installment gave defenses much-needed tools to fight back. For a brief shining moment in history, consumers were the true winners with two incredible football simulations to play. We thought these two titans would battle for years to come. It was Ford vs. Ferrari, Ali vs. Frazier, WCW Monday Nitro vs. WWF Monday Night Raw. It was too good to last.

After losing sales to NFL 2K5, EA Sports used the nuclear option to win this war. In December 2004, it announced a deal to purchase exclusive rights to the NFL license. The deal ruined NFL 2K and any other football franchise that relied on real pro football players and teams to sell copies. This was something the publisher had already been contemplating, NFL 2K5's sudden threat making it more urgent.

EA, Madden NFL, and the real NFL had officially entered their villain eras. The giant publisher's play was strategically sound but morally dubious. Unsure of its ability to beat NFL 2K on the field, it kneecapped them in the boardroom.

NFL 2K5 would be the last licensed football game Take-Two Interactive released on a console. The exclusive deal gave Madden NFL a monopoly in the space. 2K Sports released All Pro Football 2K8 on July 16, 2007. It got around Madden NFL's exclusive deal by working with retired NFL legends to create a fictional league. Reviews weren't bad, but sales weren't good. Fans apparently do cheer for the jerseys, not the players, in the gaming realm.

If EA Sports and Madden were the villains, NFL 2K5 took on the iconic status reserved for superstars who die too young. Not only is it lauded as the greatest football game of all time, but with every passing year, it gets a little better in the memories of those who love it.