It’s going to be disappointing news to fans of the NBA 2k series that the load screens will feature un-skipable ads as a part of the load screen. According to Stevior, the ads for the Oculus Quest 2 are appearing during the pre-game load screens in NBA’s 2k21 game. Videos of the gameplay show that currently the ads only expand the load times, the ads being shorter than the load screens themselves on the PS4 and Xbox One. To make matters worse, there are no skip options to move past the ads or load screens.
To ad further insult to injury, the game offers the option to interact and edit lineups while the matches load, but while the ads are playing, the option for that ceases to exist. It currently remains to be clarified whether or not they will still remain in the game by the time the next-gen version arrives in November.
More recently EA tried a similar action with the game UFC 4 putting ads in the game a few weeks after the game’s release leading to protests from fans to remove them from the game. The controversy for NBA 2k21 is even more prevalent considering the game is still selling at full price.