2K Argues Against Letting NBA 2K Players Transfer Virtual Currency Between Yearly Releases

Unsealed court documents tied to a 2023 lawsuit offer rare insight into Take Two Interactive's approach to virtual currency in NBA 2K, one of the world's most profitable sports gaming franchises. The filings reveal how the company justifies blocking players from transferring unspent VC when it shuts down servers for older editions roughly 2.5 years after release.

The class action lawsuit was filed by J.A., a minor, and his mother against Take Two, alleging the company steals from players by cutting off access to purchased virtual currency balances without reimbursement or the option to transfer funds to newer NBA 2K games. Take Two has countered that players don't own virtual currency in the first place, arguing it exists only under license agreement.

During a deposition unsealed last month after a judge ruled on Take Two's redaction requests, Michael O'Dwyer, vice president of product management for NBA 2K, explained the company's position. "There's a lot of reasons for that," O'Dwyer said when asked why the company doesn't permit VC transfers. "First and foremost, there is no technical solution in existence" to enable such transfers across NBA 2K games, he stated.

Beyond technical barriers, O'Dwyer emphasized that preserving competitive balance drives the policy. "We want every new game that we release to be a completely fresh start where every user, regardless of whether they've been in a prior game or they're entering our franchise and seeing this current game for the very first time, that they all come in with an exactly equal opportunity."

The company also faces a complex distinction between earned and purchased VC. NBA 2K games don't currently display any separation between virtual currency earned through gameplay and VC bought with real money. O'Dwyer suggested that splitting these categories would not benefit players and would require substantial development resources. "We know it's a massive undertaking which would come at the direct cost of many other things we want to invest our dev, time, and resources in," he said. "Not to mention we don't even think the player benefit is there, so we don't want to do it."

The court filings also reveal the extent of player data Take Two collects. The company tracks when players log in, which game modes they use, how long they play, and how much they spend, recorded daily. In one unsealed spreadsheet, Take Two documented J.A.'s complete play history across NBA 2K20 and NBA 2K21, including sessions in MyCareer, MyPark, MyTeam, ProAm, MyLeague, and Quickgame modes, plus all purchase records.

When asked if the company tracks player ages, Take Two said it does not and cannot know the age of people purchasing virtual currency, despite age being relevant to the lawsuit's claims about obligations to minors. The company also noted in legal filings that the plaintiff continued playing NBA 2K games after filing suit, including three titles released after the lawsuit began. "Conduct authorized by the Terms is not wrongful, and VC that exists by license agreement is not stolen," Take Two argued. "Plaintiff consented to the Terms in every NBA 2K title he played online."

Virtual currency is central to NBA 2K's monetization. Players use VC to unlock cosmetics and ability boosts in competitive modes like MyTeam. The annual release cycle of NBA 2K games means players must re-purchase cosmetics and upgrades each year or lose access when servers shut down.