NBA 2K21 saw some advertisements in loading screens recently which caused a public backlash. The devs responded by promising changes soon after.
When a game contains microtransactions and costs $70 if you're looking to have it on both current-gen and the next one, due in a month's time, you don't expect to see adverts when loading up into a match. Yet, NBA 2K21 did all of that.
As you might expect, both the players and those looking from the sidelines erupted with negative feedback, which ultimately caused 2K Games to reconsider their stance on ads.
According to the official statement, the introduction of ads "impacted players' experience in a way [2K] didn't intend" which is a somewhat odd thing to say. Adverts hardly ever impact anyone's experience in a positive manner but 2K might be referring to the fact that the controversial advertisements happened during the loading screen and couldn't be skipped.
If this is the case, giving the players ability to work around them would be an improvement. Furthermore, 2K noted that the ads "are not meant to run as part of the pre-game introduction" which is still wording that leaves many options open and it's hard to determine just how the ads will be changed in the future.
Whatever the case, 2K promised a fix would be coming in the future episodes and thanked the fans for the continued feedback.
