The WNBA is a league that was created in the United States to inspire young girls. Unfortunately, although the popularity of women’s sports has increased in recent years, which culminated with the U.S. women’s soccer team winning the Women’s World Cup in 2015, the WNBA hasn’t caught on.
Thanks to EA, the WNBA may have its moment to shine. A leaked picture from what appears to be from NBA Live 18 shows a logo for the WNBA. This could mean that the WNBA, its teams and players could be included in NBA Live, and in a basketball game title, for the first time ever.
For EA Sports, it wouldn’t be the first time that one of its games featured women’s teams. For FIFA 17, 14 women’s national teams were featured after the success of the U.S women’s soccer team. The move was praised as for the first time in sports games, women were being put in the spotlight alongside the men. The idea that the WNBA would be featured in a major basketball title could be a sign that the NBA and its gaming partners are taking the WNBA seriously as the league moves into its 21st season this summer.
While this is a major step socially, let's not lose sight of the other reason this move could be happening. EA Sports is putting out NBA Live 18 in the fall and it will be an uphill climb to gain respectability after a couple of subpar releases. They had to be different from NBA 2K and what better way to differentiate themselves from their competition than to do something that has never been done in a basketball game? This is also a way to possibly bring in fans of the WNBA, who will get to play as their favorite WNBA stars including Sue Bird, Candace Parker and Maya Moore.
With just 12 teams, it is not a difficult task to include the WNBA in a video game so why hasn’t the league ever appeared in a game? NBA 2K can not put in the WNBA but they can have every Euroleague team possible? This move could be a turning point for more inclusion for women athletes, teams and leagues to be included more often in sports games. NBA Live 18 could be, if true, starting an amazing trend in sports gaming.
What are your thoughts about the WNBA possibly being included in NBA Live 18? Let us know in our comment section.
