The Gaming God's have answered one more of our prayers. The much rumored return of the 2K football franchise is now a reality! Yes, Visual Concepts, the team behind the amazing NFL 2K series has announced their return to the virtual pigskin wars. Because EA still has the rights to the NFL license, and all of its various subsidiaries, the new game (titled: All-Pro Football 2K8) will not be able to feature licensed NFL content. But, Visual Concepts is open to developing a game with slightly scrambled player names, stadiums, and teams.
For instance: they can call the Indianapolis Colts, the Indianapolis Bolts — and their star Quarterback would be Peyton Manny, as opposed to Peyton Manning. Various quirks like that would allow for Visual Concepts to squeak by legal issues — and sports games in the past have done things very similar to that.
"Football gamers have been awaiting the return of the 2K series," said Visual Concepts president Greg Thomas. "All-Pro Football 2K8 will deliver an authentic next generation gridiron experience and we are happy to give fans another choice in the football category."
The official word right now is that the game will be released this Summer for the PS3 and X360…perhaps just around the time Madden NFL 08 rolls around. Our friends at GameSpot have a Q&A lined-up with Greg Thomas, so hopefully Visual Concepts should be disclosing some more info very shortly.