...EA doesn't own all of the sports franchises, guys. You do realize this right? They might've kicked all of this off with Battlefront 2, being the stubborn corporate idiots that they are, but they aren't the sole driving evil force behind all of this.
But yes, 2K are just as much greedy sluts as EA or Activision. Sports games and the intolerably gullible fans are going to be the bane of the entire industry because they idiotically bite into the same dunghill every single year. Other avaricious imbeciles such as Ubisoft and Warner Bros. have already began to experiment with how far they can push the envelope in their single player franchises, and Bethesda has left a disastrous stain behind them with their own idiotic endeavors. Hell, let's not forget that Rockstar dropped a whole entire casino on GTAV Online and got blocked in several countries, like a pack of idiots.
The reason that this crap keeps happening is because the rating boards (ESA, Pegi, etc.) are turning a blind eye to their own standards, as they are lobbied by the idiots from EA or 2K or whoever. According to their own guidelines, anything that constitutes as gambling, simulated or otherwise, achieves the exceptionally rare Adults-only rating. Pegi confirmed their idiocy not only by allowing gambling in a popular sports game, but giving it the lowest rating possible: Pegi-3, essentially letting infants into their casino. Keep in mind, people can cash in WITH REAL MONEY and watch the slots spin for cheap cards that HAVE NO REAL VALUE. These companies have no pangs of guilt so long as they can rake in oodles of cash by taking advantage of players.
If you know someone who gets this crap franchise every year, then please for the love of God tell them to stop. Raise awareness so that this idiocy can finally come to an end. I don't care if they get butthurt; they are ruining gaming by supporting the corporate asshats and that's the gist of it.