The Run: Got Next is a new vibrant street basketball game from former EA developers who worked on series like NBA Street, Madden, and Dead Space.
Its developer is Play by Play Studios, which former Visceral Games General Manager Scott Probst and Madden creative director Mike Young formed two years ago. In a blog penned by Probst, the studio reminisces about an era of sports games free of needlessly complex simulations, grinding, and Ultimate Team-fueled microtransactions. “We’re not going to worry about overly complex menus, micromanagement of rosters, the opening of packs, or playing a game that feels like I’m watching a broadcast …We’re gonna double down on the fun and get you into the game, and we’re gonna do it with style,” writes Probst.
The studio’s first stab at this refreshing kind of sports game is called The Run: Got Next and it’s clearly a spiritual successor to games like NBA Street. It’s an online 3v3 basketball game with roguelike elements where players go on “runs,” which are made up of street games set around the world. Players construct teams of athletes with unique playstyles and then try to win as many basketball games against other players as possible.
Play by Play confirmed to Digital Trends that at launch, The Run: Got Next will be fully online, although solo play is possible. Between matches, players will be able to visit a store to buy upgrades in roguelike fashion. Tape to Tape showed that there was some potential with a sports roguelike, and now we’ll soon see how that formula works with a street basketball game.
July has been a exciting month for sports games, thanks to the massively successful launch of EA Sports College Football 25. That game revitalized a long-dormant series and finally brought EA’s football simulation gameplay up to a quality bar that fans have begged the games to get to for years. And while The Run: Got Next is definitely more cartoonish in both style and structure when compared to the likes of NBA 2K24, it could mobilize a faction of basketball game fans that haven’t been catered to very well in years.
The Run: Got Next launches for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2025.
