Thatâs some slam dunk branding. | Image: Microsoft
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the New York Liberty Womenâs National Basketball Association (or WNBA) team will be playing against the Los Angeles Sparks on a basketball court thatâs covered in Xbox logos and console-inspired designs. Microsoft says that itâs the leagueâs âfirst gaming-inspired basketball court,â with the area under the net made to look a bit like the ventilation holes in the Xbox Series X.
Of course, thereâs also a âmetaverseâ tie-in as well â the court has been recreated in the Dunking Simulator Roblox experience. While the gameplay doesnât look quite as realistic as something like NBA 2K, it could be fun for those of us who wonât be able to attend one of the actual games.
Gif: Xbox
Something tells me this isnât quite how itâs done in real life.
Microsoft says itâll donate up to $50,000 to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation or Girls Who Code, giving $10 to one of the foundations for each submission to its Power Her Dreams site, as part of its goal to bring more attention to women in sports and gaming.
A report from The Guardian last year highlighted how women are massively underrepresented in the list of top earners in esports, and players in the WNBA are paid far less on average than their NBA counterparts. WNBA players have just started to appear on the cover of the popular NBA 2K video game series in the past two years after the league was added to NBA 2K20.