WNBA in video game for first time

Breanna Stewart can now compete against other WNBA players in a video game.

NBA Live 18 is adding women’s basketball players to the popular game this fall. It’s the first time players on all 12 WNBA teams will be featured.

“It really is cool. For me, I played video games when I was younger, whether it was the NCAA basketball game or 2K,” Stewart said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “To be in a video game, it’s humbling. You see men’s players all the time, but it’s good for women’s basketball to have us in there.”

Head scans of WNBA players were conducted over the past year. The developers held motion capture sessions with No. 1 draft pick Kelsey Plum of the San Antonio Stars and others. Veterans Candace Parker and Tina Charles are featured, along with stars Maya Moore, Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne.

The game’s creators fine-tuned player ratings and skill moves. There’s a WNBA play mode where video gamers can pit two WNBA teams against each other with authentic jerseys, rosters and courts.

It’s not the first time EA Sports has added females to its games. FIFA2016 highlighted 12 women’s soccer national teams, including the U.S., to the game in 2015.

“It should have happened a while ago,” Stewart said. “They should have given video gamers the option.”