NBA Live 13 canceled, EA Sports aims for Live 14

Once again, EA Sports has decided not to release NBA Live. The game was supposed to be EA Sports' first basketball sim since 2009, but it appears the game is still not up to EA's standards

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Once again, EA Sports has decided not to release NBA Live. The game was supposed to be EA Sports' first basketball sim since 2009, but it appears the game is still not up to EA's standards.

"When we started the process of bringing back NBA Live, we knew it was going to be a long journey. We started by moving the game to a new studio. We brought in some of the best new technology that has helped fuel innovation in our other games. We launched an even deeper level of engagement with our community to gather more feedback directly from fans. And we built a whole new development team to bring it all to life. We felt like we were on the right path," EA Sports EVP Andrew Wilson explained.

"But making great games is not easy, and we're just not there yet on NBA Live 13. Having continued to look at the game over the past few days, it's clear that we won't be ready in October," Wilson said on EA's official blog. Because the game wouldn't be ready by the time the season begins on October 30, the publisher has decided to "sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year's game great. This decision puts us on the right track for success well into the future in a rapidly changing industry."

The last basketball sim released by Electronic Arts was NBA Live 10. Poor reception to EA Canada's NBA Elite 11 forced the publisher to cancel the game and continue the years-long process of making a rebooted basketball sim.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 27, 2012 1:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, NBA Live 13 canceled, EA Sports aims for Live 14.

    Once again, EA Sports has decided not to release NBA Live. The game was supposed to be EA Sports' first basketball sim since 2009, but it appears the game is still not up to EA's standards

    • reply
      September 27, 2012 1:35 PM

      i can't wait for the next gen of consoles. the graphics are really aging badly on the xbox and ps3.

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      September 27, 2012 1:41 PM

      [deleted]

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        September 27, 2012 1:56 PM

        It didn't look bad, but it was very early in development when I saw it at E3. It's not surprising that it wasn't ready for this year. They do have some good ideas, which should hopefully be ready for Live 14.

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          September 27, 2012 2:15 PM

          Lol guess they finally realized they can't compete with nba2k12 12 and next week 13.

          I myself am glad, ea has Madden, just stick with that.

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          September 27, 2012 3:08 PM

          But it wasn't "Andrew Bynum snapping to a Jesus-pose in midcourt" bad, was it? That was how bad the NBA Elite 11 demo was, and that was why that game got canned: because it was obvious the game had some serious bugs.

          There's a good interview that Stephen Totilo did with John Riccitiello on the NBA Elite 11 cancellation decision: http://kotaku.com/5704605/how-a-big-video-game-was-killed

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            September 27, 2012 4:50 PM

            The fact that they were looking to utilize aspects of the NHL engine alone would have made it better than NBA Elite 11.

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      September 27, 2012 2:28 PM

      It will be curious to see the final result. Hopefully they weren't foolishly aiming for a year then postponing it a year, postponing it a year, etc. I'd love to see what happens with a new sports game from an established team given a normal (ie multi year) development cycle and without as much legacy baggage.

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        September 27, 2012 2:47 PM

        I preordered nba2k13 and grabbing my copy Tuesday. If EA could pull it off, great but so far I've been loving 2k since 11.

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      September 27, 2012 3:12 PM

      Too bad 2k can't pump out NFL or college football games to force EA to anything other than minor incremental updates and roster changes.

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        September 27, 2012 3:14 PM

        [deleted]

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          September 27, 2012 3:21 PM

          I'm sure they were severely resource constrained but APF2k8 wasn't exactly inspiring

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            September 27, 2012 5:00 PM

            That was after more or less getting kicked in the nuts after the EA/NFL decision. 2k had caught up to Madden before licensing.

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              September 27, 2012 5:02 PM

              yes, I agree, I just thought APF2k8 was really lacking. If all they had the resources for was porting 2k5 and redoing the rosters they probably shouldn't have bothered.

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        September 27, 2012 3:16 PM

        I agree, although I think you're overstating Madden's stagnation. 2010-2013 has been a far cry from 2006-2009

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      September 27, 2012 3:15 PM

      Holy shit. I don't know what dev teams work on which sports products, but: FIFA and NHL have never been better; Madden is not spectacular but it is certainly good; and even their baseball series was doing well before 2K bought MLB rights.

      wtf is wrong to their NBA team?! NBA Live was the SHIT back in the day!

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      September 27, 2012 3:41 PM

      I'm disappointed only because in the sports game sector in particular competition is vital o pushing the franchises forward. NBA 2K is definitely on a roll right now, but without anyone to compete with, it will become stagnant in a couple of years.

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      September 27, 2012 3:45 PM

      IMO, people that play Sports video games need to put down the controller, go outside and instead, just play the damn sport :P

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        September 27, 2012 3:51 PM

        herp

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        September 27, 2012 3:56 PM

        You're right, it's super duper easy to get pads and 22 people and a field to play football on.

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          September 27, 2012 4:29 PM

          For that matter let's go get some swords and start hacking monsters or go get guns and Rob banks or go shoot zombies :)

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        September 27, 2012 4:47 PM

        Why is that?

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        September 27, 2012 4:50 PM

        your opinion is shortsighted

      • reply
        September 27, 2012 4:56 PM

        IMO, people posts on forums need to step away from the keyboard, go outside and instead, just talk to real people :P

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          September 27, 2012 10:48 PM

          whoa there. Baby steps.

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        September 27, 2012 5:30 PM

        I both play ice hockey and nhl 13, they are both fun.

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        September 27, 2012 5:31 PM

        :P

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        September 27, 2012 5:32 PM

        Agreed. Damn fatties playing make believe video games.

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        September 27, 2012 5:47 PM

        Hey guys, I live in Texas where it's 95 degrees 75% of the year and I don't even have 11 friends that own hockey gear and want to play hockey either but fuck these lame video games I'm gonna go play hockey anyways!!!

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        September 27, 2012 10:21 PM

        [deleted]

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      September 27, 2012 4:33 PM

      LOL, que chiste!

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      September 27, 2012 10:16 PM

      Dude, its NBA basketball, they'll sell what? 4 copies?
      I think they'd have a better shot making a NCAA basketball game that people would want.

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        September 28, 2012 4:52 AM

        I live in phx and it's hot as balls out here and it's also hard to get friends to play basketball irl.

        Plus nba2k has all the teams from the good old days, how would you not like that :)

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        September 28, 2012 4:59 AM

        [deleted]

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