The NBA franchise has for all intensive purposes been an exclusive deal for 2K Games the past two years as EA has bowed out because of the inferior product they were producing. In fact I would hazard to say that 2K Games has taken the NBA franchise to the highest point video game wise it has ever been. However, this was suppose to be the year that EA and NBA Live came back with a product to match that of NBA 2K 13; this was going to be the first NBA Live game in two years.
But today EA announced that they would be in fact cancelling NBA Live 2013, and at this point I would question if we ever see the franchise again. EA Sports executive vice president Andrew Wilson had this to say on: “After a lot of consideration, we have made the decision to not launch NBA LIVE 13”; and Wilson then goes on to explain why the game was cancelled.
Wilson went on to say that the team “knew it was going to be a long journey” and that they wanted to start with new “some of the best new technology”. He then went on to talk about what caused the cancellation:
“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. And rather than launch midway through the season, we’re going to sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year’s game great.”
Wilson does say that this will help put the franchise back on track “in the future”, but he does say that he is “disappointed” that the game was not able to meet the “high expectations”. Finally he goes on to say:
“But I remain motivated about where we’re going. We’re committed to delivering new innovation in online, and our progress in the visual presentation of the game continues to take big strides. We also know that a great game starts with great gameplay, and this remains a huge priority for us.”
“This wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s the right one for our fans,” Wilson concluded. “I hope you’ll agree when you’re able to play the game next year.”
The NBA 2K franchise in my opinion is one of if not the best sports franchises on the market, so of course EA has a uphill climb In fact even though Wilson does talk about next year, I wonder if EA has lost to much ground in this battle to compete. I just hope EA doesn’t try to gain exclusive rights for the NBA the way they did with the NFL, because we all know how that turned out.
