Hard data is never provided, of course, but GameStop sales rankings last year suggested that Live 19 - a good game - sold about as well as the Nintendo Switch version of NBA 2K19. NBA Live 18 and NBA Live 19 were not commercial successes. But this was still at least a meaningful brand differentiator. Maybe EA would be killed for having the audacity to sell something like loot boxes under a brand as damaged as NBA Live. Investors may not feel their money has been wasted. And nothing about player advancement could be influenced by money, where it is in NBA 2K20. The cosmetics, customizations and other upgrades in NBA Live 19’s career and online modes were all effectively unlockable - earned with an in-game currency that couldn’t be bought with real money. The next console generation is no promise, either EA leaned on that idea with NBA Live 14, and it was terrible.įrom the player’s perspective, NBA Live going AWOL is a downer because it was at least a symbolic repudiation of the NBA 2K’s insistence on monetizing everything. So I don’t understand why any money-paying video gamer should trust that another NBA Live will be on shelves next year, or care if actually is. EA Tiburon didn’t try to reinvent the wheel again, in other words, which makes this a betrayal of their work, in my view.
On Tuesday, I asked an EA Sports representative two times if development problems were the reason, and was told no. But the publisher cannot expect the same kind of forbearance for a cancellation after supposedly getting everything back to stable footing, and telling everyone the troubled times had passed. Everyone loves a comeback story, after all.
As for the general public, you can cancel a game like NBA Live two times and still get interest when you manage to hit it right and on time, as EA Sports did in 20. NBA Live 20 was promised as packaged goods in the previous two quarters, after all. But some kind of query like “What does all this cost and why are you still in this,” from the people who either put large amounts of money into the company or advise their clients to do so, would seem to be in order. Morgan to step in with a show of consumer advocacy. I’m not expecting the folks from Piper Jaffray or J.P. You’d think this kind of a misfire, especially after two games that arrived on-time and were distinct and enjoyable (even if they weren’t commercial successes) would get at least one question from investors.
I’ve heard some form of this assurance before, from executives like Peter Moore and producers like Sean O’Brien, and I still have to wonder what makes it worthwhile, to either the league or the publisher, to stay in this pot.ĮA’s NBA Live series has failed to launch five times this decade. “With great support from the NBA and the NBA Players Association, we have been working on an innovated new direction for our game,” he told investors on Tuesday. Look for the playable demo on August 11.įrankly, we're surprised it has taken this long for the WNBA to take the court in a video game but better late than never.“We are obviously disappointed that EA will not be releasing NBA Live this year, but have been assured by EA that the next release will meet our mutual standards of excellence.”Īnd yet it’s still applicable in 2019, if comments from Electronic Arts chief executive Andrew Wilson, announcing the cancellation of NBA Live yet again, can be taken at face value. NBA Live 18 releases for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later this year.
I don’t want to give away any surprises for the full launch of the game.” When I asked him if WNBA players were at least coming to Ultimate Team in NBA Live 18, Mahar said, “Potentially. Though producer Mike Mahar says EA Sports hopes to expand the WNBA presence into other modes like The One and dynasty in future years, for Live 18 users can only access the rosters via Play Now or online versus.
EA says the “teams and player skills have been specifically balanced to reflect the unique playstyle of the league.”
NBA Live 18 will be the first game to feature WNBA teams and players.ĮA Sports took the same approach to adding the WNBA as they do with every professional league, motion capturing players like 2017 first overall pick Kelsey Plum of the San Antonio Stars and adding facial scans for high profile players like Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Diana Taurasi, and others. Today EA Sports announced its basketball franchise is expanding into the women’s league.