EA Sports has cancelled this year’s edition of its NBA Live franchise, making the news official on Tuesday after the game’s release had been previously delayed to after the start of the season.
The company’s chief executive, Andrew Wilson, gave the official news to investors on Tuesday, telling them they would be refocusing efforts for the franchise on the next-generation consoles set to come out soon from PlayStation and Xbox, via Polygon.
“We’re not launching a new NBA Live HD product this season,” Wilson said in prepared remarks. “Instead, we’re expanding our vision, leaning hard into the new leading-edge platforms, and taking the time to ensure we deliver against the opportunity for our players.”
“We’re excited by what we’ve built so far, and yet we know the world is changing,” Wilson said. “New platforms are coming that will bring social connection, accessibility and player creativity to the fore. In a future of new possibilities, players shouldn’t be content with a game built for today’s realities and based on what we know to be possible, we feel we can go so much further with the new design.”
For nearly a decade, EA Sports has struggled to gain traction with its basketball franchise, falling well behind NBA 2K in terms of sales and impact. There were positive signs for NBA Live after its last two editions seemed to be building a solid foundation, but for whatever reason, they weren’t able to deliver this year’s game on the level they wanted and plan to take their time to come out with a game ready for the next generation of consoles.
The company released an official statement that echoed what Wilson said on the investor’s call.
— EA SPORTS NBA LIVE (@EASPORTSNBA) October 29, 2019
For those hoping Live would push 2K to create a better game, particularly when it comes to the career mode, they’ll have to wait another year, at least.
