Today’s news out of EA Sports is both disappointing and completely expected. The studio canceledNBA Live 20, marking the fourth time this has happened in the last decade. As reported byPolygon, EA chief executive Andrew Wilson told investors that the team was going to move development to next-gen consoles and forgo a 2019 release. The team also shared a short statement on theNBA LiveTwitter, which you can see below.
Unfortunately, this news is not surprising in the least. EA already delayed the game back in August and this franchise has obviously been troubled since the debacle that wasNBA Elite 11. Plus, the NBA season kicked off last week. You have to assume that was the last reasonable window to put out a basketball game this year. That said, this felt like a yearNBA Livehad a chance to finally make some inroads on the much more popularNBA 2Kfranchise.
2K20is absolutely riddled with microtransactions. True, I don’t trust EA to not also fill their game with “surprise mechanics”. However, there was a chance they could deliver something less gross than2K20and garner some goodwill. They also had an opportunity to really build something different around their “The Streets” mode fromNBA Live 19.
Instead, they’ve decided to throw the game away and refocus on next-gen. It’s not necessarily a bad long term move, but you have to wonder what direction they’re going to take. With their recent success with live service games likeApex Legends, it will be interesting to see what they can come up with to fit their basketball title into that window.
Of course, there is a new factor that bears mentioning. The NCAA just ruled that college players can now profit from their name and likeness. If cancelingNBA Live 20means they’re getting back to makingMarch Madnessgames, then this is a move I can get behind. Sadly, this being EA, I don’t have much faith in them. Hope I’m wrong, though.
