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'Apex' crosses 70 million players as EA focuses on 'live services'
Other than the news that NBA Live will take the 19/20 season off, EA's quarterly earnings call reported revenue is up from last year, thanks largely to the games it's published as "live services." Those are the ones where it's continually rolling out updates to keep people playing longer, and paying for additional cosmetic content or expansions. While that includes the disappointment that was Anthem -- only mentioned once in prepared remarks (PDF) -- the company has found success with hits like Apex Legends, which announced it now has over 70 million players, as well as Ultimate Team features on its Madden, FIFA and NHL games.
EA's 'NBA Live' franchise is out for the season, again
One again, EA's NBA franchise is skipping a season, as the company announced during today's earnings call that NBA Live 20 has been cancelled. Three months ago the project was simply delayed with plans for a "different approach," but that won't be enough. In a prepared statement read at the beginning of the call, CEO Andrew Wilson said the company was working on something timed for release around All-Star Weekend, "an experience designed around new ways for players to engage, connect and create through basketball."
EA Sports pushes back 'NBA Live 20' release date to late 2019
EA Sports has been unusually silent about NBA Live 20 -- the game's absence from EA Play even sparked fears that it was slated for cancellation. Luckily, fans only have to wait a few more months. Polygon noted that EA released a financial report on Tuesday listing the basketball game in the third fiscal quarter of 2019, which means it'll be released between October 1st and December 31st. The game was initially expected to hit stores in September, during the same week as last year's Live 19.
EA Sports delays NBA Live 15 by three weeks
In an effort to polish the game further, EA Sports has delayed the launch of NBA Live 15 by several weeks. The game will now launch on October 28 instead of October 7, the same day as its competitor, NBA 2K15. Word of the delay comes via an open letter from Executive Producer Sean O'Brien on the publisher's site. "We think we've come a long way since the launches of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 last November, and we're still working on tuning certain areas in 5-on-5 gameplay," O'Brien said. EA Sports will start discussing the game's updates with more frequency in the coming weeks through its new gameplay blog, as well. O'Brien's made a habit of drafting open letters for the public; in November, he admitted that the developer has "a lot of work to do" following the launch of NBA Live 14, and then stated the team has "a lot to prove" in June. NBA Live 15 is in development for Xbox One and PS4. EA has a bit of a history with delaying, then eventually canceling games in the series, as both NBA Live 13 and NBA Elite 11 were canceled in September 2012 and November 2010, respectively. [Image: EA Sports]
First NBA Live 15 trailer is different, yeah it's different
NBA Live 15 received its first gameplay trailer today. The video shows off player likeness in the sports sim, along with body types and accessories like footwear. EA Sports' next basketball game will launch October 7 for Xbox One and PS4.
NBA Live 14 update expected this month, adds Shootaround mode
EA Sports has outlined a second content update for NBA Live 14, noting the presence of a Shootaround mode and visual and gameplay tweaks in the patch. EA Sports Marketer Ty Stover's tweet, spotted by Polygon, suggests the update may come "as early as Monday," but an exact date has not been shared. Shootaround will let players shoot hoops and get a handle on controls without having to outwit defenders or watch a shot clock. EA Sports describes Shootaround as the "first step" toward creating a "robust, comprehensive onboarding experience." The post states the team is looking forward to feedback for additional features desired for "next year's game," suggesting that additional, significant introductory features won't make it to NBA Live 14. For those requiring additional help with NBA Live 14, the post points to online video tutorials that break down styles of play. The update will also implement changes to ball physics, passing speeds, dribbling and first steps. The post also references lighting and color changes to address the "plastic" appearance of players in NBA Live 14. EA Sports writes that these changes are "transitional steps which not only help us right now, but as we continue to work on the franchise." A process of scanning the heads of NBA players to approach photorealism is also mentioned, with plans to utilize the work in next year's game. The planned update will follow a statement in November from NBA Live 14's executive producer, which admitted that the team had "a lot of work to do." Our review described the game as feeling "unfinished," and when compared to NBA 2K14, we felt NBA Live 14 was "nowhere near deserving of your time and money." [Image: EA]
NBA Live 14 executive producer: 'We've got a lot of work to do'
NBA Live 14 hasn't scored points with all of its fans, but a recent post from Executive Producer Sean O'Brien suggests improvements will be made to the game over the coming months. In response to complaints that the game leaves players to figure out game mechanics through trial-and-error, O'Brien stated that the team is "working on improving the way the game teaches the controls and on-boards new users." In addition to in-game efforts, O'Brien noted an "ongoing series" of livestreams via Twitch. They've already posted "Controller Guide," "Perfecting Your Style" and "Levels of the Dribble" guides on the NBA Live website to help explain mechanics. O'Brien also acknowledged disappointment with NBA Live 14's animations and stated that the team is "committed to making drastic and immediate improvements." These improvements should show up "in the coming weeks and months." On a positive note, the post references a warm reception of the game's LIVE Season features and mentions plans to add more BIG Moments and NBA Rewind games as the basketball season progresses. While O'Brien admits the team has "a lot of work to do," he also points out that NBA Live 14 is "just the first chapter in the NBA LIVE comeback story."
NBA Live 14 getting its own card-based Ultimate Team mode
EA recently announced that NBA Live 14 will receive an Ultimate Team mode of its own. Similar to the popular, money-making Ultimate Team modes found in other EA Sports series like Madden and FIFA, NBA Live 14 Ultimate Team has players collecting trading cards that constitute items like basketball players, jerseys and arenas by opening card packs. Card packs can be purchased with real money or coins earned by completing matches with your cobbled-together group of current and former basketball stars. The two avenues to compete with your team are online in games versus other players' teams as well as Fantasy Showdowns, or special offline challenges that will continually be added by EA Sports throughout the NBA season. Challenges include pitting your team against last season's stats leaders, the top players from NBA draft classes over the last two decades, real NBA line-ups and more. Fantasy Showdown challenges may also reward players with card packs instead of coins. NBA Live 14 is slated to launch November 19 on Xbox One and PS4.
NBA Live 14 hitting the court November 19
NBA Live 14 will launch November 19, EA Sports announced via Twitter. It will launch simultaneously on Xbox One and PS4, and will feature EA Sports' new Ignite Engine, specifically created to cater to the needs of the publishers' upcoming sports games. This will be the first time a game in the series has launched in four years, as NBA Live 13 was canceled in September 2012, two years after NBA Elite 11 was canceled as well. NBA Live 14 will feature Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving on the cover and the BounceTek physics dribbling system.
Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving is the cover athlete for NBA Live 14
Kyrie Irving has been named NBA Live 14's cover athlete, EA announced. Irving was the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft and proceeded to become the rookie of the year for the 2012 season. Coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this fall, NBA Live 14 will be the first installment in EA's basketball series in four years, as both NBA Live 13 and NBA Elite 11 were canceled in September 2012 and November 2010, respectively. The last game that actually launched in the series was NBA Live 10, back in October 2009. As point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Irving is an interesting choice, given that former Cavaliers and current Miami Heat forward Lebron James was selected by 2K Sports as the cover star for NBA 2K14. James was also drafted by the Cavaliers as the first overall pick in 2003 and played for the team until 2010, when he infamously announced his departure to join the Heat in his TV special, "The Decision."
EA Sports' next-gen Ignite Engine shown off in trailer form
EA Sports' next-generation Ignite Engine was on display at the Xbox One reveal event at Microsoft's Redmond campus today. We have four trailers that demonstrate the engine's capabilities, three of which can be found after the break. EA Sports Executive Vice President Andrew Wilson told attendees of the Xbox One event that the Ignite Engine will perform "four times more calculations per second" than the publisher's current offerings. Wilson said the engine will allow for 3D crowds and dynamic sidelines. EA will launch four sports games for the console within 12 months, namely FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, EA Sports UFC and NBA Live 14. Each game will be powered by the Ignite Engine.
EA tweet points to NBA Live at Xbox reveal
EA Sports' official NBA Live social media accounts sprang to life as recently as May 17 after being on hiatus since late September 2012. A recent tweet from the NBA Live team's Twitter account indicates that the game may be part of today's Xbox presentation, teasing fans with the words "Countdown to tip-off." It wouldn't be far-fetched to believe NBA Live will have a presence at today's event, given the expectation that both FIFA and EA Sports UFC will be shown, or at least teased in some capacity. NBA Live was also listed among the publisher's 11 games planned for fiscal 2014, and will be a next-gen title. This comes after NBA Live 13 was canceled in September 2012, two years after NBA Elite 11 was also canceled and the same point at which the NBA Live team's social media accounts stopped updating. That brings us full-circle, like a basketball.
Gibeau: NBA Live coming in fiscal 2014 [Update: Planned for next-gen systems]
EA will launch a game in the NBA Live series in the 2014 fiscal year (April 2013 through March 2014), President of EA Labels Frank Gibeau said during EA's fiscal 2013 year-end investor call. Gibeau listed NBA Live among the publisher's core sports titles as one of 11 games the publisher is planning for the fiscal year. The standard launch window for NBA games is in October. EA canceled NBA Live 13 in September 2012 after opting to "sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year's game great." The series has had a lengthy history of not seeing publication, starting with NBA Elite 11 being canceled in November 2010. Update: Gibeau listed NBA Live as one of the games that EA has planned for next-generation consoles. He also noted that the publisher has a "brand new engine from EA Sports," that will be seen at E3 in June.
NBA 2K13 sets franchise records, ships 4.5 million copies
The Bieber-licious NBA 2K13 has sold-in (i.e. "shipped") 4.5 million units to date, publisher Take-Two announced today as part of its third quarter financials.2K Sports previously noted NBA 2K13 sold 49 percent more worldwide during its first-week sales than previous record holder NBA 2K11. The franchise has now shipped over 15 million units since NBA 2K11.Part of the series' success has been the lack of competition from Electronic Arts. Last year's NBA Live 13 was canceled, after already being downgraded to a digitally distributed product. It was the third consecutive year EA dropped the ball and didn't show up to compete with a basketball game.
NBA assured by EA next NBA Live will meet 'mutual standard of excellence'
The NBA said it will "continue to work together with [EA] as we always have," when recently asked about the cancellation of NBA Live 13.John Acunto, VP of Marketing Communications for the NBA told Joystiq that the NBA has "had a great relationship with EA for more than 20 years. We are obviously disappointed that EA will not be releasing NBA LIVE 13 this year, but have been assured by EA that the next release of NBA LIVE will meet our mutual standards of excellence."EA's Executive VP Andrew Wilson said the team plans on "making next year's game great."Take-Two recently revealed record sales for the other major NBA licensed game this year, NBA 2K13, which sold 49 percent more in its first week than past games in the series.
NBA Live 13 canceled by EA
EA Sports has canceled NBA Live 13. The company plans on taking a full year off to work on the next game in the series."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," EA Sports Executive Vice President Andrew Wilson wrote in a news release today. "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."The news comes after an announcement on the game's delay and its absence from EA Sports' E3 showing. More notably, the cancellation of NBA Elite 11 makes this the third year in a row that EA's simulation basketball series has failed to see publication."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," Wilson wrote.
NBA Live 13 footage leaks, shows basketballs are still full of air
Some leaked footage of NBA Live 13, claimed to be from a pre-alpha build, has appeared just as we started to doubt the sports game's existence. Aside from some wooden commentating, the above video from Operation Sports shows off 10 minutes of gameplay between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder.Kotaku followed up with EA, who did indeed confirm this as NBA Live 13 footage – albeit early footage. A rep said the video "appears to be captured from a pre-alpha build months ago and is not an official EA Sports release. It does not represent a final build or feature set for NBA Live."
NBA Live coming back this fall
Remember NBA Elite? EA would prefer if you didn't. It's bringing the NBA Live series back this fall. Concurrently, EA announced a new iteration in its NCAA Football series.
EA's next basketball sim is NBA Live 13
Back in 2010, EA released a demo for an upcoming reboot of its basketball sim series, NBA Live. It was called NBA Elite 11 and the demo was, well, pretty bad -- bad enough that EA decided to cancel the game outright.Since then, we've been bugging EA about when it's going to offer another basketball title -- heck, we didn't even know if EA would get back into the basketball game-making game, period. And with the NBA 2K series dominating, it's an even steeper uphill battle for EA. But this fall, EA is bringing its basketball series back.The EA Sports Twitter account revealed today the series would return as NBA Live 13. EA says it had Cavaliers beat writer Joe Gabriele and Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving out to the studio to check out NBA Live 13, but neither could offer more info. We'll have to wait for EA's announcement for more.
NBA Elite 11 officially announced
We reported on EA's plans to reboot its basketball franchise last week and, sure enough, the company has announced NBA Elite 11 today. Set to hit the retail paint in October, NBA Elite 11 boasts "an all-new technology base, a new control scheme and a real-time physics system." It's currently only in development for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and the new physics system means that players can now move around the court independently without being tied to another player. There's also going to be a new skill-driven shooting system that will require "accurate user input" and have its success tied into player orientation on the court -- no longer will there be "random dice rolls" to determine successful shooting. Finally, EA details a new "Hands-On" control scheme, which promises 1:1 movement, doing away with those long, annoying animations of the past. Overall, it sounds like EA Canada is rebuilding things from the ground up for NBA Elite 11. But if you're going to do that, why not call it Hoop McGee and the Spalding Boys 11 or Slam Dunkerstein: The Legend of Curly's Gold 11? Why not get a bit more creative, you know?
