• NBA Live 17 Delayed To Q1 2017 For Consoles

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    JBHuskers
    Published on 05-10-2016 05:23 PM
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    EA SPORTS has announced that they will be focusing on a mobile game for this fall and will be pushing the release of the console version of the next NBA Live game to Q1 of 2017. Continue on to read the letter from Executive Producer Sean O'Brien.

    NBA LIVE Mobile is currently available for Canadian Apple & Android users. The game is similar to Madden NFL Mobile and LIVE Ultimate Team as users complete challenges to acquire in-game coins and earn/purchase packs towards new players and other game-related items.

    A History of Delays

    Delays and/or cancellations have unfortunately become a regular occurrence for the franchise.

    NBA Live 10: October 6, 2009.
    NBA Elite 11: October 5, 2010. Indefinitely delayed on September 27, 2010. Cancelled on November 2, 2010.
    NBA Live 13: Cancelled on September 27, 2012.
    NBA Live 14: Released November 19, 2013.
    NBA Live 15: October 7, 2014. Delayed until October 28, 2014.
    NBA Live 16: Released September 29, 2015.
    NBA Live 17: Delayed until 2017 on May 10, 2016.


    Will it work?

    Historically a game delay has meant bad things for a franchise. However, when competing with the giant that is NBA 2K, this could be a positive if leveraged correctly. While LIVE has been received more positively each year, it has not been reflected in sales. As EA SPORTS has attempted to make LIVE a passion for basketball gamers, NBA 2K has shown to be their religion, proving that a change of some sort is necessary.

    It was not realistic to expect basketball fans to spend $120 on the same week for two basketball titles. For example, if NBA LIVE 17 releases in February 2017, it could come at a time where some NBA 2K gamers are ready to trade in 2K17 for a different basketball game during the stretch-run of the season.

    The long NBA season is also a benefit as - if properly/significant marketed - LIVE could piggy-back on some of the league's top storylines when released in early 2017.

    With this significant delay, expectations will be high even despite lackluster sales and some less than impressive reviews since the franchise returned with NBA LIVE 14. The 'new and exciting ... experience' O'Brien talks about will come with a high mark that must be met, especially if the franchise wishes to build towards the future in what now likely seems to be a do-or-die year.


    The letter from Executive Producer Sean O'Brien:

    Hey LIVE fans:

    I want to share some important updates on what’s next for NBA LIVE and give you an overview of where we’re going with the franchise over the course of this year.

    It’s important that you know that we are committed to NBA LIVE in the console space. While we won’t be shipping a product this Fall, we will be back on the courts with something new and exciting for you to experience in early 2017.

    Our focus this year is to deliver an amazing, high-quality basketball game to a global audience. The best way to do that is through the fastest growing, largest, and most accessible gaming platform…mobile. As a team, we’re really excited about taking the franchise to new places with the worldwide release of our mobile game later this year.

    More details to follow in the coming months!

    Sean O’Brien
    Executive Producer, NBA LIVE
    1. Categories:
    2. NBA Live
    Tags: nba live
    Comments 20 Comments
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty - 05-10-2016, 05:57 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      EA SPORTS has just announced that they will be focusing on a mobile game for this fall, and will be pushing the release of the console version of the next NBA Live game to Q1 of 2017.

      Our focus this year is to deliver an amazing, high-quality basketball game to a global audience. The best way to do that is through the fastest growing, largest, and most accessible gaming platform…mobile. As a team, we’re really excited about taking the franchise to new places with the worldwide release of our mobile game later this year.
      So we take a dump on the ones who have been buying and supporting Live on consoles, which also caters to a global audience. But all those beautiful mobile micro-transactions where you can trick 10 year olds into buying a bunch of stuff because dad forgot to password protect his (insert mobile device here). Quality marketing job! This reeks of discontinuing a series. Just pack that shit up and make a remaster of NBA Street V2.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes - 05-10-2016, 08:24 PM
      Man, they really want to kill this game. No one is going to buy it in the Spring, they'll all just buy NBA 2K this October and never give NBA Live a second thought when it finally does release after the season is nearly over.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy - 05-10-2016, 08:47 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      Man, they really want to kill this game. No one is going to buy it in the Spring, they'll all just buy NBA 2K this October and never give NBA Live a second thought when it finally does release after the season is nearly over.
      My thoughts exactly.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 - 05-10-2016, 11:04 PM
      I suspect you will NOT see another NBA Live game unless maybe it's a digital download.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers - 05-11-2016, 09:39 AM
      It won't be the spring, sounds like quarter one so January to March.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy - 05-11-2016, 04:15 PM
      That is still a disaster when 2k sells millions on week 1. Might as well take a full cycle off.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty - 05-11-2016, 07:07 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      I suspect you will NOT see another NBA Live game unless maybe it's a digital download.
      I have seen it tossed around that it could end up being one of those Free to Play games where they make their money on micro-transactions. Especially when they are prioritizing a mobile game.

      Still I think the game will just be cancelled. It's NBA Elite 11 Redux.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers - 05-12-2016, 01:55 PM
      Sucks cuz Live 16 is good, the return of Live Run worked really well too. They just didn't promote this at all.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj - 05-12-2016, 04:44 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by bdoughty View Post
      I have seen it tossed around that it could end up being one of those Free to Play games where they make their money on micro-transactions. Especially when they are prioritizing a mobile game.
      It wouldn't shock me to see Ultimate Team be 'F2P' with the other modes being sold individually. Realistically, both basketball titles could (should?) be selling LIVE Pro-Am/2K Pro-Am & My Park, etc. as their own individual game for $10-20. The modes mentioned could be argued as having little to nothing to do with the NBA (aside from use of licensed logos/apparel) and their own game anyways.
    1. Hank's Avatar
      Hank - 05-16-2016, 02:46 PM
      This news only angers me more.
      Why the EFF won't EA give up trying to force their basketball game down our throats and not make an MLB game?!?!?! There is no way anyone in EA can tell me that they make more money with Live than they would producing a new MLB title???

      And it's clear they are trying to avoid the NBA2K release and praying that gamers will hopefully be bored by February so they buy Live 17.

      However, the fact that they are focused on a mobile NBA game speaks volumes. They are effectively laying down, bending over and telling 2K to 'insert here please'.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers - 05-16-2016, 02:54 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Hank View Post
      This news only angers me more.
      Why the EFF won't EA give up trying to force their basketball game down our throats and not make an MLB game?!?!?! There is no way anyone in EA can tell me that they make more money with Live than they would producing a new MLB title???

      And it's clear they are trying to avoid the NBA2K release and praying that gamers will hopefully be bored by February so they buy Live 17.

      However, the fact that they are focused on a mobile NBA game speaks volumes. They are effectively laying down, bending over and telling 2K to 'insert here please'.
      A baseball game from scratch on current gen consoles and you could replace every mention of 2K in your post with The Show.
    1. Hank's Avatar
      Hank - 05-16-2016, 03:29 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      A baseball game from scratch on current gen consoles and you could replace every mention of 2K in your post with The Show.
      I'm not sure about that.
      The Show sells a meager 500K copies a year. NBA2K sells over 4M.

      MVP 2004 sold 2.5M copies back in the day.
      I think EA could poop in a case, slap MVP '17 on it and it'd sell 1M copies on the Xbox platform by itself.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy - 05-16-2016, 04:52 PM
      Plus the Show isn't on xbox. Huge difference.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty - 05-16-2016, 05:16 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Hank View Post
      I'm not sure about that.
      The Show sells a meager 500K copies a year. NBA2K sells over 4M.

      MVP 2004 sold 2.5M copies back in the day.
      I think EA could poop in a case, slap MVP '17 on it and it'd sell 1M copies on the Xbox platform by itself.
      The baseball market is not what it once was in regards to video games. The Show only sells around 500,000-750-000 and that is on the most popular console, with most baseball fans having moved over to Sony due to no baseball on the Xbox One.

      MVP 17 would struggle to meet the sales The Show has. Don't you think that is baseball was such a gold mine EA would have done something to get the license 2Ksports gave up on?
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy - 05-16-2016, 05:21 PM
      That is the current market because the Show is virtually the same game for the past ten years. i personally think people do want something different and EA was the highest selling baseball game on ps2. Can they regain those sales? I don't know. NBA 2K grew their market share a lot starting with 2k11 so it's not like the markets are always stagnant. But you can certainly bet they would do better in the baseball market with no competition on xbox than going up against NBA 2k.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty - 05-16-2016, 05:41 PM
      Yeah, they would have a better chance in baseball but that still does not meant the numbers are there. While there is a void, EA has not been jumping up and down to capture it and it is a sport that falls well into their Ultimate Team Card game wheelhouse.

      I think it is a bit disingenuous to say MLB The Show is basically the same game the past 10 years.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy - 05-16-2016, 06:00 PM
      The Show has had the same feel for a long time. It has a small development team and the feel and game play hasn't changed very much at all. The last big change was the new pitching interfaces over the last seven years (pulse and analog). Matty V should have been replaced years ago for a fresh feel if nothing else.
    1. Hank's Avatar
      Hank - 05-17-2016, 07:48 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by bdoughty View Post
      Yeah, they would have a better chance in baseball but that still does not meant the numbers are there. While there is a void, EA has not been jumping up and down to capture it and it is a sport that falls well into their Ultimate Team Card game wheelhouse.

      I think it is a bit disingenuous to say MLB The Show is basically the same game the past 10 years.
      I think an argument could definitely be made that The Show has been largely unchanged over the past 5 or 6 years.
      I played the crap out of '09 and '10 and have barely played the series since because it feels like I'm playing the same game.
      Even watching video's of '16, it's like I'm watching a touched up version of '10.

      The biggest issues is the player models and animations. They're no different and it makes the game look very dated. Same can be said for the commentary. Very little has been altered in the way of sounds.
      The only major gameplay mechanic they've really added over the past 5 years is Pulse Pitching. And that's weak sauce compared to 2K's analog pitching.

      I would bet my last dollar that EA would outsell The Show 2:1 if they came out with a game tomorrow.
      Right or wrong, the masses know the EA brand. And there are many baseball gamer's dying for a change of pace. I know I'm one of them. I am completely bored to tears of The Show's brand of baseball.

      The reasons I see EA refusing to make a baseball game in favour of a basketball game are these:
      1. The NBA is clearly a hotter sport than MLB. The ratings and money earned show this.
      2. NBA 2K is selling 4M+ every year. Who wouldn't want at least half that market?
      3. The Show, which everyone seems to believe is the 2nd best sports game on the market, only sells 500K per year. So maybe EA believes the market isn't very good.
      4. EA is still bitter that MLB went exclusive AND chose 2K over them.
      5. MLB overvalues their license.

      I think point 5 is a major one. At one time there were 4 or 5 different balls games produced every year. Now there's only 1?
      You can't tell me that there aren't interested companies who want to make an MLB game. I believe MLB's price tag is scaring off potential buyers.

      I also think a lot of companies, including EA, are misjudging the market. Every year we hear about how baseball is dying, especially with young kids, and yet it only generates close to $10B a year.
      It's become almost cliche.

      There are many ball fans out there dying for something new. Slap EA's name on it, and it'll fly off the shelves.
      You only have to look at MVP's last numbers on the PS2 compared to The Show's. They clearly outsold them. The same would happen again if EA were to revitalize the series.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj - 06-22-2016, 11:57 PM
      After it appeared the game may be rebranded to a 'non-year' NBA LIVE, the game's Twitter account has been referring to the game as NBA LIVE 17 and says they will have details on the game "soon." (That answer came in response to a question on if the game will be switching to the Frostbite engine.)

    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty - 06-23-2016, 09:39 AM
      Well the Live series is pretty Frostbit so it would only be a natural progression.