EA pulls the plug on another NBA release

While it hasn't launched a simulation basketball game since 2009, Electronic Arts has decided to go yet another year without a major NBA title. On Thursday afternoon the major publisher announced that it has canceled NBA Live 13, making it EA's second consecutive basketball simulation that won't see the light of day. In November of 2010, EA suddenly pulled the plug on NBA Elite 11, saying the title wasn't ready for launch and that the company "wasn't willing to "ship a product [it wasn't] proud of and compete for marginal share." The company took a year off and was ready to get back into the game with NBA Live 13, though it seems that title has gone through similar issues. Since NBA Elite 11, the NBA franchise has switched over from EA Canada to EA Tiburon, and EA Sports EVP Andrew Wilson said in a recent blog post that even with the change in team, development hasn't quite gone according to schedule. "Having continued to look at the game over the past few days, it's clear that we won't be ready in October. 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," Wilson said. Ever since EA stepped away from its basketball simulations, competing publisher 2K has been free to dominate the market with its continually successful NBA 2K franchise. Wilson, however, said that EA is committed to returning to the NBA franchise in 2013, and he believes this extra time will help the studio meet the quality bar it's shooting for. "I'm disappointed that we have not yet met our high expectations with NBA Live, but I remain motivated about where we're going... This wasn't an easy decision, but it's the right one for our fans. I hope you'll agree when you're able to play the game next year," he said.