NBA Live 13 Officially Cancelled

It’s been a tumultuous summer for the return of the NBA Live series which, early on, actually looked somewhat promising. Things began to crumble though with a sham of a promotion for a community event, a horrible showing at E3, EA Sports going into hiding despite rumblings of trouble and various rumors, and leaked footage that showed the game in a poor light. The game was recently “delayed” though cancellation looked to be the most likely outcome.

The final nail in the coffin was likely that footage which was far more representative of what a final product would have been than the company would admit to. They may have also come to their senses on plans to release the game as a digital download.

In covering Live 13 the prospect of an outright cancellation was something realistic and mentioned frequently and that ultimately did come to fruition. The brand will be far less damaged – if there are long term hopes from EA and they do claim there will be a Live 14 – by cancelling rather than delaying and releasing a sub-par product. That though won’t deflect the embarrassment of being unable to ship a basketball game for three years and potentially longer.