For the second time (what, since 2010?) EA Sports has cancelled (or postponed) their annual basketball game. This comes from their official site.

After a lot of consideration, we have made the decision to not launch NBA LIVE 13. I'd like to give you a bit of perspective.

When we started the process of bringing back NBA LIVE, we knew it was going to be a long journey. We started by moving the game to a new studio. We brought in some of the best new technology that has helped fuel innovation in our other games. We launched an even deeper level of engagement with our community to gather more feedback directly from fans. And we built a whole new development team to bring it all to life. We felt like we were on the right path.

We also made a commitment to deliver a high quality experience — this is what our fans expect and what we demand of ourselves at EA SPORTS. 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. 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. This decision puts us on the right track for success well into the future in a rapidly changing industry.

I'm disappointed that we have not yet met our high expectations with NBA LIVE, but I remain motivated about where we're going. 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.

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.

Andrew Wilson
Executive Vice President, EA SPORTS

It seems crazy to me that EA has done this again not long before the release of their basketball game. They were closer with Elite 11 but this is still pretty ridiculous.

Wow that is kinda crazy. They must be pretty paranoid about the game and who can blame em, the 2k series is constantly tearing it up even with no competition.

Jeez, you figure they would just slap it on the nhl engine or something just to recoup some money. It would be a trainwreck, but a glorious one

Well if they're building a new EA Sports game from the ground-up you can't expect them to be ready in a year. That's just silly. They are able to release FIFA/Madden/etc. games annually because each installment is but a modest incrementation on the previous one.

@Sackmanjones said:

Wow that is kinda crazy. They must be pretty paranoid about the game and who can blame em, the 2k series is constantly tearing it up even with no competition.

Nah, I think they saw the NBA Baller Beats QL yesterday, and after that they knew their game cannot compete against a game of such baller magnificence.

EA's NBA games are becoming not unlike the majestic sasquatch. Seen only from a distance in heavily edited video form before vanishing into the forest.