The NBA Live franchise returned to the virtual hoops court last fall and landed with a whimper when compared to the more seasoned and polished entry from 2K Sports. Despite coming up short in their return, EA Sports did not give up and has been hard at work on NBA Live 15 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
The sophomore new-gen return for NBA Live 15 took a blow earlier this week when EA Sports confirmed that the game would not make an appearance at E3 next week, despite 2K Sports debuting the first gameplay footage from NBA 2K15 at the big show. EA Sports already had a hole to climb out of and negative PR ahead of E3 is exactly what they didn’t need.
As a consolation, NBA Live 15 executive producer Sean O’Brien released an open letter via the official NBA Live website to provide an update on the game. In the letter, shown below in its entirety, O’Brien talks about what failed in NBA Live 14 that he and his team aim to fix in NBA Live 15, as well as when they plan to start releasing assets for the game.
EA Sports basically needs to hit a full-court shot to put the NBA Live franchise back in the same league with NBA 2K, especially considering both games are releasing on October 7. The latter dominated sales for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and continues to dominate social media with their ambassador, Ronnie 2K, continually conversing with fans and offering in-game freebies.
This letter is a good first step, but those NBA Live 15 assets better look amazing.
Hey NBA LIVE fans… it’s been a while since you heard from us, so I felt it was time to give you a little insight into what our team’s been working on over the last few months. First and foremost, I’m proud to announce that NBA LIVE 15 will be available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 7. We’re looking forward to delivering a great game that we think you’ll really enjoy, all in time for the start of the next NBA season.
As I’ve said previously, we know we fell short in two major areas with NBA LIVE 14. 5-on-5 gameplay didn’t have the depth and polish of an EA SPORTS game and our visuals just weren’t up to expectations for a next-gen title. We’ve been laser-focused on making sure that this isn’t the case with NBA LIVE 15 and I’m really excited with our progress in those two areas.
If you’ve been following our website and social channels over the last several months, you’ve likely seen the behind-the-scenes photos of our head scans with several NBA players. We’ve scanned a majority of the league, and the new player heads, combined with refined player models and new lighting, makes our characters look really amazing. I’m looking forward to sharing more details in the next few weeks, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with everything we’ve done with our visuals this cycle.
We’ve also seen some great progress with gameplay that makes the experience more realistic and, most importantly, more fun with a much better overall flow. We want teams to play just like their real-world counterparts, and to that end we’ve spent a lot of time this season talking with NBA coaches to better understand their schemes and philosophies, which we can then implement in-game. Another equally important area of focus is improving flow and responsiveness in every area where you touch the ball, and we feel that shooting, passing and dribbling all feel much better this year.
We have very lofty goals for NBA LIVE 15, and we knew that the most important thing we could do to improve our chances for achieving these goals was to put our heads down and work as hard as possible with minimal distractions. With that in mind, let me give you some insight into our plans to release assets for the game.
We’ll start sharing gameplay details in July, and will continue to provide in-depth insight through August and September. During this time there will be plenty of content popping up here on the NBA LIVE website, as well as hands-on previews from your favorite sports and gaming outlets. We know we’ve got a lot to prove this year, and we’ve got a solid plan in place to provide you with all the details and take the first steps to making NBA LIVE 15 a game you’re excited to play.
Last but not least, I want to take a moment to thank all of our loyal fans who continue to believe in us. Your feedback, encouragement and positivity is genuinely appreciated and has helped further motivate our team to make really big strides this year. You all are the heartbeat of this franchise, and I can’t wait to share with you how far we’ve come. It’s going to be a great year, and we can’t wait to get back out on the floor.
– Sean O’Brien, Executive Producer for NBA LIVE 15
Source: NBA Live
