Electronic Arts late yesterday in its quarterly earnings report said that it will not release a version of “NBA Live” this year and is delaying the typical fall release of the game until early ’17. The “NBA Live” franchise has long been challenged, with a failed attempt to rebrand the game as “NBA Elite,” missed years of production and 2K Sports’ rival “NBA 2K” series standing as one of the most popular video games regardless of genre. “NBA Live” Exec Producer Sean O’Brien said EA Sports is focusing in the near term on building its NBA business on mobile. “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,” O’Brien said in an open letter on EA Sports’ website. “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 and most accessible gaming platform -- mobile.” EA overall reported net revenue of $4.4B in the FY ending March 31, down slightly from $4.5B the prior year. However, net income rose from $875M to $1.16B. Sports titles were a key driver in EA’s earnings, with more than 54 million unique players engaged with EA Sports console titles during the fiscal year, up 65% from the prior year.
