NBA Live 20 Confirmed; Console-Only

[Andrew]

As reported by The Gaming Tailgate, the latest financial report from EA confirms NBA Live 20, and that it will be a console only release.



Unfortunate, but unsurprising. The series still has to reestablish itself and gain momentum before it expands to other platforms, such as PC and Switch. The fact that Madden 20 and FIFA 20 are going to be PC releases bodes well though, in so much as being an indication that EA isn't abandoning the platform. Maybe some day for NBA Live, but not this year. NBA Live 20 itself has been confirmed however, in case there was any doubt.

[coolbreeze24]

Well, this sucks......again.

[[Q]]

It's a catch 22. if you don't buy NBA Live 20, if you don't buy the console games, they'll never make a PC version

[matmat66]

I just hope there is retro content available in play now and offline mode.

[Andrew]

Agreed. I feel a lot of things need to come together in NBA Live 20, to take that next big step.

[Angeles]

Agreed. I always play better with golf rangefinders than without and feel a lot of things need to come together in NBA Live 20, to take that next big step.

I wonder what goes into a decision to make more drastic changes in games like NBA Live.

[sticky-fingers]

It's really a shame, on this gen, a "PC port" isnt a real deal for this kind of company.

[Andrew]

I guess it's about sales and getting the game to where it needs to be on the primary platforms. Fingers crossed a return is in the pipeline.

[PeacemanNOT]

Only just saw this now. That sucks, was hoping they'd finally bring it back.

[Andrew]

I could be wrong, I'm only going by that listing. It's been a reliable indicator in years gone by though, so I'm not getting my hopes up at this point.

[ThePointForward]

It's probably similar to getting the game done in Frostbite. Which BTW I'm on on the verge of whether that's gonna be good or bad for NBA Live.

While we, players, like Frostbite for how well it typically runs and looks, devs apparently dread working with it. There's only so much manpower the Frostbite support team can produce to help other teams with implementation of the engine.
Frostbite was apparently partially reason of why Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem crashed like they did - main reason was managerial failure, but Frostbite caused headaches too. (interesting read here)

Basically the BioWare devs had to for example make their own manual save and load features for the Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Now think about how many features they'd have to make for an NBA game.

And that's where it ties back into the sales. FIFA as the main cash cow of EA gets preferential treatment. NBA is not anywhere close to FIFA to get the same level of support internally.

[Andrew]

Yeah, moving to Frostbite sounds like a headache, and isn't necessarily the answer to all the game's problems besides.

[ThePointForward]

I'd say if they're gonna switch to frostbite we might get PC version. Could see it happen next gen - alongside PS5 and new Xbox. After all Microsoft seems to be starting to push Xbox-PC compatibility so there might be some internal pressure between MS and publishers.

[Andrew]

It might be a generational thing, for sure. It sounds like something they'd need to work in the background to avoid any kinks as much as possible.

[Patr1ck]

That is a red flag for me when considering Live 20 if frostbite is a feature. When they change the engine, they have more work to port over the code and make sure it works right.

[[Q]]

NBA Live 19 is a red flag for Live 20. I won't be suckered into a pre-order for sure this year

[Andrew]

I feel let down by NBA Live 19, too.

[[Q]]

So many positives about 18, despite them breaking the game late in the season with a patch that made shots impossible
I was so hyped for 19 and wanted to see where they would improve

[Andrew]

Incremental improvements, a few missteps, and not enough improvement to the modes with too much focus on The One, The Streets in particular. NBA Live 20 needs to be something special.

[Patr1ck]

Incremental improvements, a few missteps, and not enough improvement to the modes with too much focus on The One, The Streets in particular. NBA Live 20 needs to be something special.

Yeah, and if they had improved the One and the Streets modes enough so they were a blast to play, there might be less focus on shortcomings of other modes. Do you think they only have time to make improvements for just two modes?

[Andrew]

I think the smaller development team has played a big role, but focus/vision/direction is also an issue. I still don't know who this new demographic they're going for is, because it's really about taking people away from 2K (or at the very least, encouraging people to get both games). To do that, they'll need to some of the things 2K is doing, albeit in their own way. NBA Live can't be a viable alternative unless they can offer some of the things that people want out of 2K (and by an extension, a sim-oriented 5v5 NBA video game).

[[Q]]

Incremental improvements, a few missteps, and not enough improvement to the modes with too much focus on The One, The Streets in particular. NBA Live 20 needs to be something special.

Yeah, and if they had improved the One and the Streets modes enough so they were a blast to play, there might be less focus on shortcomings of other modes. Do you think they only have time to make improvements for just two modes?

World tour was fun but no replayability. Live run sucks because who has time to play a full game. Loved court battles but I ran out of stuff to buy when I got all the hardwood classic logos I wanted

[Andrew]

Court Battles was a cool idea, but it did feel repetitive after a while.

[[Q]]

I think with the 3 different xp bars the game was too grindy. I got to level 20 for court battles but level 19 and 20 were hell to get through. I calculated it out and it was like at least 40-50 games to level up and it was a daunting task but somehow I eventually got it

[Andrew]

Fortunately improving your One Player felt a lot less grindy compared to NBA 2K, and the higher starting ratings helped as well. That being said, I still felt myself more drawn to MyCAREER.