NBA Live 14 News: EA Admits Gameplay, Other Features Not Working

One of the more mediocre and quickly fading launch titles for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 was NBA Live 14 from EA Games. The game has so far been overshadowed by the superior NBA 2K 14, and now EA has gone on the record admitting the game's not as good as the company wanted it to be.

In an open letter to fans on EA's official website, producer Sean O'Brien admits that the game's launch has not succeeded the way the company had hoped, and improvements are needed for NBA Live 14:

"I'm not going to lie; it's been a rough week. As you can imagine, this isn't exactly the NBA LIVE comeback story we were hoping for this year. We hear loud and clear that some of you are disappointed in various aspects of NBA LIVE 14, and I'm sorry if the game doesn't live up to your expectations."

The first improvement coming to the game: help users figure out the game mechanics and get into the game without dealing with a frustrating tutorial system:

"First, you've told us that the game is too hard to learn, and that the only way to figure it out is through frustrating trial-and-error. As a result, we are working on improving the way the game teaches the controls and on-boards new users. We realize that every single one of you is a new user and know we need to make the game easier to understand and simpler to pick up and play."

O'Brien also clarified that the company is working on polishing the graphics.

"You've also let us know that you're disappointed by the graphics and animations, and I can tell you that we are committed to making drastic and immediate improvements. In order to get gameplay up and running this year we had to prioritize. We felt authentic gameplay, control and the connected experience would provide the best foundation for the future. As a result, game visuals and animation polish suffered. Improvements on these fronts are also in development now for NBA LIVE 14. You will notice in the coming weeks and months that the game's visuals and animation will improve significantly."

Finally, the producer said thank you to fans who bought the game and promised that EA will work hard to make the game as good as it was designed to be:

"...for those of you who have supported us throughout this development cycle and continue to have our backs now, thank you. We've got a lot of work to do; I've got a lot of work to do. It started 12 months ago, and continues until we build this franchise bigger and better than it ever was. This is just the first chapter in the NBA LIVE comeback story."