NBA Elite 11 Cancels, Will NBA Elite 12 Come?

EA is taking an drastic step to rival NBA 2K11, claiming that it has canceled NBA Elite 11. We think that it is a right move with NBA Elite, and we just hope for the NBA Elite 12 coming soon.

This year turned that comparison on its head, when EA announced the franchise reboot of its seasonal basketball sim, NBA Elite 11, would not accompany the tip-off of its real-world counterpart.

Now, EA has taken an even more drastic step, announcing as part of a post-earnings conference call today that it has canceled NBA Elite 11 outright. Additional details on the cancelation were not revealed, with EA saying only that future development in the franchise would be handled by Madden NFL studio EA Tiburon. Previously, NBA Elite 11 had been in development at EA Canada, which was the target of "seasonal roll-offs" last week.

Analysts have predicted a sizable hole in EA's earnings due to NBA Elite 11's delay and now cancelation. According to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, EA stands to lose up to $60 million due to the absence of its annual basketball sim. He went on to note that Take-Two Interactive stands to gain tremendously from EA's absence from the court this year, predicting most of those who would have picked up NBA Elite 11 will now purchase NBA 2K11.

Built around a more "hands-on control" scheme than its NBA Live predecessors, NBA Elite 11 was to emphasize player movement and skill-based shooting. For an idea of where EA is looking to take its basketball sim franchise, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of NBA Elite 11.

Originally scheduled to launch in September against rival NBA 2K11, the game was postponed indefinitely just before release.

CFO Eric Brown said the publisher plans to move forward with the NBA Elite franchise, but it will now be handled by its Tiburon studio instead of Black Box.

EA is making the right move with NBA Elite. If it hopes to compete with NBA 2K11, which was, according to many critics, the best basketball sim ever made, EA will have to seriously up its game. Expect NBA Elite 12 in September 2011.