Doing the Right Thing: Canceling NBA Elite 11

IGN: I have to imagine copious Champagne was chugged by 2K Sports this fall. Not only had the team produced the incredible NBA 2K11 with His Airness on the cover, but the series' longtime adversary, NBA Live, crashed and burned. Following a name change to NBA Elite, EA was forced to first delay the title and eventually cancel this year's game.

With a lockout looming over next season and 2K almost certainly pushing the NBA for exclusive publishing rights, holding off on releasing a basketball sim this year is a major risk for EA. I caught up with Andrew Wilson, head of worldwide development for EA Sports to talk about the decision to cancel NBA Elite. Wilson told me, "We're proud that we made the choice to not just put something out there that wasn't good."