Since Ea Sports revived their “NBA Live” series following a four-year hiatus in 2013, they have not fared well at all against the juggernaut that is 2K Games “NBA 2K” series. After taking 2016 off and spending extra time on the upcoming “NBA Live 18,” they are hoping it can fully compete. Now they are doing something never done before in a basketball video game. Today, EA Sports announced the inclusion of WNBA players and teams in their game.
EA Sports' past history of innovation
The “NBA Live” series has been known for trying new things, as they routinely included international teams playing under FIBA rules for years in their games.
EuroLeague play last appeared in “NBA Live 09” before being added to “NBA 2K14” for the first time back in 2013.
Back in 2015, EA Sports also added female players for the first time in their “FIFA 16” video game. They added 12 women's national soccer teams to the game that year and had American Soccer star Alex Morgan share the U.S. regional cover of the game with Lionel Messi. Now with “NBA Live 18,” EA Sports has once again taken the opportunity to innovate and expand basketball to more people by adding the WNBA to their game.
WNBA players will be part of the digital basketball landscape
The rosters of all 12 WNBA teams and their players will only be available to play in “NBA Live 18.” There will be a new WNBA Play Now mode added to the game so that the teams, along with authentic courts and jerseys, can be used.
In a statement released by the executive producer of the game, Sean O'Brien, he teased that “This is only a taste of what we have in store.” He also added that they are looking forward to working with the WNBA on more integration into the game in the future.
WNBA stars scanned into the game
Besides being playable in WNBA Play Now, EA Sports also brought in many of the league's stars to have their heads scanned into the game.
These included past MVPs Elena Delle Donne, Maya Moore, and Diana Taurasi, as well as 2016's Rookie of the Year Breanna Stewart and the 1st pick of the 2017 WNBA Draft Kelsey Plum. Others known to have been scanned are Tina Charles, Brittney Griner, and Sue Bird.
The game will not allow for players to give WNBA players a fully customized experience like NBA or user-created male players.
However, the plan moving forward is to change that in future installments of the game. O'Brien added that the WNBA being part of the game is “something that we're absolutely committed to moving forward.”
