Scott O'Gallagher Leaving NBA 2K Series For Creative Director Role at EA Sports, Joining Ex-NBA 2K Senior Producer Rob Jones

Just posted that in another thread a few minutes ago. A big loss for 2k, but a big gain for EA Sports. It can be assumed that it will be for NBA Live. I really like the move. I would love for Live to get back to a competitve state. Competition would help 2k and a good Live game brings another option for us consumers. It starts with having the right people, and he is one of them

Rob Jones looks to be headed to EA as well, just basing it off of his Twitter handle name change.
@therEAlRobJ

Rob Jones hasn't been in the spotlight like how he use to be for 2k.
Hope this does mean a new Live game and we hear what direction they are heading in the next couple months

It sucks to lose Scott on NBA 2K especially from an AI perspective, but hopefully he can make some positive stuff happen at EA.
Damn, EA poaching from the NBA 2K team hard. Sucks losing Rob Jones too.
Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

Wow.......A sign of life for the Live series.....

I like the moves. Can't beat 'em, take some of their best assets. I just hope they have a plan and vision that they stick too. I hope they aren't focused on "beating 2k". Mike Wang said in an interview couple years ago that when he was there, they were focus on how to beat 2k instead of building best game possible

Round 2 of EA needing 2k devs to fix NBA Live.. how sad is that?

the ai been a mess defensively for a while. czar is just better at his job(smarter too) and you could see it in the product

It really won't matter who Live gets if the higher ups in EA don't allow full creative freedom and full investment in the product that they put out.
Hopefully with the Live series being on its last breath and the recent public outrage behind maddens poor product the guys in charge have learned that cutting corners won't work.

Well, neither OG or Czar are engineers & are limited by the technology in front of them.
I agree that the defensive A.I. has been weak over this entire console generation, but I wouldn't put it all at the feet of one person.
Getting a little more off-topic, but hopefully the staff changes lead to improvements for both titles.
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Wasn’t a big fan of the direction he took the AI defense in the 2K tbh.

Updated OP link with more details. Hopefully something more official comes out soon.

I hope he and Rob can help NBA live finally be a contender. Its sad how a once great franschise can struggling for the last 10 years.

Whoa Rob leaving? BRING LIVE TO PC!
So how long will they stay with EA? The higher ups seems to LOVE getting they're greedy little fingers in the game. Mike was with EA then something happened which made him come back to 2k.

Huge.
The best things for every sports gamer is to have options.

This is necessary. 2K needs the competition. It’s getting stale.

Interesting.....

This may be a part of something bigger for EA and NBA Live. I posted this in the Other Basketball section a few days ago:

This research is being done by a friend of mine at EA (and fellow researchers) to improve animations via AI methods.

While it is safe to say that there won't be a NBA Live this year, I think still need to make some type of announcement of what the plan will be. They have spoken since Live 20 was officially cancelled. These moves seem to point that they arent giving up on Live. I do hope they are building from ground up for next gen. So hopefully having 2 years, it will allow them to build a good foundation to build off for next gen.
I just hope they hire more good developers and coders and such. I hope it isn't another Live 18 and 19 situation where Madden had to have their developers focus on building up Live. It was a time where Madden was transitioning to Frostbite, Longshot. I dont want a situation where they have to share their resources and Madden suffers from it

This addition won't matter much if they are handcuffed by leadership,  and aren't allowed to do their thing. 

Pretty much this. I predict Rob and OG will produce a great game. Then management will step in because the numbers they were expecting didn't happen. From there they will leave and come back to 2k. EA will destroy what those two created and we will get NBA Elite 24 lol
I have no faith in EA. They wasted talent for years now and they haven't changed a bit. Whoever is running the sports division needs to be replaced with someone more hands off and let these guys do their thing.

Very smart moves. It's kind of like let's say, the 76ers going to get Moses Malone to play alongside Dr. J so they could get past the Celtics and the Lakers. You go get the best that's out there. Ain't no shame in that.

I do hope this means some competition for 2k. I just don't like the direction 2k is going. It's crazy to think, I've been around long enough to have already made one jump. I was a Live kid growing up. Live 2004 is my favorite basketball game of all time. I switched to 2k for 2k7 and was full on 2k from 2k7 to 2k17.
I did think Live 08, 10, 18, and 19 were all decent. I really liked Live 10's gameplay but the association mode of that game flat out sucked.
Anyway, hoping this just leads to a better overall market of basketball titles.

I agree. Thats when people say they want NCAA Football back, I'm iffy on that because of direction EA is headed towards. The main problem EA seems to have is that they don't let their Devs and Producers have the creative freedom. Whose to say a New NCAA game doesn't focus on adding College Legends to Ultimate Team and focus on a cringey single player story like Face of the Franchise while Dynasty stays stagnant.
I'll be happy with a competitve Live game. But EA has to let their talent have the creative freedom and resources to get there.

Always down to have competition on the market.
Someone high up @ EA is a real bball head. This franchise has gotten a TON of lifelines.

I have faith in EA games, when they actually come out. They tend to be usually pretty good... at least 50% of the time they are good haha. Maybe.
It's funny, people acting like 2k made these guys and they didn't make 2k.
EA has done itself a huge disservice by not being transparent. That's something I won't forgive them for. I'll still buy their game if it comes out and looks good, but I'm def not worried about what they're doing. There are some games I wanna play that are like TBA 2022... that's what I look at "Live" as, if that's what the title ends up being.
They needed to write a better announcement. You can project strength while saying you messed up or aren't able to make the cut, or are switching directions. They said the truth, but it wasn't potent enough, and they said they would continue to update, and haven't.I'm sure they want to have good news before they say anything, but still. Then say "We'll let you know as soon as we have news worth sharing."
But yes, the truth is "Making a good game" should be first priority. Then you try to sell it. But companies with AAA successful games act like they can't deal with the process. It's kind of an ego thing, if you really think about it, imo.
I really think EA would be better off if they hadn't cancelled any game, including elite, and just let things evolve naturally. We shall see tho...
-Smak

I fully agree..
NBA Live has gotten so many chances from EA lol. They really want Live to succuessful. Any other publisher would have gave up on the series especially after only releasing what 5 games from '10-19. EA gave up on other series that sold worse.

I hope this is good and pushes basketball games forward.

What are you on about?

That Rob Jones guy is the bigger news to me he preach
real simulation like a badge of honor. Rex talk about simulation but Rob talked and showed us simulation.EA got a big steal like a theive in the night

Rob and Scott have always been super great to me anytime I've interacted with them in person, so all the best to them.

With clown comments like these, do people actually wonder why devs stopped posting here?
2K has the best defensive AI that has ever existed in a basketball game.
Nino and Scott both played basketball at a higher level than you (and everyone else here) so I would LOVE to hear you elaborate and embarrass yourself talking about other people's intellect, basketball or otherwise.

I don't fully agree with his sentiment, but the series still has a long way to go to replicate real help defense principles.
I don't doubt that Czar & Scott OG are extremely knowledgeable & passionate about making the game(s) (from an AI stand point) as realistic as possible, but limitations & shortcomings exist & those aren't fully their fault.
I'm hopeful that 2K can find adequate replacements for Scott & Rob, while they can go on to make the Live series competitive again.
Also, whether it has effected engagement or not, people should be allowed to give their opinions. I don't agree with questioning or attacking someone's aptitude or knowledge, though.
Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

No offense to O’Gallagher, but I agree with you. Czar is the best of the best when it comes to his job. It may be that the defensive AI job is a tougher job then the offensive AI job. Either way, you can’t get better then Czar.

Haha check it.
Dudes saying live stealing 2k devs is the only way they can be good, the implication is that 2k has devs not devs developed 2k. Nobody owns these people or made them and I doubt ea strat is to take 2ks devs. Prol to get good people.
Reread the threads about it.
-Smak

Again what are you on about? Either you're quoting the wrong person or YOU need to reread what I wrote. Since I didn't imply anything about EA "stealing" 2k devs to be the better game. What I am implying is that history might repeat itself.
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Guess I'll be checking out live soon then. Last Live was when Wang made a little stop

I don't know what he did but I am going to miss Rob. I remember seeing him doing press/interviews for older 2k titles and I always liked him.

This is good news and bad news. OK maybe not bad news more like hmmmm news. On one hand I'm thrilled to see anything about Live and I'm also glad that good experienced guys are on the team. On the other hand it makes me super nervous that Live becomes a 2K knockoff. 
I've made no secret around here that I'm a huge Live fan(I also love 2k. Yes loving both is possible lol)and what I like about Live is just how much different it is then 2k. Some people fault Live for it but I really appreciate how Live just seems to take itself way less serious.

I wish Scott for the best and thankful for the work he puts in on the defensive concepts and terminology which I'll never get to know if not playing 2K. I already knew weak side/strong side. Then what the heck was ICE and No Hedge? Lol. I only hope 2K can implement the defensive concepts better before product launch. I still remember the days where we saw double team logic messed up ie Cpu DT everytime Lebron crossed halfcourt and workaround was for offline players switch to the cpu team and de-activate the DT on auto or smtg, and then switched back. He also introduced "leave Otto Porter" concept to help in defense and users had no control to stop that, initially. Then we had "Leave Him" defensive settings in the following year.
Looking forward to learn more from people like Scott and Czar.
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https://solecollector.com/news/2014/10/interview-breaking-down-how-sneakers-make-it-into-nba2k
All the evolution this feature went through over the last 15 years came from Rob.

Did the Defensive AI even have "concepts" prior to Scott taking over?
10 years ago the only thing you could change in Defensive Settings was Loose/Tight pressure on shooters.

Yea I just randomly choose who to quote. I pick people who I like, u madman. I read your post and decided that was what I'd make my post after.
Fight me!!!
-Smak

I remember back in the College Hoops days, Rob Jones would personally contact OS members on I think it was AIM back then.
I used to have conversations with him over AIM and he would ask me what I liked, didn't like and how he could improve the game. He's passionate about his work. This is a good sign for EA.

I disagree, it's quite easy to beat the CPU in 2k20. I don't know if the offense have become too advanced and the defense hasn't caught up but I can run around CPU 1v1, run pick and roll and I won't really have problems scoring the ball. I recently tried 2k16 and 2k11 and it was noticebly harder to score in these games.

I CANT WAIT TO SEE THE LIVE SERIES RETURN!
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"Way less serious" is EA approach to its whole sports/racing lineup, which personally I don't mind at all. It's a nice change of pace when you have a different kind of experience available in the market. Sometimes after grinding in Grand Turismo Sport it's just plain silly fun to race around in Need for Speed Heat. A good change of pace. I look forward to Live returning, as long as it is quality tested before hitting the shelves.

I LOVED Live 19, and this was really the reason. It just felt lighter and more fun. I think if it had crossplay with PS4, Switch, and XB1, it might have done better.
While playing 2K I never got into the MyPlayer and MyPark stuff. It was not fun at all. I was kind of surprised by how much I liked The One in Live 19. The 5 on 5 would have been so much better with a larger pool of players, but they had some great modes.
Never touched the franchise mode, and hardly touched LUT. The One was free of microtransactions and had enough gameplay to be a standalone game for me. There is some solo play in The One, but even that seems designed to get you into the online games with teammates.
I think part of it is that I've played sports games since the 70's. I played so many franchise modes, and it just matter to me anymore. Even if they get good enough to play as a sim, I think I'm done worrying about that. I've managed thousands of rosters though seasons. Mostly, I was just glad when PCs could just do all the bookwork.
Give me fun ways to play the same games. For all the great organized sports I played, including playoffs and all-star games, our back yard sports were as competitive and fierce as any we played, weird rules and all, based on weird fields. So The One, The Yard, and Chel just kind of work on that level for me.
They use stars from today and the past to make it fun by using the strengths of the medium to do the sport in other ways, emphasizing specific skills and exploiting weaknesses in ways that get you applying the same sport logic to different circumstances, that are hopefully balanced enough to make competition fun and fair for live players.
I want Live back, but it really is for The One. I have no idea if that is something they are willing to stick with, but it is what I am hoping for.

This is basically why Forza and Forza Horizon are perfect for me on Xbox. It's comfortable because it is essentially the same game, but from two wildly different perspectives. The last Need for Speed I actually enjoyed, though, was High Stakes in 1999. Really never cared for the cutscene heavy style they do now.

sure hope all this means there will be a Live 22