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EA Acknowledges NBA Live Series Issues, Offers Free Bonus to Live 15 Early Adopters

EA Sports incentivizes picking up the delayed NBA game sooner rather than later.

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Sports fans willing to pick up NBA Live 15 during its launch week will get $30's worth of bonus content for free, EA Sports announced today.

Early adopters of the game--which comes three weeks later than originally planned, as well as three weeks after the launch of NBA 2K15--will get 10 Gold Premium packs for the game's Ultimate Team mode. Ultimate Team allows you to build a team in what amounts to a card game of sorts--a mode that has proven popular in Madden and FIFA especially, generating $380 million in revenue for EA during the fiscal year that ended this past March.

This offer is obviously an attempt to encourage early sales for the game--something that might not be in your best interest given the NBA Live series' recent history. Thankfully, you'll have a full week after launch to qualify for the bonus; just buy the game between launch on October 28 and November 6, connect to the online servers, and you'll receive the free packs on Xbox One or PS4.

A blog post from the game's developers positions this as a reward for faithful fans who have stuck with the series despite its problems. "Here's the deal. We know that NBA Live has been on, let's call it 'a journey,' recently," the blog states. "We took a few extra weeks to polish the game up, so you've had to wait longer than you should have to play.

"You've stuck with us through thick and thin, so we want to take this opportunity to say thanks and give you a little something to help get your experience and your Ultimate Team off on the right foot. Since Ultimate Team is quickly becoming the most popular way to play online, we're doing our best to help you get that little extra advantage up front."

Whether you're on Xbox One or PS4, you'll have the opportunity to try out Live 15 for yourself. EA Access members can download a six-hour trial on Xbox One today, which will then be made available to all Xbox One owners next Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, a more traditional demo will be released for PS4 owners. Either way, you should be able to see for yourself how the game stacks up against 2K15.

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