EA Sports' canceled NBA Live 13 was going to be a digitally distributed product on Xbox Live Arcade. The word of the XBLA release comes directly from Microsoft community guru Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb. It had been previously rumored that NBA Live 13 was going to be a digital release for $20.

"NBA Live 13 was supposed to be today's XBLA title, but EA made the decision not to launch it today," wrote Hryb on Twitter. He then directed queries on the topic to the September 27 announcement of the game's cancellation.

Checking with Hryb to confirm he meant to say XBLA and not Microsoft's retail Games on Demand section of the Xbox marketplace, he noted the information was "unclear."

EA Sports responded to our request for clarification with a "no comment."

EA Sports had been sketchy about NBA Live's status ever since its absence from the company's E3 press conference, finally mentioning in mid September the game had been delayed. This will be the third year in a row the company skipped or canceled its basketball game due to quality concerns. Meanwhile, Take-Two's NBA 2K series has the run of the court.

Update: Added EA response.