EA Play – As it happened

Welcome. So the rules for this coverage are:

  • I won’t talk about Pre/Post shows in detail only mention what they are doing for them
  • No event screenshots, Not because I can’t but because the stream quality isn’t great and I wouldn’t want to force that on you but new trailers will be here
  • I will be added trailers where possible
  • I will try to cover all the key features mentioned and extra I believe matter
  • I will be opinionated if there is something I don’t like

EA Play is having a small pre-show, the host of the show Andrea Rene is talking to fans outside of the event while the countdown is on the screen.

We kick off the actual show with snippets of all the content from last year and all the games we know are coming. Andrea Rene introduces the audience to the event. To kick off we are looking at Battlefield V Multiplayer and then Fifa 19 and, to add some dessert, Anthem ends the show.

Battlefield V has a small teaser showing faces and character models before some more gameplay. Two members of the dev team come out and are talking about destruction mechanics and customisation and a few other things we are going to see. Emphasis on no Lootboxes or premium passes which fans have been wanting. Completely new Battle Royale mode has been announced to. And now for a new trailer. I won’t describe the trailers being shown but these are amazing and I will try to find them for you guys. More to come tomorrow from the Xbox Briefing. It is presumed that the multiplayer reveal somehow wasn’t ready or failed and might be shown at the end.

Now onto Fifa 19. A trailer finally and with Ronaldo floating on the cover with the new champions league license. Neymar also makes a brief appearance in the trailer,  the Champions League trophy is on the stage. Alex Hunter’s return is confirmed. A highlight on more technical gameplay mentioning play tests with pros and beginners to shape the gameplay. A launch date of September 28th.

They are now going through Fifa 18’s newish World Cup mode. They’ve shown more of Fifa 18 than the new one with doesn’t make sense.

EA are announcing a new subscription cloud gaming service that isn’t quite ready yet, but you will be able to test it out. It is not clear if that’s just at the show or not. A new subscription service call Origin Access which I am pretty sure is already a thing.

After the the trailer concludes Vince Zampella is sat with Miss Rene. He announces a name for the new Star Wars game called Jedi Fallen Order, set between or around episodes 3 or 4. This is due for Christmas 2019, but they aren’t ready to show a trailer or visuals yet.

Battlefront 2 is now on stage basically apologising for the Battlefront 2’s failure to launch. They have announced a new “Ewok Hunt” game mode and new content from the Solo movie. A Multiplayer sandbox experience is also on the way. New Villans and Heros are also on the way. General Grievous, Obi Wan Kenobi, Count Doku and Anakin Skywalker all on the way along with Geonosis and the largest map ever in a Battlefront Game.

Unravel 2. It was rumoured and it was one I didn’t think was going to happen. People fell in love with Yarny, the protagonist from the first game. The introduction is a short teaser of Yarny losing everything and then behind the guy on stage a video introduces a second character. Unravel Two is focus on two Characters instead of one. The test demo on stage has a slight failure on stage but is quickly fixed. Puzzles focus on teamwork between both Yarny and Blue Yarny. They are really demonstrating the co-op mechanics of the gameplay. Now a final trailer. Unravel Two Launches today, someone in the background I hear someone shout “OH MY GOD”.

A new EA Original Title is next up. Sea of Solitude. “When humans get to lonely they turn into monsters.” This is clearly a game with a strong message behind it related to isolation. It has a artistic stylised look to it. The woman on stage has a lot of passion behind the game. The trailer conveys a very scary aspect to it and the monsters look very challenging and frightening. The Game comes out early 2019.

Time for some more sports. NBA 19. Looks like they are bring more customisation and more street play. A jarring jump to Madden NFL with two players of the Video game pro circuit. Not quite sure what is going on. Surely the game should be more important. Not we see the new trailer hinting at more story elements. The animations are looking very janky and are quite off-putting.

Command and Conquer. This looks like a reskin of the Titanfall mobile game with a few extra features. They all have a professional shout-caster for the games live demo. There is a fog of war. Its one of those moments when you think how far Command and Conquer has come and how EA have ruined it so much. Why not adjust a game like Command and Conquer Generals to work on Mobile?

I know mobile games are a big market but I don’t think they need this much time on the stage. Watching professional real time strategy is fun, but not a low skill mobile one. Command and Conquer Rivals looks back at every game in the franchise and sticks the middle finger up at classic games much loved by fans of the series. Finally a CGI trailer that is also being way to long but now it’s over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyNXQpAFQJc

Only Anthem left. This is the big one. But just before that, it’s EA’s yearly charity drive.

They gave away $1 million to three US based charities. In-game footage is on the screen. With few spaces left, Anthem is the only thing left. By the looks of it there are four classes or a four player co-op. Rene is back on stage with some of the Dev team to do a Q&A with them. They are talking a lot about story and how it is entwined with multiplayer rather than bolted on the side like Destiny. They plan to support the game for a number of years through expansion packs, but again with an emphasis on story and giving more after the main game. Javelins, the Iron man style armour, is the only way to get about due to the hostile environment. Gameplay adorns the screen and it looks smooth and fluid. The Javelin will have have customisation parts, weapons and paintjobs. No ability to spend money on gameplay but you can buy cosmetics, though no Lootboxes. You’ll know what you’re buying. Now more gameplay. February 22th 2019 is the current launch date but still possible to be pushed a little.

The post show involves the Fifa 18 world cup tournament instead of Fifa 19 like you’d expect.

Thanks for reading through. EA Play was a bit lack lustre but we kind of predicted that. No new sports game either or burnout so that was even more disappointing. But Battlefield V and Anthem were very interesting.