EA Play Live 2020 has made some important gaming announcements.
E3 may be cancelled, but the show must go on. More of a trade show than a fan centered convention, those who were planning on utilizing E3 as their platform for announcements and presentations have to find alternate ways to do just that.
Some will take on a more traditional lowkey approach with simple press releases, and social media blasts. Others will go the Microsoft Conference route and create their own flashy broadcast presentations. While we’ve seen presentations from Sony, who unveiled the design for the PS5 and the PC Gaming Show, this past Thursday was EA’s turn on the playing field. Did they live up to expectations? Let’s take a look at the announcements and reveals from this year’s EA Play Live 2020.
EA PLAY LIVE 2020: APEX LEGENDS ON NINTENDO SWITCH
Nintendo is having a banner year. As if critical and fan praise weren’t enough, the Covid-19 pandemic saw an uptick in sales for the Nintendo Switch so much so that the system became sold out for weeks. Nintendo is more known for their family friendly titles, and hasn’t really dived into the online Battle Royale genre, however that all changes later this Fall. Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch and will have cross play support.
GAMES THAT TEST HOW WELL OF A COMMUNICATOR YOU ARE
Following the co-op adventure games, A Way Out, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Hazelight will be releasing It Takes Two. Founder Josef Fares promises that the game will “blow your f***ing mind”. The co-op platformer follows a little girl, Rose, who uses imagination to control her parents who are going through a divorce. The game mechanics sound wild and It Takes Two sounds like a mash up of EA’s Unravel and Pixar’s animated feature Inside Out. The new addition the Hazelight gaming slate will release sometime in 2021.
THINGS THAT GO BOOM!
If you’re a fan of rocket launchers and get pumped when you hit your target with a missile then this game is for you. Rocket Arena is a 3v3 game that’s a little bit Apex, and a little bit Super Smash Bros. There will be 10 characters available at launch and they each have a different style of rocket launcher which can be more of a sniper rifle or more of a traditional launcher. The environments look fun, but the game doesn’t seem to be doing anything we haven’t seen before. Having only one method of eliminating your opponent may get old quickly. Rocket Arena will be released on PS4, XBox One, and PC with cross playing capabilities on July 14th.
THE SIMS 4 IS NO LONGER AN ORIGIN EXCLUSIVE
The Origin client is home to many of EA’s titles, but six years after its release, The Sims 4 and its related packs will be available for purchase on Steam. There are many people who are not a fan of Origin and EA seems to have realized that they could capatilize on sales by placing it in a larger marketplace. This could also be an indicator that Origin would like to make digital shelf space for the rumored Sims 5 title. Both The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 are now available on Steam.
IF TIM BURTON CREATED A GAME
Then it would probably look like Lost in World. The puzzle adventure features a young girl who has to break a curse that was put upon the land by using a six sided die. The visuals look gorgeous and heavily influenced by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. The game was announced back in 2019, and still has no release date.
MILKING THE COW
Titles such as Lost in World, and Rocket Arena are EA Originals, but EA knows where the moneymakers are. Following Star Wars Battlefront is Star Wars: Squadrons which puts you into the role of a fighter pilot. I love games that let me live out my Air Force dreams without me having to actually be in the air.
EA spent several minutes of this presentation showcasing some of the gameplay and first person combat. This is going to look bonkers on both the PS5 and XBox Series X. Star Wars: Squadron is coming your way October 6th on the PS4, XBox One, and PC, and will support VR.
EA SPORTS GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME
The next flagship series for Electronic Arts is its sports division; NFL and FIFA. EA’s presentation for Madden NFL 21 and FIFA 21 lacked gameplay, but showed an impressive display of realism when it came to their graphics. FIFA is the most popular video game series in the world, but the question is, why release a whole new game rather than a DLC patch to reflect roster changes?
Yes, the answer is usually money, but it could also be contractual since some of the profit has to go to both EA, and the sports divisions that they license from. I for one don’t see the appeal of buying a new sports title every year, but I also don’t dive into any narrative gameplay that these titles make available. Both Madden and FIFA will be released this Fall for current and next gen consoles.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Maybe it was a coincidence or maybe the announcement of the remastered Tony Hawk video games gave EA the confidence to bring back one of its beloved franchises. That’s right. After 10 years Skate 4 is being developed. It’s in its very early stages of development so we didn’t get much more than an announcement, but this was definitely the highlight of EA Play.
CONCLUSION
EA Play Live 2020 wasn’t a bad presentation at all, but I feel that they can do better than reviving a decade old game, and announcing another installment to a sports series that we’ve already come to expect. EA has never been the splashiest conference during E3, but they did throw a magnificent fan event last year on Hollywood Blvd that hyped their fanbase.
June may almost be over, but this pandemic has really given the control back to publishers, developers and studios to create their own digital conferences and not be stuck in a box that gives them a date, time, and a specific amount of time to deliver to their fans. Next up is Night City Wire by Projekt CD Red which will take a deeper look into the highly anticipated game, Cyberpunk 2077. Night City Wire was originally set to take place on June 11th, but the company decided to move the date in order to not draw attention away from the Black Lives Matter movement.
What did you think about EA Play Live 2020? More of the same or are you hyped for what’s to come? Let us know in the comments below!
