One of the first companies to reveal their set of announcements for this year’s biggest gaming industry event, the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3, was Electronic Arts and while the company did showcase some of their annually released titles, the company also showed off some of the games players have been excited to hear about since the company has begun teasing them in the past couple of years including news on Titanfall 2 as well as Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Titanfall 2
The biggest and most exciting thing to come out of EA’s press conference was undoubtedly the new trailer and details on the highly anticipated sequel to one of 2014’s most critically acclaimed and controversial titles, Titanfall. According to the new trailer as well as details shared by EA, Titanfall 2 will feature an offline single-player campaign, something that was missing from the original game; six new Titans including one that wields a giant sword; more pilot capabilities; more character customization; and more progression options in the game’s multiplayer mode. According to EA, the game’s single-player campaign will explore more of the Titanfall universe as well as give players more insight into the relationship between pilot and Titan. Titanfall will be released on PC and Xbox One on October 28, 2016.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Another one of EA’s long-standing and popular franchises is Mass Effect. After the success of its original trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda is a completely new story which takes players on a mission outside of the Milky Way to find a new home for humanity. The game will also feature a new cast of characters and, just like previous Mass Effect games, will allow players to choose whether to play a male or female protagonist. It also looks like familiar alien species such as the Asari and Krogan will be making an appearance in the new title. Developer BioWare has said that Andromeda will feature more “freedom” than ever before. Mass Effect: Andromeda is scheduled for release sometime in early 2017 for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Star Wars
One of EA’s biggest licenses is undoubtedly the Star Wars franchise and the company showcased some of the things they and their partner development companies are working on including a new Star Wars Battlefront game from DICE and EA’s new Motive Studios, a virtual reality X-Wing game, a currently unknown third-person action adventure game from Respawn Entertainment, a new action game from Visceral Games, more development on Capital Games’ Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, and currently unknown Star Wars project being worked on with assistance by Criterion Games. While not many details were announced, we can be assured that we are in for a whole slew of Star Wars games of different genres from across the whole Star Wars universe in the coming years.
EA Originals
Many publishers and companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Valve have come out with their own platforms or programs that allow and assist indie game developers get their ideas and titles out into the market and into the hands of gamers. And EA, at E3 2016, have announced EA Originals, their own indie game publishing program that will help indie games come into the spotlight. EA has said that they plan to sign and showcase indie developers and their games at no direct financial benefit to EA as all the profits from the game will go back to the developers. The first games to fall under the new EA Originals program is a title called Fe from Swedish studio Zoink. Other titles that will be published under the EA Originals program include Unravel and its sequel from Coldwood Interactive.
