EAskipped this year’s E3 conference in favor of hosting its ownEAPlay Live event that concentrated all of the powerhouse studio’s reveals and information into one big broadcast. Leading up to the show, EA held a series of live streams titled EA Play Spotlights that gave fans more detailed looks at specific titles or genres. Many of them also teased what players could expect to see at the full EA Play Live event, with a look at an all-newBattlefield 2042among one of the promised reveals at the event.
Ahead of the event, however, many ofEA’s biggest titles were confirmed to not be making an appearance. This included titles such asMass Effect 4,Dragon Age 4, andSkate 4along with a couple of others. The lack of some of EA’s biggest upcoming titles had some fans worried that the event would be light on announcements, even with a number of leaks and rumors hinting at a possibleDead Spacerevival being featured in the event. Thankfully, the event ended up having plenty to show to the fans who tuned in.
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Grid Legends
While developer Codemasters has shown off itsall-new campaign mode coming toF1 2021already, the studio also provided a new look at the upcomingGRID Legends. With an expected release date sometime next year,GRID Legendsalso features a campaign that sees players competing against an antagonistic racing team in a worldwide racing competition. New additions to the series include players being able to race any class of cars against one another. In the trailer shown during the event this can lead to some strange combinations, such as a semi-truck taking out a Formula 1 racecar on the track.
During the event, Codemasters also talked a little bit about some of the technology the studio is taking advantage of to make the game’s campaign feel as realistic as possible. The technology was developed for the production of thehitStar WarsshowThe Mandalorian. It includes a large screen displaying the digital environments that the actors will be placed into in the final product to help immerse actors in the scenes and allow them to react appropriately. It will be very interesting to see how the technology plays out inGRID Legends, as it could be a big benefit for performance capture across the industry in the future.
Apex Legends: Emergence
The newest season forApex Legends, Emergence, also got a launch trailer at the event. It features narration byApex Legends' newest legend Seeras well as a look at some of the legend’s abilities in action. Thankfully, the game director ofApex Legendsspoke after the trailer to give players some more details. He said that Seer is a tracking character similar to Bloodhound with an ultimate that creates a dome that tracks all enemies moving inside of it. The event also revealed that a ranked mode is coming to Arenas inApex Legendsafter many fans asked for its inclusion.
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Lost in Random
The mysteriousLost in Randomfrom Swedish studio Zoink Games also was featured during the EA Play Live event. The event showcased an official gameplay trailer that shows off more ofLost in Random’s beautiful gothic worldas well as detailing how combat works in the game through some turn-based battles. There is still a lot that is not known aboutLost in Random, but the game was featured in the Tribeca Film Festival and definitely looks like an interesting title to keep an eye on for fans of creative new worlds.
Knockout City Season 2
The second season ofKnockout Citywas also revealed during the event.Season 2 ofKnockout Citywas recently confirmed, but the new trailer gave fans their first look at what sort of new movie-themed content players could expect from the season. The trailer shows off a lot of movie-themed cosmetics, as well as a new explosive dodgeball, and a map that seemingly changes layout during the match.Knockout Citywas a hit when it was released a few months ago, so it is great to see that the game is continuing to be supported by its developers and EA.
Battlefield 2042 Portal
Fans have known thatBattlefield 2042still had something to revealthat would be big for fans, but when EA Play Live announcedBattlefield 2042 Portal, it blew away many player’s expectations. Ahead of the official reveal ofBattlefield 2042, leaks claimed that the game would be a hub for previousBattlefieldgames as well as the all-new multiplayer mode, and it seems thatBattlefield 2042 Portalis likely what those leaks were referencing. The mode allows players to make, share, and play custom game modes. At launch, the mode will feature a selection of fan-favorite maps from throughout the franchise, and the developers have said they plan on adding more maps to the mode in the future.
The most interesting part of the mode developed by therebranded Ripple Effect Studios, however, is that it allows players to pull vehicles, weapons, classes, and gadgets fromBattlefield 2042,Battlefield 3,Battlefield: Bad Company 2, andBattlefield 1942. The trailer shows off some of what is possible in the mode, including a fight between World War 2 soldiers with only knives andBattlefield 3medics with defibrillators. EA Play Live also showed off three custom game modes made by content creators that included a Rush variant of 12Battlefield 2042soldiers facing off against 32Battlefield 1942players and a mode that saw a tank facing off against an army ofBattlefield 3’s engineer robots.
Leaks had been pointing towards a newDead Spaceremake being announced at EA Play Live, and it ended up being the final reveal that wrapped up the show. Not much is shown of the title, but it does feature some iconic visuals from the series, including an imposing silhouette of one ofDead Space’s necromorphsthat looks gorgeous running on new hardware. The trailer’s description does reveal that the game will only be available on PC and next-gen consoles, so it will be interesting to see whatEAand Motive are able to bring to the survival horror classic with the new hardware.
