EA Play Live 2020
Today Electronic Arts, one of the largest publishers in gaming, hosted a live stream detailing what's coming next from many of their studios. The show featured lots of talk about cross-play, talk from developers, talk about some previously released games coming to Steam including Apex Legends, and was shockingly light on actual games. There were a couple bright spots, but by the end I felt unfulfilled and confused as to why EA continues having shows when they have little to actually show.
First let’s talk about what was there. Rocket Arena is a rockets-only hero shooter with dynamic maps and cutesy and colorful character design looking to ride the wave of juggernauts like Overwatch, Fortnite and Apex legends. Speaking of Apex, Respawn’s runaway hit opened the show with news of its impending release on Steam and Switch as well as their newest event, Lost Treasures, which releases next Tuesday June 23rd.
Also on display was It Takes Two, the latest from Hazelight, the developer of A Way Out. It Takes Two is another co-op adventure, this time focusing on a young girl whose parents are going through a divorce. Players control two dolls come to life, manipulating the parents and their emotions, presumably with the intention of saving their marriage. Studio founder Josef Fares emphasized the work that went into fusing the game mechanics with the narrative in order to really drive home the themes:
“There are some studios out there that are making games that have good stories but they pretty much have one mechanic they reuse all the time, the designers and the story writers are kind of doing two different games. That’s why I founded Hazelight, to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in games. That’s what game number 3 from Hazelight is all about.”
It Takes Two will be available in 2021.
Zoink Games came through with perhaps the highlight of the show, Lost in Random. From the publisher:
Welcome to the world of Random, a dark kingdom where every citizen’s future is determined by the roll of a dice. Will you be defeated by your fate or embrace chaos and learn to make it work in your favor? Embark on a journey with Even and her sidekick Dicey to play the odds and break the curse of Random.
This fantasy adventure, reminiscent of Tim Burton favorites Corpse Bride and Nightmare Before Christmas, was certainly the most interesting presentation of the night. Set in a gothic fantasy world with cartoonish and endearing characters, Lost in Random rolls its way onto consoles in 2021. Scroll down to see the full reveal.
The only heavy hitter in attendance was Star Wars Squadrons from EA Motive. Squadrons boasts a single player campaign, 5v5 multiplayer, and optional VR for the entire experience. It’s set just after the events of Return of the Jedi and will have players doing missions for both the rebels and the empire flying 8 different ships with several different pilots. The showing was solid but unspectacular as it resembles more an expansion for Battlefront than a stand alone game, of course I’m not here for Star Wars without lightsabers at all so take my opinion for what it’s worth. Squadrons releases on October 2nd.
Now on to the bad. Bioware, Dice and Criterion, the biggest and brightest developers in the EA stable, had nothing to show. They were mentioned as working on next generation games for the PS5 and Xbox Series X but nothing but concept art was shown. EA couldn’t even be bothered to announce a Mass Effect trilogy remaster, they put on a show and left their entire starting lineup on the bench. They played a trailer for Madden and FIFA next gen and i’d like to tell you about it but it was the typical EA quick-cut and shaky cam footage that left far more questions than answers. As of now I’m not sure anyone outside of Respawn is worth keeping an eye on in the EA camp. Click below to see the entire presentation, although I can’t honestly recommend that you watch it.