Time for the annual event that is E3. And thus here come the E3 EA Predictions 2017!
EA has been very clear about what we’ll be getting in our first E3 conference of the year.
We’re getting 6 Games confirmed, as well as potentially 2 unannounced games.
Battlefront 2: Considering we’ve been confirmed as seeing the multiplayer showdown for this game. I expect that to be after the conference proper, so I’d imagine we’ll see some story content here.
EA Sports Fifa 18: I’m not sure what’s going on with last year’s Legends mode, but expect the usual information about stars/cards/etc.
I wouldn’t expect any news about how the Switch version is going to be “different” by not having used the Frostbite engine.
Madden NFL 18: See above, expect the usual improvements and celebrities.
NBA Live 18: Much like the above two games, there’ll be the usual graphical polish and minor gameplay improvements.
Again, I wouldn’t expect any news about how the Switch version works.
Need for Speed: Payback. EA Would like some of that Fast and Furious Money please.
There’s a crew of three people, out for revenge against someone who betrayed them. Set in “Not Vegas”, the game will feature a three character story, with heists, cop chases and seemingly, a return to the open world formula. This is suggested by the way that wrecked cars can be salvaged and turned into supercars.
Goofy speed fun is fine, and if the cop chases are as good as they’ve been in previous games, it’ll be fun.
Battlefield 1:
Dice have been rolling surprisingly well with Battlefield 1. The first expansion was largely a success with only minor niggles, and their commitment to releasing constant updates and some free maps has been admirable. Here, we’ll get our first look at “In the Name of The Tsar”. This will finally introduce the Russian front to the WW1 game, including the all Female Battalion that fans have been requesting. With snow filled ravines and ice covered peninsulas, we can expect a graphically pretty game, with the potential for some very interesting maps.
As for the two surprises?
Well, I’m putting my money on Dragon Age and Star Wars.
Star Wars will be Amy Hennig’s Untitled Star Wars Action Game from Visceral.
We caught a very minor glimpse last year during the Star Wars celebrations. While I wouldn’t expect a release this year, we may see our first footage.
Dragon Age 4. This is where I’m feeling a little less confident. After what happened to Mass Effect: Andromeda, Bioware and EA will hopefully be feeling very cautious about rushing anything out the door. This may just be an announcement, even without footage, but it would make sense considering where we are in the development cycle for the franchise.
As always, there’s a good chance of one or two smaller indie titles being shown off by EA as well, but these are unpredictable at best.
There’s going to be another Live Multiplayer showdown, like last year’s Battlefield 1 Livestream. This time, we get to see Battlefront 2 and the Theed (Naboo) map from Episode 1. This will be our first look at the game in action, and should give the world a better view of what’s coming this autumn.
EA will almost certainly not be showing us any Mass Effect news, as i’m sure they won’t want people asking them questions about how their involvement hampered the game. Don’t expect any expansions either, considering how hard the team is still working on the release.
EA’s Conference will be broadcast on Twitch, at the following times: 8pm UK time / 12pm Pacific / 3pm Eastern / 9pm CEST on Saturday June 10th.