EA PLAY 2021 REVIEW
EA PLAY 2021 REVIEW
In years past, EA Play has taken place before E3, which was always a fun prelude to the conference. In 2021, many things have changed with one of them being when EA PLAY takes place. Going before most of the conferences of E3 alleviates a lot of the pressure as fans will just put their hopes onto the next big show, however this time the tables are turned. EA PLAY LIVE 2021 is now taking place well after E3 which took place at the start of June but is that far enough away to remove expectations or will people be expecting too much from Electronic Arts?
D(EA)D Space
Despite EA PLAY 2021 taking place over a full month after E3 2021, it still felt right to make some EA predictions. In our E3 2021 Predictions we anticipated there would be some type of Dead Space revival. This was well before some of the more infamous inside gaming sources started reporting on the Dead Space being part of EA Play. We took a more historical based approach to our prediction based on looking at what has taken place since Laura Miele took over as Chief Studios Officer at EA. Since then we have seen multiple beloved franchises get some type of reboot, remaster or remake treatment including Command and Conquer, Burnout and Mass Effect.
My assumption was that EA was also seeing the success of single player driven experiences from the likes of companies like Capcom that have shown love to Resident Evil 2 and 3 while at the same time moving the franchise forward with RE7 and RE8. A while back when we first started playing with the idea that EA should reboot Dead Space, the main thought was that they should take a page from the Capcom playbook.
Resident Evil 2 remake kept most of what made the original game from 1998 adored by many but it also made some smart modernizations to the formula. Obviously one of the biggest changes between now and then in the horror game genre is how much lighting can play a huge role in the game and basically becomes a character of its own. Not only using the increased graphical power featured in todays consoles but also using the TV technology of today including 4K, OLED and HDR.
Back to the topic and hand, at the very end of EA PLAY, we saw that the leaks are true and EA is bringing back Dead Space. The teaser trailer was very brief but in a few seconds gave us a few answers to some of the questions that arose when speculation of a Dead Space return began circling prior to the event. Dead Space is being developed by Motive. Motive was founded in 2015 and since then has been part of the development of Star Wars Battlefront 2 and was the only studio behind the 2020 Star Wars: Squadrons.
It was also a big question whether EA was going to just make a trilogy in the vein of the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, if it would be a full reboot or if EA would take a page out of the Capcom playbook and remake the 2008 version with enough modern changes to make it feel fresh. The final answer is that EA has confirmed that Dead Space will be a “classic rebuilt” and it will once again take place on the USG Ishimura.
Dead Space is one of my favourite series of all time, strictly based on the first two entries as I tried and fell off the third entry fairly quickly. Although, maybe it makes sense to go back and give it a try since its on Xbox Game Pass. A little bit of good news about the revival of Dead Space that may have gone unnoticed to many was that it will only be available on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, which bodes really well for a fantastic experience.
The one question that we didn’t get an answer to obviously, is when is the game going to be released? There are a couple of ways that we could try to predict when this game might be released. Based off, EA’s earnings report between July and December 2021, the company will be releasing FIFA, Madden, NHL, and Battlefield when looking at their blockbuster releases. Even the most basic assumption should tell you that Dead Space won’t be releasing anytime soon, this release calendar shows that EA has plenty of content to deliver value to both gamers and investors along with their live service games.
The earliest, realistic release date for this game would be in their FY23, which begins April 1, 2022. I wouldn’t expect it to compete with their huge sports titles and as they seem to be following in Capcom’s path to this point, I would expect EA to continue. Resident Evil 2 remake released in January and saw great success as it became on of the best selling games in the Resident Evil franchise, which is very impressive. In the early year, gamers are typically hungry for new experiences. Having said all of this I would expect Dead Space to be released around January or February of 2023.
As for where the series will go after the release of Dead Space Remake, obviously assuming this game sells well, my hope is that they don’t remake the second and third in a similar fashion but take a few, small liberties with the story so that the series can move forward in a new direction similar to RE7 and RE8.
On a final note for Dead Space, I can’t help but think about the timing between this game and Glen Scholfields new project. Schofield formed his own studio, Striking Distance, in the last couple of years and at The Game Awards 2020, his new project, The Callisto Protocol was revealed and appears to be a spiritual successor to Dead Space. Personally, I expect Callisto to release first, and I am more eagerly awaiting this title as it is coming from the same mind that created Dead Space in 2008.
Showing plenty of class, Scholfield took to twitter to talk about the upcoming EA release “Directing the original Dead Space was one of the highlights of my career. Excited to see what EA Motive does with it” I think the announcement and release of Dead Space will only help Callisto Protocol. Based on Google Trends, in just the last few weeks since speculation of Dead Space returning, Callisto has seen its interest skyrocket, only second to when it was first announced.
Battlefield 2042
The other big part of the presentation was another look at Battlefield 2042 and more specifically the third mode of the game that is being handled by the Vince Zampella led studio Ripple Effect formerly DICE LA. When announced there was Hazard Zone which is the squad based objective mode as well as the All-out Warfare that is more akin to what Battlefield has become known for over the years with massive ground air and water battles happening at the same time. The final mode that is being developed by Ripple Effect that has been dubbed a love letter to fans is called Portal.
To put it simply, it feels like a forge mode that Halo popularized back with Halo 3. This does seem to be something like that but on a whole other level as it features elements from Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which I have to assume based on inside EA information were the most popular ones statistically.
Battlefield Portal seems like a mode that will always be evolving and with the right support from EA and from the community could grow into something much larger than itself. According to the official site, Battlefield Portal will feature a rotating series of featured games as well as a wide variety of games built by the community.
Battlefield 2042 is doing a good job of showing the value that they plan to offer in the absence of a single player campaign. This is also what is available at launch which will hopefully grow to more modes post launch. Obviously, Battle Royale is still a major player in the first person shooter field, so it would be good to see them take another shot at the mode after Firestorm, but maybe with enough creativity in Portal, there won’t be a need for it.
Battlefield Portal does look great and with all of the custom modes should please a lot of people who should be able to create exactly the kind of game that they want to play. I was a little surprised that they didn’t announce a date for either a closed or open beta. Battlefield 2042 is due to release on October 22 and we are less than three months away from the release. You would think that EA would want to give people incentives to preorder. Maybe the absence of a pre order push is good for one of two ways with the first being that maybe EA is backing off a little on pushy sales or the speculation that Battlefield 2042 is coming to Xbox Game Pass might still be true.
Overall Review
It may have taken a few years but it seems that EA is rebounding from the bad image that many had for the company just a few years ago. With enough decisions in the right direction including the EA Originals line where they make zero profits according to the partnering studios, bringing back fan favourites series including Burnout, Mass Effect, Skate and now Dead Space, as well as their rekindled interest in future single player games including Dead Space and a recently announced Respawn single player game that the studio has just begun hiring for.
Yes, the have closed down some studios that were beloved to many including Visceral, Maxis, but at the end of the day, EA is a business and a business needs to be profitable and as a publicity traded company you always need to be exceeding expectations or things can slide downhill quickly. Sadly, this means sometimes making the unpopular decision to close a studio or creating more in game economy systems or trying to make everything multiplayer only or even stopping development on series that aren’t successful anymore.
The future does look bright for EA as they seem to have a lot of interest in their key franchises including Battlefield again as well plenty of premium, single player experiences in the pipeline.