E3 2018: EA Conference Recap

EA kicks off E3 2018 and their two biggest titles, Anthem and Battlefield V, take center stage. We get an update on NFH and FIFA 19, Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars title, a sequel to Unravel, and more.

Anthem

Anthem gets a new cinematic trailer as well as details such as having no loot boxes attached to the new IP from Bioware. Anthem will be out on February 22 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Battlefield V

Battlefield V has a new trailer and to no one's surprise, the new Battlefield will feature a Battle Royale mode. Confirmed game modes are Conquest, Domination, Team Deathmatch, Breakthrough, and Frontlines. Conquest will be a little bit different this time with the inclusion of the fortifications system, allowing players to construct and fortify certain defenses. The single player component in Battlefield V, called War Stories, will be similar to what they did in Battlefield 1 and we'll get a glimpse of it during Microsoft's conference on Monday. 

Command & Conquer Rivals

Command & Conquer returns but as a Free-To-Play mobile game. It will still be an RTS with 1v1 real-time matches with rival commanders in the War for Tiberium.

Registration is open to Android players on Google Play to get informed when the game will be available. Players in US and Canada may get invited to the pre-alpha if they register now. 

EA Origin Access Premier

EA announced Origin Access Premier, a new tier to the current Origin Access subscription. Premier is said to give subscribers more access to EA's PC games through their online library. Origin Access Premier is scheduled for a launch sometime this summer. The Premier membership also gives unlimited access to The Sims 4.

EA provided a list of games that will have early access:

• Madden NFL 19: Aug. 2 (public launch: Aug. 10)
• FIFA 19: Sept. 20 (public launch: Sept. 28)
• Battlefield 5: Oct. 11 (public launch: Oct. 19)
• Anthem: Feb. 15, 2019 (public launch: Feb. 22, 2019)

The Premier version of Origin Access also includes the benefits found in a basic Origin Access membership. They also announced a free trial of Origin Access Basic starting today until June 17.

Origin Access Premier will cost $14.99 a month or $99.99 per year. EA also announced a separate streaming service but will share more details on it at a later date.

FIFA 19

FIFA 19 will now feature the UEFA Champions League, a license that has been with Konami and PES for years and recently lost for the first time. No release date was confirmed during the presentation.

Madden NFL 19

Madden is finally coming back to the PC platform since Madden 08, EA has confirmed. Aside from that, business as usual for the yearly Madden release. 

NBA Live 19

The next entry to NBA Live will be out on September 7 for PS4 and Xbox One. The One, the single player story mode, makes a return, allowing players to build their own player and career in basketball. 

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Upcoming Updates

DICE revealed that they are still hard at work in updating and improving Star Wars Battlefront 2. Players will soon play during the prequel era. This is the first time DICE will include DLC based on the events before the original trilogy. They will be introducing new playable characters such as Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, General Grievous, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. New locations confirmed so far is the planet Geonosis, where the Clone Wars began. No release date or window was given.

EA also announced new content that revolves around their Han Solo season planned for next week, adding in a new squad system and anew starfighter mode. Extraction mode also makes a return. These updates are planned for a June 12 release. 

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order

Vince Zampella of Respawn Entertainment (Titanfall) was picked out of the crowd to announce Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, the Star Wars game they have been working on since last year. No trailer was given, weirdly enough, and a simple title drop was all that was given. Okay.

Unravel 2

Unravel, the platformer from ColdWood Interactive, is getting a sequel. Co-op is now a thing and to everybody's surprise, it's available right now on PS4, Xbox One, and Origin. 

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