EA’s answer to Destiny will not be out this year, according to multiple sources, as big changes for Star Wars: Battlefront II are promised.
2017 was a bit of an annus horribilis for EA, after the failure of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Need For Speed Payback, and the huge controversy over Star Wars: Battlefront II’s loot boxes.
Apart from EA Sports UFC 3 and some indie titles the only game they currently have scheduled for this year is Anthem – the Destiny style online shooter that debuted at Microsoft’s E3 conference last June.
Nothing has been seen of it since, but officially it’s down as a 2018 release. And yet according to sources at both Kotaku and Eurogamer it’s now been delayed till next spring.
The Kotaku report suggests that BioWare has essentially become a one-game studio, with only small teams working on MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic and a new Dragon Age game (so no sign of the much hoped for new Knights Of The Republic title).
The new Dragon Age game will apparently have a ‘live’ element. What that actually means is not clear, but the same source also claims the game will remain focused on story and characters.
Technically, a new Dragon Age game has not been announced yet, but seemingly by coincidence Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah tweeted last night that he is working on both Anthem and ‘DA’, i.e. Dragon Age.
That not only seems to confirm a new game is in development, but helps to reinforce the rumours about Anthem being a company-wide priority.
More: Gaming
In yet more EA news today, the company has said in a blog that it will shortly announce major new changes for Star Was: Battlefront II, including a ‘revamped progression system’ that may or may not see the return of microtransactions. Although no detailed information is promised until March.
In the meantime a new game mode called Jetpack Cargo is due in February, and a whole new season of content is ‘coming soon’.
Email [email protected], leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter
[contf] [contfnew]
