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EA debuts eSports studio with Madden NFL 19 Challenge
EA is moving deeper into competitive gaming territory by opening an eSports broadcast studio. There are two main studios: the competitive area and a player lounge. The former includes 360-degree sets, spectator cameras and media and audience seating. The player lounge is styled like a New York loft and is kitted out with robotic cameras and directional microphones. The facility also has a control room, a green screen area and a four-person analyst desk.
'Battlefield V' 64-player battle royale arrives March 25th
After months of waiting, Battlefield V's long-promised (but conspicuously absent) battle royale mode is nearly here. DICE and EA plan to make Firestorm available on March 25th to all players, and they've shed more light on what the mode will involve in a reveal trailer (below). The 64-player experience will take place on the largest Battlefield map to date, Halvoy, and will grant access to some rather unusual advantages if you complete objectives. Apparently, a farm tractor carrying artillery is one of your options. You can also expect helicopters, tanks and one-time perks like V-1 strikes.
'Battlefield V' does a better job of explaining why you died
The latest Battlefield V update might not include a truckload of content, but it could still have a dramatic impact on how you play the game. The initial Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes update has arrived, and it makes significant changes to the "death experience" to clearly explain why you died. There's now a camera that tracks your killer, and you'll see their name in the game world when they take you down. It should be clearer when you're under threat, too -- tracer rounds should consistently appear as if they're coming from the shooter, and directional damage indicators are more accurate. These sound like simple changes, but they could make a huge difference for Battlefield newcomers (who may be frustrated with seemingly arbitrary deaths) as well as veterans hoping to learn from their mistakes.
The first major 'Battlefield V' update arrives December 4th
EA DICE is about to release the first of Battlefield V's numerous major updates, and it's clear that the studio wants to start off on a strong note. "Overture" is launching December 4th with an intriguing (and apparently "emotional") single-player story, "The Last Tiger," as its centerpiece. You join an isolated Tiger tank crew in the last days of World War II as it not only tries to fend off the Allies in a hopeless last stand, but starts to "question the ideology" that led them to that situation. It might not represent a grand philosophical discussion, but it's weightier material than you might have expected for a free post-launch story.
US Army to use Microsoft’s Hololens for combat missions
Microsoft's Hololens has already been used by a number of armies for training, but it's about to go to another level. The US Army has awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract to supply the headset for live combat missions as well as training, according to Bloomberg. The aim, according to a government description, is to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy."
'Battlefield V' won't have battle royale until spring 2019
You'll have to wait a while if you want to see Battlefield V's much-touted battle royale mode. EA DICE has detailed the post-launch roadmap for its WWII shooter, and the vaunted "Firestorm" battle royale experience will arrive as part of a "Trial by Fire" chapter starting in March 2019 (it's not clear if the mode will be available right away). While the last-one-standing experience isn't the only tentpole feature of BFV, it's safe to say this will be disappointing if you expected to play it over the holidays.
EA delays 'Battlefield V' to November 20th
DICE knows a thing or two about the perils of shipping a game before it's ready. That's why it and Electronic Arts are pushing the release date for Battlefield V back by almost a month. The World War II shooter will now be released on November 20th instead of October 19th. That puts it out of spitting distance of Red Dead Redemption 2 (out October 26th), the game seemingly every other publisher is trying to avoid on calendar.
EA teases battle royale in new ‘Battlefield V’ trailer
Developer EA DICE is returning to WWII with its upcoming Battlefield V, an interesting choice to revisit a war well-trod by gaming. But the company told us back in May that they're repeating the successful Battlefield 1 by spotlighting lesser-known stories and battles, even in multiplayer. Today, the developer released a trailer ahead of Gamescom showing off one of these lesser-known settings -- Rotterdam in the Netherlands -- and even teasing the game's previously-announced battle royale mode.
'Battlefield V' returns to WWII with ever-evolving multiplayer
Games in the Battlefield franchise have covered conflicts from the Vietnam War to a fictional future in 2142. Developer EA DICE took the series into new territory in 2016 with the well-received Battlefield 1, setting the game in the rarely touched World War I era. For the next installment, Battlefield V (let's just not talk about the naming convention) returns to where the franchise started: World War II. As you know, the conflict comes up time and time again in films and games, but DICE hopes Battlefield V will tell some of its untold stories, and link these narratives to an ever-changing multiplayer experience intended to keep players interested, and logging back into the fight. Oh, and you won't have pay for the privilege of new content either.
EA is teaching AI troops to play 'Battlefield 1'
It's been a couple of years since AI-controlled bots fragged each other in an epic Doom deathmatch. Now, EA's Search for Extraordinary Experiences Division, or SEED, has taught self-learning AI agents to play Battlefield 1. Each character in the basic match uses a model based on neural-network training to learn how to play the game via trial and error. The AI-controlled troops in the game learned how to play after watching human players, then parallel training against other bots. The AI soldiers even learned how to pick up ammo or health when they're running low, much like you or I do.
EA delays ‘Anthem’ until 2019
During last year's E3, BioWare unveiled its next colossal project: Anthem, a sci-fi shooter that looked to rival Activision's Destiny 2. But a week ago, sources told Kotaku that the game, originally slated to arrive in 2018, would be pushed back a year due after its development fell behind schedule. Electronic Arts denied that reason but confirmed that, yes, Anthem won't come out until early 2019.
Second ‘Battlefield 1’ DLC deploys on September 19th
At Gamescom last week, EA showed off a timeline of future expansions headed to Battlefield 1, including the next to come, In The Name of the Tsar. The game's second DLC just got a global release date on September 19th, but players who bought the Premium Pass can load it up two weeks early on September 5th. Even if you don't care about the extra content, tech heads might want to buy it for another added feature: HDR10 support.
What EA learned from 'Mass Effect' will shape its future
When I spoke to Electronic Arts Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund last week, Kotaku's report about why Mass Effect: Andromeda turned out so poorly hadn't been published yet. Nonetheless, when I asked him about the flawed game's development cycle, he was incredibly candid -- just as he had been in 2013 when I'd interviewed him about his company's move from myriad game-design toolkits to just two. Here are his thoughts on several key topics.
'Battlefield 1' DLC adds a playable female soldier class
By turning the clocks back to World War 1, DICE has created arguably one of the best games in the Battlefield series. Now, with Battlefield 1's latest DLC, the developer is using our tragic past to drag its franchise kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Taking inspiration from Russia's infamous 1917 military unit, The Women's Battalion of Death, this summer's 'In the Name of the Tsar' expansion introduces a female soldier class to Battlefield for the first time. As you'd expect from a unit with such an intimidating name, these soldiers were pretty badass, taking over 200 prisoners as they fought valiantly on the Western Front. The new multiplayer class these real world soldiers have inspired is called the Russian Scout -- and that's all that we know so far. EA has said it will reveal more information about the Russian Scout at E3, alongside the new maps that fan can expect from the upcoming expansion.
The best 'Battlefield' is finally playable on Xbox One
The pinnacle of the Battlefield series is at long last backward compatible on Xbox One. Of course, I'm talking about Battlefield Bad Company 2, which came out way back in 2010. There have been four games in the franchise since (Battlefield 3, 4, Hardline and last year's Battlefield 1), but the developers at DICE still haven't gone back to the Bad Company well.
'Battlefield 1' reminded me that before war was a game, it was hell
The Battlefield games aren't exactly known for having the best single-player modes. In fact, players ignore the series' solo experiences so routinely that this was actually a reason we didn't see a campaign mode in Star Wars: Battlefront last year. "Very few people actually play the single-player on these kinds of games," EA's Peter Moore said at the time. "That's what the data points to." So, naturally, when I picked up a copy of Battlefield 1 earlier this week, I planned to skip directly to online multiplayer -- but the game didn't let me. First, it had to teach me a history lesson. "Battlefield 1 is based upon events that unfolded over one hundred years ago," the game told me immediately after booting up. "What follows is front line combat. You are not expected to survive."
'Battlefield 1' helps you make movies on your game console
PC gamers have long had tools to make professional-looking movies. Console players, however, haven't had much luck... it's usually either raw gameplay or nothing. DICE and EA want to give living room directors their shot, though. They're implementing an enhanced spectator mode in Battlefield 1 that's tailor-made for cinematic productions on not just PCs, but also the PS4 and the Xbox One. You now have extensive control over the camera, and it's not just about choosing what to look at or how the camera follows a given unit. You can play with the field of view, depth of field and even an array of visual filters that include Noir and Battlefield 3's signature bluish tones.
'Battlefield 1' will challenge your preconceptions of WWI
Battlefield 1 is shaping up to be a return to form for DICE, the EA-owned development studio behind the famous first-person-shooter series. After handing the franchise keys to Visceral Games for Battlefield Hardline, the studio is back at the helm, and returning to historical warfare with its first game set in World War I. The announcement was met with mostly positive reactions, especially in the face of Activision's continued focus on jetpacks and other future tech with the Call of Duty series. I'm not a massive fan of either of the big FPS franchises. I don't look down on Call of Duty or Battlefield games: They're expertly crafted multiplayer experiences that millions of gamers love. They're just not for everyone. My colleague Timothy Seppala, a long-time Battlefield fan, spent most of E3 explaining to me just how impressed he was with what he'd seen so far. "I haven't loved a Battlefield game since 2010's Bad Company 2," he wrote back in June, "but during a single round of Conquest set on a map in northern France, I caught a glimpse of the game that had me smitten five years ago."
'Battlefield 1' open beta starts August 31st
Eager to play Battlefield 1 but can't wait until the game's October 21st release date? Well, good news. Electronic Arts has announced that a 64-player open beta for the first-person shooter will begin August 31st on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
'Battlefield' TV show has an Oscar-winning executive producer
The Battlefield TV series is inching closer to fruition. Electronic Arts recently revealed that Michael Sugar, one of the producers behind last year's Oscar-winner for Best Picture, Spotlight, will be working on the show. Along with production house Anonymous Content's Ashley Zalta, Sugar will serve as executive producer. It's also the first time Anonymous and Paramount TV have worked on a video game property. Previous projects include The Revenant, both seasons of True Detective and Mr. Robot. Suffice to say, there's a lot of talent with the team that's been announced so far.
