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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.
'Mass Effect: Andromeda' arrives March 21st
Electronic Arts and BioWare have finally ended months of itchiness by announcing the release date for Mass Effect: Andromeda. At CES this morning, the duo revealed that the title will arrive in the US on Tuesday, March 21st. Europeans will need to be a little more patient, unfortunately, since the game debuts on that side of the pond on the 23rd. The title will arrive on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows just four months after its original ship date of "Holiday 2016."
Russian Parliament members claim FIFA 17 is gay propaganda
The Russian government has a problem with a lot of current technology: a YouTuber was imprisoned for playing Pokémon Go, Microsoft Outlook was banned from government computers for being an American boogeyman, and good luck accessing LinkedIn from St. Petersburg. This week, Electronic Arts became the country's latest target when a group of Russian members of Parliament asked the government's communications oversight agency to possibly block FIFA 17 after the popular soccer franchise promoted a tie-in with a UK-based LGBT rights group.
'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."
'FIFA 17' marks a new beginning for the soccer franchise
I've been playing FIFA since its first title launched on Super Nintendo, when characters on the screen looked like nothing more than colorful stick figures. Nowadays, thanks to the power of modern gaming consoles, the visuals and gameplay are as close to the real thing as it gets. So much so, in fact, that oftentimes when FIFA is on my TV someone asks, "What game are you watching?" FIFA 17, which arrived yesterday in the US and lands tomorrow worldwide, is no exception.
There's a new boss in charge of 'Mass Effect' and 'Dragon Age'
Electronic Arts is changing. Many of the massive publisher-developer's myriad studios will now be assembled under one figurative roof at EA Worldwide Studios. Describing the change, EA CEO and part-time Mirror's Edge villain Andrew Wilson says it "will bring together our top creative talent in all of our great studios to work on EA's powerful brand portfolio and new IP [intellectual property]."
'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.
Fight offline with friends in new 'Star Wars Battlefront' mode
With the Battlefield 1 closed alpha raging on and the full game launching in October you might think that developer DICE is forgetting about its other shooter, Star Wars Battlefront. That's not the case. Come July 20th, the game will have a new offline gametype dubbed "Skirmish." A post on the EA Star Wars site says that Skirmish is playable against bots, either solo or with a co-op partner in Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron modes. The free update is welcome, of course, but I'm not sure how many people still playing this are jonesing for a new AI-based bot mode. Or if they've abandoned the game, if this could win them back. This is a problem of publisher Electronic Arts' own making, though.
NPD finally adds digital tracking to its game sales reports
For years, the NPD Group has tracked and reported video game sales figures. Every month, the company issues an email to the media detailing the top ten selling games for the month prior, total amount spent on games, hardware and accessories and year-over-year and generation-over-generation growth or decline. The glaring hole in those reports is that they didn't account for digital game sales from places like Steam, PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. But that's changing and with this month's data, we'll finally have steps toward a true, comprehensive picture of how much a particular title has sold, both from retailers and digital distribution.
NFL legend Jim Brown settles 'Madden' lawsuit with EA
Nearly eight years after Jim Brown sued EA over the use of his likeness in Madden 09, the two parties are finally settling the case. According to Hagens Berman, the law firm that represents the legendary NFL running back, Brown, 80, will receive a $600,000 compensation from the video game maker in exchange for a dismissal and release of his claims. Back in 2008 the former Cleveland Browns player said EA had asked to feature him in the popular football franchise, but he declined the request.
The 'Burnout' successor from Criterion Games is no more
Electronic Arts' E3 keynote last week featured an awful lot of soccer (football to the rest of the world), Battlefield and Titanfall, but no word on how developer Criterion's post-Burnout racing game was coming. That's because the team is occupying different pastures, according to GameSpot. An EA spokesperson tells the publication that the studio has "moved on from the previous project they've spoken about and aren't pursuing it." It was teased at E3 2014 during the company's media briefing and never heard about since.
'Battlefield 1' learned a lot from 'Star Wars: Battlefront'
When Electronic Arts and DICE released Star Wars: Battlefront last fall, fans complained that it was far too simple, a shell of a game. The reaction was justified, but as shallow as the game was, it wasn't without merit. A lot of what Battlefront got right (a massive sense of scale, easier to control aircraft and monstrous mechanical instruments of war) has made its way into Battlefield 1. The latter series has always prided itself on being a thinking-person's shooter. But recent releases have become bloated, with a diminished focus on what made the franchise great in the first place. In particular, these recent installments have tended to emphasize spectacle over strategic gunfights, with each player serving a distinct role in combat. Some of Battlefront's simplicity made its way into DICE's version of World War I, but based on what I played at E3, that isn't a detriment -- it's an asset.
Madden NFL 16 championships will be broadcast live on ESPN2
While their deal with League of Legends may have been a pipe dream, ESPN is expanding their eSports coverage to something a little closer to the roots of the "Worldwide Leader in Sports." On June 14th from 6–7:30 PM ET, ESPN2 will televise live coverage of EA's Madden NFL 16 Championship series for the first time ever.
Here's everything we saw at EA's E3 'Play' event
Today, video game juggernaut Electronic Arts kicked off this year's Electronics Entertainment Expo with a show all its own. If you weren't a member of the press or one of the lucky few fans that were let into the event to experience it firsthand, don't worry: We've collected all the trailers that made their debut on The Novo theater's stage and put them in one handy spot for you. Want a look at the new multiplayer trailer for October's Titanfall 2? Look no further. How about FIFA 17's intriguing single-player story mode? We've got your back there as well, with a few other bits like a new glimpse at Battlefield 1's World War I action. Join us below, won't you?
EA's 'FIFA 17' lands on September 27th
Game studios are getting a jump on the E3 news cycle and Electronic Arts is no different. Today, the company announced that FIFA 17, the next installment in its popular soccer franchise will arrive in September. What's more, the game will be powered by Frostbite, a move that VP and executive producer Dave Rutter says "unlocks a whole new world of possibilities." The studio used Frostbite on a sports title in last year's PGA Tour release after employing it on Battlefield and other games.
'Titanfall 2' lands this autumn
Slowly but surely, game publishers and developers are starting to reveal their hands ahead of E3 next month. Electronic Arts is no different, and by way of its quarterly earnings report (PDF) the publisher has revealed that the now-multiplatform Titanfall 2 will debut this fall. With the recent news that Mass Effect: Andromeda is slipping into next year, that means the sequel to developer Respawn's mech-heavy shooter will sit alongside Battlefield 1 from Dice in autumn.
Get ready for the new 'Battlefield' game with free DLC
In anticipation of Electronic Arts' next Battlefield title, the publisher is celebrating by serving up free downloads of some of the previous expansions. You can jump on the platform of your choice and pick up the Battlefield 4 add-on Dragon's Teeth and the Battlefield Hardline expansion Robbery for free, now through May 10th.
'Star Wars: Battlefront' gets Lando Calrissian in Bespin DLC
DICE just can't stop making wonderful downloadable content for Star Wars: Battlefront. And although we already knew the game was getting new goodies this summer, the developer has now shared more details about the Bespin DLC. Most notably, beloved character Lando Calrissian is being added into the mix along with Dengar, the ruthless bounty hunter from The Clone Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Both arrive in June.
College athletes in EA lawsuit will receive an average of $1,600
Back in July, a judge approved a $60 million settlement between Electronic Arts and a number of college athletes over the use of their likeness in games. Athletes with a valid claim, all 24,819 of them, will finally get their share of the settlement. The average player will receive $1,600 after lawyers for the class action take their 30-percent cut. Of course, the lead plaintiffs (Ed O'Bannon, Ryan Hart and Sam Keller) will get the most at approximately $15,000 each. A group of 21 players will receive $5,000 each for their role as representatives in the class action.
EA says 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' not due till 2017
It's been almost four years since players gathered a crew on the SSV Normandy SR-2 and saved the universe with Commander Shepard. A new Mass Effect game was originally scheduled for 2016, however an investor call with EA's CFO Blake Jorgensen suggests that Andromeda has now slipped into 2017. During the presentation, he was asked which titles the publisher will be releasing in its "FY (fiscal year) 2017," to which he replied:
