EA CEO Says A Battlefield Every Two Years "Makes Sense," But Focus Will Be On Yearly Engagement
After a detour back to World War 2, Battlefield will once again return to the pseudo-modern setting with the near future world of Battlefield 2042. The game will return the franchise to a fully multiplayer affair, and will come out 3 years after Battlefield 5. While the wait is on for the game, one has to wonder if this will be the new normal or if 2042 will go down the more 'live service' route. It seems it could be a mix of both.
Speaking on an earnings call as transcribed by VGC, EA CEO Andrew Wilson fielded a question about whether we could expect a new Battlefield title every other year. He said that "probably makes sense," implying that could be the new schedule for the franchise. However, he used that moment to emphasize that they looked at the series as a live service model as a whole, even if that doesn't mean a constant update to one specific game. In the end, they are focused on yearly engagement over everything else, something that future models will reflect.
"You should understand that this really forms the foundation of what we believe the future of live service around Battlefield is, which over time will include a mobile launch, will include some free to enter components, and really change the nature of what happens from launch to launch.
"So that while an every other year launch probably makes sense if we think about it today, we're really focused on 365-day engagement in the franchise at a platform level across any device that consumers may want to play on."
Battlefield 2042 will release across most major platforms on October 22nd. An open beta is set to release on September 6th.
Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water's Return Will Hopefully Lead To New Game, Says Series Producer
It's been a long time since we last saw the Fatal Frame franchise, over half a decade in fact, but it will return later this year with a re-release of Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. The game originally came out on the Wii U and was the final new title in the franchise. It'll get a new lease on life now, and the series Producer hopes that won't be the only thing new that'll come from it.
Speaking to Famitsu (and as transcribed and translated by the folks at NintendoEverything), Keisuke Kikuchi talked about the upcoming remaster. Kikuchi has served as a Producer on the entire series, and he expressed the hope that Maiden of Black Water will be enough to garner interest for a new game. Specifically he said, "That's what I'm hoping. We're releasing this game to commemorate the series' 20th anniversary, and we're hoping a lot of fans will take take the opportunity to play the game. We'd love this to lead to a new title."
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water's re-release will be the first title in the franchise to not be exclusive to Nintendo hardware since 2008 when the franchise came under the company's publishing with Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, a game that was never localized outside Japan. In the past, Kikuchi has said a new game in the series was up to Nintendo, but with the new multiplatform release, it's unclear what the relationship is like now and how much Nintendo will have to be involved with a potential new title. Maiden of Black Water is set to release on October 28th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch and PC.
Dead Space Remake is Targeting a Fall 2022 Launch – Rumour
EA announced the Dead Space remake a couple of weeks ago, finally giving in to years of fervent demands from fans, but very little of the game was shown, while a launch date or window wasn't shared either. According to a report published by GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb, however, the survival horror remake is targeting a release in a little over a year from now.
Grubb claims that according to sources familiar with the game's development, EA is currently targeting a Fall 2021 launch for the Dead Space remake. Given the inherent uncertainty attached to the very process of making a game, which has been compounded over the last year and a half due to COVID (which has resulted in numerous delays of game releases), it's possible that Dead Space fails to hit that target, but allegedly, Fall 2021 is currently the plan, with EA wanting to release the game within the next fiscal year (which runs from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023).
Grubb also states that EA plans on showing more of the game before the end of this year, so it's possible that we'll see a new trailer and perhaps even actual gameplay footage before too long.
This is all unconfirmed for now, so take it with a grain of salt, but we'll keep you updated on any new info that comes our way, so stay tuned.
Whenever it launches, Dead Space will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Riders Republic Beta Announced for August 23rd to 25th
While Riders Republic faced a delay to October, fans interested in the multiplayer extreme sports title can take part in upcoming beta. It starts on August 23rd and runs till August 25th with five extreme sports to play. Check out the trailer below to see what's in store.
The sports in question include skiing, biking, snowboarding, wingsuiting and rocket wingsuiting. There are more than 100 tricks to discover with environments like snow-covered mountains and desert canyons to ride on. As players win races and challenges, they'll unlock new outfits and gear.
The beta offers the ability to race with other players with up to 50 taking part (though its limited to 20 on previous gen platforms). Head here to register for the upcoming beta and stay tuned for more details on what it has to offer. The full game launches on October 28th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Google Stadia.
FIFA fans haven't been entirely happy with the way the series has progressed in recent years, but it looks right now like EA Sports is looking to make some major improvements with FIFA 22. On-pitch gameplay enhancements have been detailed quite a bit since the game's announcement, and EA Sports has recently also shared other details. In addition to detailing improvements being made to the Career Mode, they've also dropped new information on how Player Career mode is changing.
Player Career mode will now also allow you to come on as a substitute in the middle of matches, while there's also a new Manager Rating system that will govern how your team's manager rates you. Completing objectives and playing well will improve your rating, allowing you to go from being a bench player to a starting XI player. Of course, failing to impress the manager will mean reduced play time. Meanwhile, requirements for getting more time on the pitch will vary depending on the quality of the rest of your squad, so the better the squad, the better you'll have to play to guarantee playing time.
Match objectives have also been reworked, with each match presenting you with fresh objectives that will vary based on your playing position, the quality of whatever team you're playing against, and the formations that both teams are using.
Significant changes are also being made to progression. Player growth for created players will now be based on earning XP and levelling up, which will vary based on training, completing match objectives, and winning match rewards. Levelling up will reward you with skill points, with which you will unlock attribute boosts in branching skill trees. There's also a new Perks system, with several Perks being available across four categories- Attack, Defense, Goalkeeping, and Chance Creation. You'll be able to equip three perks at a time.
Meanwhile, the Player Career mode will also have new dressing room cutscenes which will change based on the results of matches. One interesting example given is for when your team loses the match, but you nab the Man of the Match award, and the awkwardness in the dressing room that that leads to.
FIFA 22 launches on October 1 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It will also release as another Legacy Edition for the Nintendo Switch.
In a recent interview with GamingBolt, co-founder of Invader Studios Michele Giannone gave a number of valuable insights about its upcoming Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle, as well as other topics – including the power differences between PS5 and Xbox Series X.
While Microsoft's console has an obvious lead over Sony's offerings in the GPU department, Giannone thinks it doesn't make much of a difference in development. Of course, Xbox Series X can run multi-platform games at higher resolutions, but the difference isn't so stark that developers have to cut back on ambition and scale to make the game run on the PS5.
"Certainly from this point of view Microsoft has the advantage. More power also means having more creative freedom, but we don't think it's such a huge difference as to bring significant differences in terms of development, especially when considering cross-platform titles. As far as we are concerned, the development cycle will be the same on both platforms, the most marked differences will be noticed in the optimization phase," Giannone said.
A plethora of developers share this common sentiment, most notably Blacktail developer The Parasight, whom we interviewed very recently. As the generation progresses, it's quite possible that the differences start to hold more weight – but as it stands now, PS5 and Xbox Series X are both great pieces of console hardware.
FIFA 22 Career Mode Will Allow You to Create Your Own Club
The Career Mode in FIFA games has been growing staler and staler with each new yearly instalment, and fans of the series have been clamouring for much-needed major improvements for some time now. FIFA 22 is already making some pretty significant improvements to the on-pitch gameplay, but it seems it will finally be introducing some interesting features in the Career Mode as well.
EA Sports has previously very briefly mentioned custom clubs for FIFA 22's Career Mode, and they've now officially confirmed that players will be able to create their own club in this year's game, and provided extensive details on it. Creating your own club will, of course, entail choosing your team's name (and selecting the nickname that the commentary team will refer to it as), creating your team's crest and kits, and customizing your own stadium.
Crest creation will include a variety of shapes, patterns, and logos, while stadium creation will let you choose your stadium's base colours, seat colours, net pattern, pitch pattern, and more. You can also customize your stadium's atmosphere to your liking by selecting from a range of goal songs, crowd chants, and walkout anthems. At the beginning of each season, you'll be able to customize your crest, kits, and stadium to your liking.
You can choose to start in any tier in any nation, and whichever team you replace will be moved to the Rest of the World pool of clubs. And how will you build your squad? You'll be given a starting group of players that will be randomly generated, and their nationality will be decided by the percentage of players of that nationality in whatever league you're playing in.
Following that, you can set your own starting budget (up to 1 billion of whatever currency you're using), and purchase players according to your liking. Meanwhile, you can also set your club's board priorities, though certain priorities (such as domestic and continental success) will vary based on your club's star rating.
Other improvements include new and better cutscenes during transfer negotiations, being able to start or stop scouting a player from the Transfer Hub, and expanded stories, which will better celebrate achievements and career milestones for players and managers, for things such as reaching a certain number of matches played, winning personal awards, winning trophies, and more. On PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia, these milestones will be celebrated not only with news stories shown on your Career Mode hub, but also with pre-match cutscenes and remarks from the commentary team during matches.
Other new cutscenes have also been added to heighten atmosphere, including new team warm up sequences, locker room moments, teams inspecting the pitch, the groundskeeper making last minute changes, or even the crowd beginning to leave early if your team is underperforming in an important match. Meanwhile, cutscenes for transfer announcements will now take place in stadiums instead of the press room.
There's certainly plenty of interesting additions and improvements being made to the Career Mode, which is great to see for fans who've been asking for the same for a number of years running. Seeing how much time so many players invest in the mode each year, it's about time it saw some significant improvements.
FIFA 22 launches on October 1 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It will also release as another Legacy Edition for the Nintendo Switch.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer Introduces Lady Hellbender
While Crystal Dynamics continues to update Marvel's Avengers – with the Black Panther expansion War for Wakanda releasing on August 17th – Eidos Montreal has a different adventure coming up. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy sees the infamous band of heroes venturing across space and doing what they do best. A new trailer has been released which showcases one of the threats they'll battle – Lady Hellbender.
As leader of the Hellraisers and Seknarf Nine's queen, Lady Hellbender is a monster collector of sorts. Remember the sequence where the Guardians voted on having either Groot or Rocket act as a "rare monster" to con a buyer? That buyer is Hellbender who seems to take a liking to Drax the Destroyer.
How things will play out remains to be seen (the provided choice of letting Drax take the lead doesn't seem to amount to much) but Lady Hellbender is definitely a force to reckon with. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC on October 26th. Stay tuned for more details in the coming week.
EA is "Continuing to Invest" in the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Series
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has been one of EA's most successful releases in recent years, having garnered not just critical acclaim, but also commercial success to boot, with over 20 million players amassed so far. It shouldn't be surprising at all, then, that EA has recognized the value in that particular series and is committed to continuing to invest in it.
Speaking during EA's recent quarterly earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson commented on the continuing success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, bolstered by its recent launch for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and said that the company is "continuing to invest" in the series.
Though a Fallen Order sequel hasn't been officially announced, it's no sequel that one is in the works. Development on the game is underway at Respawn Entertainment, and EA has previously said that it views the 2019 game as the first in a new series of titles.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia.
Streets of Rage 4 Developer Acquired by Focus Home Interactive
Focus Home Interactive has come to terms with the acquisition of Dotemu known for retro-esque titles like Streets of Rage 4 and the upcoming Windjammers 2. For €38.5 million, the publisher will acquire 77.5 percent of the developer's capital with an additional €15 million based on "future revenue elements" and "a second earnout subject to performance criteria."
Dotemu CEO Cyrille Imbert will remain in charge and also join the publisher's Executive Committee. Focus CEO Christophe Nobileau stated that, "The arrival of Dotemu marks a key step in the acceleration of the Group's growth and in the diversification of its expertise. By enriching our editorial line, we are opening up a new revenue stream and new market shares to conquer in a fast-growing sector.
"We are delighted to welcome to the Focus Group talents such as Cyrille Imbert and his teams, who have succeeded in making games attractive and giving them new life for millions of players around the world. This transaction is a good example of our desire to bring together talents through a long-term partnership with Cyrille, who will remain President and shareholder Dotemu and become a member of the Group's Executive Committee and future shareholder of Focus Home Interactive. Finally, this deal is just another step in our growth story. Following the integration of the Deck13 and Streum On Studio, we are actively looking for other high-potential companies to accelerate our development and expand our offer."
Imbert stated that joining the publisher was "an obvious choice." "We share the same passion for video games, the same desire to improve, as well as the same values of respect and benevolence towards our partners and teams. While continuing its activities, this new collaboration will allow Dotemu to benefit from the incontestable expertise of Focus Home Interactive's teams for the production of AA titles and therefore launch the production of future remakes or sequels on licenses of first-generation consoles.
"While retaining the editorial and strategic independence that has made it successful, Dotemu will be able to give even greater ambition to its projects and give itself the means to broaden the range of services offered to studios, in order to guarantee the success of their productions on the retro label as well as on the publishing label The Arcade Crew. Therefore, Dotemu is ideally positioned to achieve its ambitious growth plan to triple its tumover in the medium term.
"My mission will also be to share Dotemu's expertise with Focus Home Interactive's teams, to select and convince talented teams to join the Group in order to build, together, a key player in the video game industry on a global scale."
Dotemu was founded in 2007 and has worked on a number of projects throughout the years. It shot to prominence with the release of Streets of Rage 4, a sequel to Sega's beat 'em up series developed alongside Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games. It has a number of other projects forthcoming like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, which is being developed by Tribute Games; Windjammers 2 which is slated for this year; and Leikir Studio's Metal Slug Tactics. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.