Once again EA fired the first salvo in this week of E3 reveals. With months of derision coming from the curse of loot boxes they needed to reset and get back to basics. I think they might have achieved that too.

First up was Battlefield V. An emphasis was made early on how players can customise their characters which is likely where a lot of microtransactions are going to be focused on. War Stories, the campaign component first used in Battlefield 1, will be revealed further at the Xbox Press Conference. The developers also made it clear that they are steering clear of the loot box issues that plagued Star Wars Battlefront II, and are long behind them to fans’ relief. The game should arrive in October.

FIFA 19 will have ties with the UEFA Champions League but that doesn’t mean the current game is missing out as it has been updated to support this year’s World Cup.

EA are pushing their services further too with the possibility of the streaming service like PlayStation Now in the near future. In addition a premier tier for Origin Access will soon be available that includes launch games such as Madden NFL 19 which returns to PC for the first time in years.

On the Star Wars (battle)front, Titanfall developer Respawn also revealed the name of their upcoming game which will be Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Early rumours mentioned it was to be a third person action game so I’m really hoping for something much like Jedi Knight.

Further updates are on the way for Star Wars Battlefront II with new modes and squad features. The game will also bring in a new expansion based on The Clone Wars that includes one of their biggest maps set on Geonosis.

Unravel Two was also revealed which includes a co-op mode as Yarny is joined by a friend through this latest adventure. The best surprise is that the game is out now.

Sea of Solitude‘s basic idea is the loneliness can turn people into monsters and the game is about one such character trying to restore their humanity. The visuals are quite distinct and certainly makes this one to look out for. Out early 2019.

NBA Live 19, Madden NFL 19, a new mobile Command & Conquer: Rivals which focuses on fast one on one battles. I do wish we’d see more of old school C&C but that might be well past us now.

Last up was Anthem which got a lot more love including a deep dive into the game. What’s promising is the potential for extended narratives and story expansions. In a constantly changing and hostile world there’s potential for long term commitment to the game.

There’s definitely shades of Destiny in here with different types of Javelin exosuits (Ranger, Colossus, Interceptor, Storm) falling into familar class types but you can swap suits as needed so you’re not tied to one from the outset.

The flight mechanics of your Javelin really make me think these maps are going to be huge and the few pieces of level destruction seen show that the Frostbite engine is being leveraged nicely too. The game will be out February 22nd 2019.

I really liked what was shown here – they kept it simple and rolled through the games at a good pace with the exception of Anthem which was given plenty of time at the end of the show. I’m certainly counting down the days until February so they achieved that goal. 🙂

The full conference is below via GameSpot: