With this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo fast approaching, the time has come for us to make a few predictions about what we expect to see and what we hope will be announced in Los Angeles during the most important time of the year for the video game industry.
Here are some of our predictions for what EA will show during EA’s E3 2015 Press Conference.
Jakejames Lugo – Associate Editor
Space is going to be a big theme for Electronic Arts in 2015. There definitely will be some sports and Battlefield related titles on stage, but this year’s E3 is all about Star Wars in the EA camp. After having a strong showing at Star Wars Celebration and acquiring the license from Disney, DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront will be one of the crown jewels of EA’s press conference this year. Many have expected EA to reveal not only a playable demo on the show floor for journalist to dabble in, but also a date for the highly anticipated beta for the game.
Much of the info for Battlefront is already out in the wild, but you can bet EA has a few more details and surprises to share with everyone at the conference. More playable heroes, new maps to fight on, and hopefully new ships and ground vehicles are all fair game on everyone’s expectation list.
Battlefront won’t be the only Star Wars title EA may dish out details about during their conference. Visceral Games is also working on Star Wars titles, one which has the creative power of Amy Henning behind the project. A lot of little hints on social media and rumors have pointed out the title to be a Han Solo related game, one which may end up being an open world on the same level as the Mercenaries series. Nothing before the conference has been confirmed, but now is a perfect time for EA and Visceral to reveal the project and really capitalize on the Star Wars license. After all, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is due out in December 2015 and with the force on everyone’s minds, anything new with the Star Wars name is bound to make a big splash among fans.
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Space however is very vast and not only populated by the characters of a galaxy far, far, away. Another series that is popular among gamers is Mass Effect. Bioware showed a brief developer diary teaser of Mass Effect 4, which revealed very little details about the game. A survey that popped up earlier in the year gave more for gamers to work with than the teaser shown on EA’s stage (something gamers were not too pleased about). E3 2015 would be a great opportunity for EA to give Mass Effect fans more to look forward to in a year dominated by Jedi and Sith. Hopefully, a new trailer that is focused more on the game, rather than the developers, will bring up the excitement level in the room.
Surprises may or may not still be within EA’s game plan for their press conference. Some rumors running rampant suggest that EA may revive the Knights of the Old Republic series or Republic Commando Star Wars titles. This would make sense if EA is going to capitalize on the Star Wars license exclusivity, but none of this is confirmed. EA knows they have an immensely powerful license in their arsenal with very dedicated fans that will buy anything with the Star Wars brand on it, so you better believe they will use it.
Tony Polanco – Executive Editor
Last year’s EA conference was filled with a lot of documentary-style video clips of their upcoming games. Many of these consisted of little more than pieces of concept art. This year, EA can’t repeat this and I see them having full-on game trailers and gameplay footage for most of the titles presented. Whether this will be for games that are actually releasing in 2015 is different matter, but I definitely expect more game footage at this conference.
We can expect to see footage from Mass Effect 4, the Amy Hennig lead Star Wars title, and Mirror’s Edge 2. Star Wars: Battlefront will have a notable presence as well since that is aiming to be one of the biggest games of the year. On the sports front, we can expect new Madden and FIFA games, and maybe something with regard to the UFC game as well. I also expect the next Dragon Age: Inquision and Battlefield: Hardline DLC to be announced also.
As far as surprises go, I’d love to see something new from the Dead Space franchise. We haven’t heard much from the series after the third game, so it would be great if a new one was announced. Also, it would be a pretty cool surprise if Bioware announced a new Jade Empire game which would be released on both major consoles.
Stephanie Burdo – Contributing Editor
The safest prediction for EA would be betting on the announcement of their annual sport games (FIFA 16 and Madden 16). With the recent tease of a new Call of Duty game, it is typical of the DICE team and EA to announce a new addition to the Battlefield series shortly afterward. Don’t be surprised if we see something with regards to Battlefield 5. We won’t get a trailer, perhaps just a logo to let people know it’s being developed.
I hope to see the BioWare team come on stage and announce something for Mass Effect 4. With the short coverage of the new Mass Effect game at E3 2014, we were assured that BioWare is still thinking about the series and has not abandoned it yet. I believe that there is a possibility of Mass Effect 4 being given more of a spotlight this year, and I feel even stronger about the possibility of a Mass Effect HD collection being announced for release this Fall.
Charles Singletary – Contributing Editor
Expectations
The sports franchises will rinse and repeat their usual stuff and we’ll get Mass Effect CG footage and on stage demo of Star Wars: Battlefront. It will shut up those that have complained about the game so far.
Surprises
Madden does something awesome.
Dana Abercrombie – Content Writer
Expect to See:
A phenomenon has hit E3, it comes around every several years; taking the show by storm. To be more accurate, by storm… trooper. Star Wars: Battlefront is here and EA will be the home of the Star Wars action for E3. I’m expecting Jedis on stage playing live demos showing off the game’s graphics and cinematics as Darth Vader himself comes riding on the Death Star to introduce the latest trailer. The crowd will go wild as grown men are reduced to crying newborn babies as happiness takes over the conference. Just when the crowd thought they’ve seen it all, the EA/Visceral Han Solo game that has been teased for quite some time will be announced and introduced by Harrison Ford himself. You ain’t ready… you ain’t ready.
Another thing we can expect to see are HD remasters of their classics because what better way to get people to give you their money for doing such little work then by remastering something no one asked to be remastered? Bring on the frame rate and glassy graphics… this time for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Mass Effect 4 shall soak in any glory left over by Star Wars. There will be a trailer shown but not just any trailer. This trailer will be special (this is E3 after all). I’m expecting long panning shots, slow-motion action, dramatic music and colorful looking planets. As the crowd sits in utter silence, there will be long sweeping narrative explaining some random mission no one cares about. The screen will fade to black and then we’ll see the face of… Shepard. Bioware said the character wouldn’t be returning but I think we’ll see him/her if even for a brief moment.
Surprise to See:
We’re getting Mirror’s Edge 2, this is known. All EA has to do is show off a bit of concept art featuring a leg or a pair of sneakers in running motion and fans will completely lose it. Can you imagine the sudden heart attacks if EA were to show a trailer, an actual gameplay trailer? EA would win the entire conference on this alone. One can dream… one can dream.
Anthony Nash – News Editor
Sports! Sports Everywhere!: As with every EA conference, expect to see a lot of their sports franchises. The new Madden 16 will be featured, as well FIFA and NHL‘s yearly variations. For those interested (me), I’m sure it will get a bit of spotlight on what has changed in 2016’s game.
Star Wars Year: Star Wars: Battlefront will probably get a ton of shine (as it should). It’s coming out this year and is competing with some prominent shooters. What hasn’t been talked about at all is the Star Wars game that Amy Hennig (former Uncharted director) is heading up. While it might be a long shot, I would love to hear more on what’s cooking over there.
Surprises: EA is never known for huge suprises at E3, but I would honestly be shocked if we didn’t hear something about Mass Effect. The little teaser that was shown last year had fans salivating at the thought, so it would be a fantastic way to close out the convention. Personally, I would love to hear more on the next Mirror’s Edge, as it’s been way too long since we’ve seen anything on that.
Chris Sealy – Content Writer
EA has their hands in several projects at any given time, but it will be the unexpected or the sought after follow ups that we will be anticipating at their press conference for E3 2015.
Now one of the surprise things I would love to see is a certain title from Visceral Games coming off of Battlefield: Hardline. Yep, I’m talking Dead Space 4. While many did not like the treatment in Dead Space 3, I think the franchise has plenty to offer and more stories to tell. The last DLC for Dead Space 3 left off on a HUGE cliffhanger with the fate of the Earth looking pretty dire, so I’d love see the next part of that story on current gen platforms.
Also, it’s no surprise to anyone who watches/listen to Throwdown that I love Mass Effect. I’ve literally said that Mass Effect is the best Star Trek game I have ever played! So if EA comes out and drops Mass Effect 4 at their conference, I might start tossing dollar bills at my monitor. I am ready for a new chapter in Mass Effect from Bioware, as I’m sure are many others!
At last year’s EA conference, there were portions shown of new concept art and very early engine teaser shown for Mirror’s Edge 2. Not sure what the progress is on a sequel, but I think that’s a series that could come into its own on current gen given that it’s a fast paced game with free running and on newer hardware could make for some crazy huge levels to freerun through.
Lastly, we got Star Wars coming in both movie and video game forms for the holidays, so EA is probably going to go big and show us what Star Wars: Battlefront will be bringing to the Star Wars universe. It would be good to see more of that game and to know that DICE could deliver a good Star Wars battle experience in that universe and not just another Battlefield game with a Star Wars skin on it. Only time will tell which way they’ve gone with Battlefront.
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These are some of our thoughts but what do you guys think EA will show during their press event? Make sure to let us know in the comments below.
