Electronic Arts gave investors an overview of its plans for the fiscal year that runs through the end of March 2021. The publisher has 14 games in the works. But it’s also still committed to its ongoing live services like Apex Legends, The Sims 4, and EA Access. To help grow those services, EA says it’s looking to expand its presence even further.
“This year we plan to grow our communities across new platforms and ways to play,” EA chief executive officer Andrew Wilson said. “Building on our announcement with Google Stadia last week, we plan to bring our games to more digital distribution channels. We’ll take our subscription service to a fourth platform in Steam.”
EA Access on Steam is one of the keys for the company. This will expose the subscription plan — and its $5- and $15-per-month options — to Steam’s millions of daily active players.
What are EA’s new games for the next 12 months?
But while EA Access is a good deal, it’s the new games that most people are going to care about. And EA provided some insight into its release outlook for the next 12 months.
“We are planning to launch 14 new titles to players this fiscal year,” said Wilson. “That includes four new EA Sports titles — FIFA, Madden, NHL, and one more unannounced sports game — all of which deliver on the mix of creativity, authenticity, and quality that sets EA Sports apart. … Our FY21 plans also include four more games drawing on the breadth of our IP, from Command & Conquer Remastered to unannounced games for our console and PC players. We’ll have more games from indie developers launching this year through EA Partners, and two new mobile titles leveraging top IP that we’ll bring to players worldwide.”
Here’s how that all breaks down:
- Burnout Paradise Remastered (Nintendo Switch)
- Command & Conquer Remastered (PC)
- Medal of Honor VR
- FIFA 21
- Madden NFL 21
- NHL 21
- Unannounced sports game
- An HD remake of an EA game
- EA Partner game
- EA Partner game
- EA Partner game
- EA Partner game
- EA Mobile game
- EA Mobile game
This list likely doesn’t even represent every EA release for fiscal 2021. For example, EA will probably launch Apex Legends on Steam, but it’s not including that on this list.
And when Wilson says that EA is releasing four games that draw on EA IP, he mentions Command & Conquer Remastered and “unannounced games.” One of those is probably the unannounced HD remake, but the others are not Burnout Paradise Remastered or Medal of Honor VR. EA has already announced those. So the company probably still has some surprises in store — and maybe they will mimic the instant-release drop of Apex Legends.
EA on Nintendo Switch
In his prepared remarks, Wilson spoke about plans to increase support for Switch.
“And we’re also planning to deliver for more Nintendo fans,” said Wilson. “With multiple EA games set to launch on Nintendo Switch this year.”
One of those games is Burnout Paradise Remastered. The other is likely Apex Legends — although it’s possible the publisher may have more than that.
What about some surprises?
As for the rest of the release slate, the mobile games could be anything. And EA Partner games are like Unravel and A Way Out. And we should start seeing more about those at the company’s EA Play event.
But what about the unannounced sports game? Well, EA is not done with NBA Live. The publisher is determined to release something that is competitive — even if that means going free-to-play to undercut NBA 2K. But NBA Live probably isn’t ready. Instead, it makes sense for EA to put out something like a new UFC fighter.
Oh, and that HD remake of an EA game is the Mass Effect Trilogy. Just don’t expect that to also launch on Switch — at least not at first.
Author: Jeff Grubb.
Source: Venturebeat
