Now a month has passed since E3, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Electronic Arts is hosting its own showcase in the form of EA Play Live. On the face of it, that’s not the worst decision in the world. While EA will get less eyes on its own than it would as part of E3, it’s still a big enough publisher to draw a crowd, and with E3 being remote for yet another year, I can understand the decision to avoid the noise and deliver big announcements on its own terms. I wrote as much in the aftermath of E3 about Sony&rಞsquo;s decision to skip it, and why that seemed to be the best solution for everyone concerned. In principle, I have no problem with EA striking out on its own, even so soon af🌠t𒈔er the E3 buzz has died down. But in the run up to the event, I just keep asking myself - what’s the point?
Ahead of the event, several different studios have flagged that they will not be participating. It’s an approach I welcome; when Square Enix held an event of its own a few months prior to E3, it released a list of the games that would be present, a tactic it employed once again during E3 itself. Both times, Square Enix left room for surprises while being clear in what it had to offer. It must be tempting for publishers to keep things covered up, to let the hype and suspense build. After all, the more hype, the more games that might be there, the more viewership, right? But when all that’s in store for several of these viewers is disappointment, it can turn the reception to the event sour, so 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Square Enix was smart to avoid it. EA is going about it in a similar way, but ꦬin a far more negative fashion, and I can’t understand why.
BioWare was the first studio to blink. A couple of weeks ago, we were told that neither 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mass Effect 4 (or is it Mass Effect 5?) or 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Age 4 will be at EA Play Live. Both are huge RPGs, neither have shown off any gameplay footage whatsoever yet, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition just launched, and Dragon Age 4 has already given us a behind the scenes reel in recent months. It’s understandable, if a little༒ disappoiﷺnting, that neither will be there this week.
Next to bow out was Star Wars. I’m not sure any of us expected a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Star Wars Jedi 2 release date, but with so many Star Wars games in the works - even with EA’s exclusive license up - it would have been reasonable to assume that something Star Wars related might have appeared at EA Play Live. Alas not. Most recently, Skate 4 also dropped out, taking the strange decision to show 168澳洲幸运🅘5开奖网:some mocap footage and brief developer chats just two days before EA Play Live.
That leaves… well, not much, really. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Apex Legends and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Battlefield 2042 had their own EA event just last week, as did the indies in the EA Originals program. Meanwhile FIFA 22 and Madden 22, EA’s big sports sim guns, are getting dedicated events in the two days after EA Play Live, which suggests they won’t feature much (or possibly at all) in the event itself. That means, what, a whole event for Knockout City, The Sims, and Need For Speed? Maybe an update for It Takes Two, new info on Lost in Random, or a surprise reveal for a new Unravel or Plants Vs. Zombies? That’s not a terrible showcase if all of the above make the cut, but going the Square Enix route and telling u🌸s to prepare for those games - rather than the much more negative ‘no Mass Effect, no Dragon Age, no Star Wars, no Skate, no fun’ route - would have left EA in a much comfier position.
Of course, there is a rather large elephant in the room here. EA has long been rumoured to be reviving a classic series, and while 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:I'd love it to be SSX, gaming's worst kept secret right now is that 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dead Space is making a comeback. If the reveal looks good, whether it's a remake or a reboot or a reimagining or whatever else, then it saves the show. The presentation’s wider flaws cease to exist if 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dead Space 4 (or𒀰 whatever its name is) looks great, but then it risks becoming a glorified Dead Space Direc𓆏t.
If EA had promoted the event as a reveal, rather than a showcase where its biggest titles wouldn't be present, perhaps there would be a greater buzz around it right now. As it stands, the hype is muted, because the event has for some reason been splintered into lots of mini events, we have repeated confirmation of who won't be there but no details on who will, and everyone is hanging on a rumour - a heavily hinted at rumour, but a rumour nonetheless - to save the show. EA Play Live could be great, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:especially if Dead Space turns up, but right now it feels like the whol൲e thing is a little pointless.