EA Play Live aired at 7 PM ET on June 18. But if you missed it, there's no need to worry. Tom's Guide covered the whole event as it happened, and you can read our real-time blog below.
During the presentation, EA revealed a handful of new indie games, including It Takes Two and Lost in Random. We also got a sneak peek at Lost Treasures: a new mode in Apex Legends Season 5, as well as a deep dive into both the single-player and multiplayer modes in Star Wars: Squadrons.
EA didn't reveal much about its next-gen projects, but we did get a surprise announcement at the end: Skate is coming back. We'll probably hear more about these games as the year progresses, so stay tuned for more information as it becomes available. Read on below for the full story.
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EA Play Live 2020 recap
7:55 PM: And that's it for EA Play Live! We got a brief glimpse of what some studios are working on for next-gen titles, although we didn't get any names or release dates. BioWare is indeed working on something, and apparently this something will have a very big tree in it.
And we ended things with the announcement of a brand-new Skate game. We don't really have any data on it yet, but the devs were excited to share. They said that fans "commented the game into existence," so EA really does seem to listen to fan requests - provided they're persistent enough.
That's it for now, so stay tuned for additional, smaller game shows throughout the summer. We'll cover them all on Tom's Guide.
7:50 PM: EA Sports will release both FIFA 21 and Madden 21. Lamar Jackson will be the cover athlete for Madden this time around. Otherwise, they look like last year's models, albeit with updated team rosters.
7:45 PM: The gameplay reveal gave us an idea of what to expect from both the single-player and multiplayer modes in Star Wars: Squadrons. In the single-player mode, you'll play as both the New Republic and the Empire in an original story. You view the game from the cockpit of a ship, and your systems give you vital feedback in real time.
You'll be able to play in eight different ships, as well as customize each ship with both cosmetic and gameplay-enhancing items.
The game will feature two multiplayer modes: One called Dogfight mode, in which teams of five square off against each other. The more interesting mode, however, is Fleet Battles, in which five players will face off against small ships, then two medium-sized ships, then a flagship in massive arenas.
7:40 PM: Star Wars: Squadrons took center stage, with a rebroadcast of its first trailer kicking things off. In case you haven't seen it before, we've posted it below. The game will be out on October 2.
Ian Frazier, creative director at Motive Studios, took some time to discuss his inspiration behind making a Star Wars dogfighting game. Many people on the team are hardcore Star Wars fans, especially of the imaginative ships and pilots in the movies.
The game will also be highly skill-based, requiring power management and ace pilot tricks to succeed.
Story-wise, you create two different pilots: One from the New Republic, one from the Empire. With them, you'll explore an original story that takes place shortly after Return of the Jedi. You can also play in multiplayer modes, which support cross-play. Everything in the game will also be playable in VR.
Next up is a gameplay reveal for Star Wars: Squadrons, which we'll cover shortly.
7:30 PM: Zoink Games is working on Lost in Random: a game about a little girl, lost in a strange world, with a sentient six-sided die as a companion. It's a 3D action/adventure game with a creepy Gothic art style, but it won't be out until 2021.
We also saw Rocket Arena from Final Strike Games: a colorful multiplayer shooter, in which every weapon is a rocket launcher. It looks like a fast-paced, chaotic hero shooter with maps that are at least partially destructible. Each team supports three players, which makes it a little smaller than some of the titles currently on the market. The game will be out on July 14, and its first competitive season begins on July 22.
7:25 PM: A quick video showed off EA Original titles, such as A Way Out and Unravel. Hazelight Studios, which created A Way Out, was the first studio to get a spotlight. Josef Fares discussed the difference between making feature films and video games. He finds video games much more difficult to create.
His next game is called It Takes Two, and it's a cooperative platformer where you play as two animated dolls. It's supposed to be an emotional experience that "marries the story and mechanics." It will be out in 2021.
7:20 PM: EA announced that a number of its games are now available on Steam, including Titanfall 2 and Dead Space 3. But they gave special focus to Command & Conquer Remastered, which has been out for a little while already, and has received rave reviews from critics and fans alike.
Seven new games will also make their way to Switch, including Burnout Paradise, which will be available tomorrow. Need for Speed: Heat is another Switch port, and we'll learn about more later on.
7:16 PM: EA showed us a video about people who play The Sims, showing how the game has been welcoming to LGBT, Black and disabled players. Many of them expressed The Sims as an environment free from hate or judgment.
As far as game announcements go, The Sims 4 is now available on Steam.
7:12 PM: Respawn Entertainment kicked things off with information about Apex Legends: Season 5: Fortune's Favor. A new collection event called Lost Treasures will introduce a bunch of new items, which should make the experience a little more unpredictable. (One of the items you can get is a little golden statue, which seems charming.) The update will go live on June 23.
Lost Treasures will also include a fan-favorite game type (snipers and shotguns, with mobile respawn points). This fall, Apex Legends will come to Steam, with cross-play enabled - as well as the Nintendo Switch. Not many details are available yet, but cross-play will work across every console and platform, including PS4 and Xbox One.
7:05 PM: EA Play Live kicked off with a message thanking first responders and health professionals, as well as a statement that "Black Lives Matter." The rest of the presentation will be focused on games, but these things are worth repeating.
7:00 PM: Looks like the main event is still a few minutes out. We have a very pretty loading screen, though.
6:30 PM: Welcome to EA Play Live blog on Tom's Guide. Here, we'll be covering all the announcements from EA Play Live as they happen. For those who want to watch the action as it happens, we'll embed the video stream below. You can also watch the event on a variety of platforms by checking out our story on how to watch EA Play Live 2020.
Normally, EA hosts a big event at E3, announcing a variety of new games, then letting guests go hands-on with many of them at a big, lavish event. However, due to public health concerns, E3 2020 was canceled, and companies have been hosting live streams instead. Over the past month, we've heard from Sony, Microsoft and a variety of smaller companies through the PC Gaming Show and the Future Games Show. Now, EA will toss its hat in the ring, so we can see what the major publisher has planned for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, not to mention the upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X.
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First things first: If you're already on this page, you can watch the EA live stream embedded just below:
Otherwise, you can watch directly on EA's website, or on its Twitch channel. There will be no difference among the three feeds, as far as we can tell, so whichever one is most convenient is probably the way to go.
As to what we might see at EA Play Live 2020, the company will probably surprise us, although we have a few good guesses to start.
First off, there's Star Wars: Squadrons, a space shooter based on the venerable space fantasy franchise. Expect fierce dogfights, just as in nostalgic games like X-Wing, Rogue Squadron or Starfighter. EA hasn't revealed much about Star Wars: Squadrons yet, save for the fact that it's in the works, so expect a more detailed reveal at EA Play Live. We might get a deeper dive on the story, the gameplay, or both.
EA is also an old standard for sports games, particularly both varieties of football. We know that EA will show off FIFA 21 gameplay for the first time, as well as reveal the athlete for its cover. Likewise, EA Play Live will give us some more information about Madden 21, for those who prefer American football. Up until now, EA has not been exactly clear how cross-generation upgrades will work for those who buy Madden 21 on a PS4 or Xbox One, then upgrade to a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Hopefully, we'll get some additional clarity on that topic tonight.
Fans have also been extremely keen to speculate on Mass Effect and Dragon Age, two EA-owned series that we haven't heard much about in the past few years. Rumors suggest a Mass Effect Trilogy remaster for current or next-gen systems — but we've been hearing those rumors for years now, so we'll believe it when we see it.
Dragon Age 4 news seems a little more likely, though, as we already know that this game is in the works, complete with a teaser trailer that debuted back in 2018. It's high time to learn more about the next installment in BioWare's beloved RPG franchise, and it would help break up some of the sports and action game news.
We'll update this page as the event happens, so be sure to refresh it every few minutes for the latest news.
