Taking a page out of Sony's book from their conference last year, EA opened their E3 2017 press conference with a musical number. However, unlike Sony, EA didn't bring out a full orchestra, but instead a bunch of guys beating drums wearing Patriots jerseys.
Then we jumped into the first trailer. EA showed us a brief glimpse of Madden 18's story mode, called Longshot. It looks like you'll be playing as somebody hoping to one day become an NFL star. The story mode also features Moonlight actor Mahershala Ali, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor earlier this year.
After, EA CEO Andrew Wilson took the stage to announce what to expect at EA Play this E3, including a full 30-minute match of Battlefront II that they would play at the end of the conference.
Jump to a montage of some Battlefield 1 gameplay, as well as some YouTubers and streamers talking about what they liked about the game.
Then, the developers announced night matches will be coming to Battlefield 1 this summer. In the Name of the Tsar is a new DLC expansion that will bring the war to the Eastern front and that will include 8 new maps and some other new content. The developers added that some new progression options will be coming to the game soon, too. Then, a trailer for the DLC was revealed, which you can check out below:
Next, EA promised some more competitive options for Battlefield 1. The publisher went on to talk about some more competitive events that EA plans to sponsor for games like FIFA and Madden.
Cut to a brand new trailer showing off the upcoming FIFA 18 game, with a focus on Cristiano Ronaldo.
Then, Men in Blazers came out onto the stage. They apparently host a Soccer/FIFA show, and they spent some time talking about FIFA 18. They also showed some footage of Ronaldo doing motion-cap for FIFA 18.
Then, EA showed off a trailer for FIFA's story mode, The Journey, starring returning character Alex Hunter.
Need for Speed Payback then took the stage. There, the devs talked about the game's story and world, including the fact that you can play as 3 different drivers during the story. The producer of the game also talked about some of the customization options in the game, including the ability to customize classic cars to make them as good as new.
Then, they showed off some gameplay for Payback. In the gameplay, the main character was attempting to heist a moving semi-truck while driving through a desert highway and wrecking other cars along the way. It was definitely something out of a Fast and Furious movie.
Check out the full trailer below:
Toning down the dial a bit, the focus shifted to EA's recent support for smaller, indie titles. The next EA Originals game comes from the developer behind the game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. The new game, titled A Way Out, is a co-op game that follows two main characters who are seemingly trying to break out of prison and then follows their life after they get out. This will be the debut title for the newly formed studio Hazelight.
A Way Out will also feature both local and online co-op.
Check out the trailer for that game below:
The head of the newly formed studio then introduced a gameplay trailer for the game, which showed how the co-op will work. For example, one player can distract the guards while the other performs some other task. The trailer concluded saying that the game will come out early in 2018.
EA then went on to announce Seed, a research team for EA. The Executive VP for EA said that he hopes that Seed can revolutionize AI in games.
EA then mentioned the capabilities of Project Scorpio, and spent some time showing off some photos of Madden 18 on Scorpio.
And then, another new IP. Anthem is the newest game from the development studio Bioware. However, EA's trailer showed very little of the game, but promised that more will be shown at Microsoft's conference tomorrow. The teaser only showed some shots of the setting and the main character.
NBA Live 18 then took the stage. The developers showed a replay of some gameplay, explaining how different analogue stick flicks impact the gameplay in different ways. A demo for the game will come out this August, and all progress will carry over to the actual game when it comes out.
Then, EA showed off The One, which is a career mode in NBA Live 18. You'll be able to play pick-up games, as well as actual NBA games as you try to climb to the top, according to the trailer.
CEO Andrew Wilson then took some time to plug EA Play to Give, EA's charity organization. As a way to celebrate the success of the event that took place last week, EA will be offering some free trials and games on Origin and the PlayStation 4 Store.
And finally, the grand finale. Star Wars Battlefront II finally took the stage during the press conference, complete with Storm Troopers and voice actress Janina Gavankar, who voices the main character in the game's upcoming story mode. She explained that the upcoming Battlefront's multiplayer will include heroes and maps from all Star Wars eras, and the game's single player will take place between Episodes 6 and 7.
Then, the developers began explaining that the new multiplayer will bring back the class system.
The conference then finally got to showing some gameplay for Battlefront II in a new trailer, which ended in some more story details for the game. Check out that trailer below:
Then, the conference cut to a pre-recorded video of John Boyega. He announced that additional content for Battlefront II will be completely free for all those that own the game, including the hero Finn. Also, those who pre-order the game will gain access to the game's Beta.
Then, the conference finally got to what had been promised since the beginning: 30 minutes of multiplayer gameplay. The match took place in the city of Theed from the prequels. The game mode had three phases, and the battle itself featured clones vs droids, with the droids attempting to escort something across the map in phase 1.
In the gameplay, we saw some dog fighting and tank combat. The gameplay also showed that you can pick up other characters during the battle that aren't heroes, like the B-2 droid.
Then, in phase 2 of the match, we finally got to see some gameplay from the heroes, including Darth Maul, Rey, Han Solo, and Boba Fett.
While that was it for Battlefront II, it wasn't it for Star Wars. EA showed off some new content for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, which is a mobile game. They also showed a new trailer for some of that additional content. The new character will be available June 15th.
If you want to know more about this and other announcements happening at E3 then be sure to check out our E3 2017 Coverage Hub.
