EA’s Ripple Effect Studios is working on a new Battlefield game, though we don’t have a release date or official title yet. However, the publisher announced that it hired two military veterans to improve the game’s authenticity.

What do we know about EA’s next Battlefield?

EA hasn’t revealed much about the next Battlefield game, though its development team is reportedly the series’ largest. The project draws talent from four studios: DICE, Criterion, Motive, and Ripple Effect. The latter recently hired two former military personnel through the Hire Our Heroes program. The development team will use their experience to make the next Battlefield game a more authentic experience.

Madison Daugherty’s military career began as an enlisted military police soldier before becoming a logistics officer and battalion operations officer. She was assigned to the Third Infantry Division, where she was the distribution platoon leader for 30 Blackhawk helicopters. “The best way to describe it is as the most expensive mobile gas station you’ve ever seen,” she explained on EA’s blog.

After a three-month fellowship with EA’s Battlefield team, she joined Ripple Effect as a Product Manager. “I have been able to give good feedback on what realistic military stuff looks like,” Daugherty said. “We’ve put together executive summaries on military realism.”

Meanwhile, Ripple Effect’s new Associate Game Manager, Aaron Johnson, is a former green beret and small unit tactics instructor. Johnson’s career saw him stationed everywhere, from Afghanistan to Japan and many other places. “I was there to manage the assault force and maneuver them on the ground at first,” he explained. “And so, when I was on the other side of that, I was the guy leading the charge somewhere.” Later, as an instructor, Johnson trained soldiers to move, shoot, and provide medical aid in combat.

However, after his long military career, Johnson is just as enthusiastic about game development. “I wanted to be part of the Battlefield team as much as I wanted to be a Green Beret,” he said. “When I got placed on that team, I cried tears of joy.”

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It’s been a busy week for BioWare, who revealed Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s gameplay showcase on Tuesday. While it saw a more positive reception than the divisive Xbox showcase trailer, it’s still left some concern about how important its RPG systems will be. However, according to Design Director Corinne Busche, they will be very important indeed.

What did Corinne Busche say about Dragon Age: The Veilguard gameplay?

“So,” Busche told RPG Site, “if I were to contrast Mass Effect versus Dragon Age, for instance . . . I really view Mass Effect as an ARPG. Big action, minor RPG. We’re almost the total inverse of that.”

The Mass Effect comparison didn’t come out of nowhere. The companion ability wheel shown in the Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s gameplay reveal resembles the one from BioWare’s sci-fi RPG shooters. One could also be forgiven for coming away from the showcasing thinking that active abilities and tactical depth had taken back seat to button mashing.

However, unlike Mass Effect, which only has a few abilities per class, Veilguard’s skill trees are “absolutely enormous,” according to Busche. She also explained the skill tree’s structure, comparing it to a spiderweb or the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X. The basic Mage, Warrior, and Rogue class skills are at the center of the grid. Abilities get more advanced as the player moves outward, with the Specialization trees arranged on the outer ring. Players should expect to reach a Specialization around mid-game.

The player’s companion’s abilities don’t seem as flexible, however. She explained how each party member has five core abilities, with their skill trees focusing on upgrades. “Neve and Bellara are both Mages,” Busche explained, “so they share two core Mage abilities between each other, right? However, the other three are class or character-unique.” The different upgrade branches will also change how characters behave in Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s gameplay.

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As I sat down for one of EA‘s closed-door presentations of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it didn’t take long for me to sense the excitement in the air. Despite this being a hands-off presentation of the game’s first hour, it was hard not to notice the plastered smiles and excited whispers coming from my fellow writers and content creators to the left and right of me. And this makes sense; it’s been a decade since players have gotten their hands on a new Dragon Age, and BioWare‘s other offerings over the past 10 years weren’t exactly slam dunks.

With the game’s director, Corrine Busche, guiding us through the first hour of the game, it became clear that the dev team was looking to open up the world of Dragon Age to all types of players, from more casual newcomers to those who logged countless hours across the franchise’s other titles. Of course, as you’d expect from most western RPGs at this point, the presentation kicked off with an overview of the character creator.

Your Character

Now, if I’m being honest, spending an hour or two obsessing over my character’s and eye color and facial scars is not something I normally place a lot of importance on, but I know I’m probably in the minority on that. To their credit though, BioWare looks to have spend a lot time and effort to craft a robust character creation system, even going so far as to make sure skin tones and hair styles look great throughout the course of your adventure.

“We wanted to make sure skin tones were well represented,” Corrine explained, “including the under hues that influence how our skin shows up under different lighting conditions, even controlling for levels of melanin.”

And I have to admit, the end result looked rather good, thanks in part to the ability to look at your character under several different lighting conditions representative of in-game locales and settings. It only took a few minutes to throw together a great looking character, and there are plenty of presets and randomizers at your disposal should you want to get into the game in as little time as possible.

Your Combat

While Dragon Age: The Veilguard only features three core classes (Rogue, Warrior, and Mage), Corrine explained that each one can pick from different specializations to better align with one’s intended playstyle.

“Each class has three bespoke and unique specializations that are really classes unto themselves. The duelist plays much different to the saboteur, who prefers to use gadgets, turrets and bombs. The Veil Ranger is my personal favorite [Rogue] specialization, as it prioritizes the bow arrow and can magically infuse arrows. Now, each of these specializations are unique per class, and are backed up by an incredibly robust skill tree which is also unique per class. It really allows you to customize and curate how you exist and how your gameplay experience plays out to your tastes.”

Admittedly, I was a bit surprised to see the combat adopting a stronger focus on action — if you’ve checked out any footage of the game in action, you’ll probably notice how the camera is a bit closer to your player, lending a more intimate feel that I normally associate with third-person action-adventure games. It’s a noticeable difference compared to say the first or second Dragon Age, but BioWare has taken some steps to provide options for those who prefer a slower-paced, strategic experience.

Sure, you can’t control your companions directly, but along with firing off abilities using more recognizable button combos, you can also use any of these abilities by pulling up an ability wheel. This completely pauses the game, which helps to slow down the sometimes frantic pace for those who would rather not deal with juggling their companions in real time.

Your Companions

If you’re a purist who’s worried that The Veilguard isn’t your grandfather’s Dragon Age, you’ll be delighted to hear that the battle-tested dialogue and companion system from previous games is back in full force. Completely separate from class or species, you’ll be able to select a backstory for your created character, which also unlocks new dialogue options that are unique to that background.

As you’d come to expect, being able to choose your own dialogue can have both short-term and long-term impacts, whether it’s affecting how specific plot arcs unfold, or influencing how your companions think about and treat you. For those of you who are far more in touch with Dragon Age’s lore than I am, you’ll probably get a kick out of seeing fan-favorites like Varric or Harding, who serve as your companions (along with a few other new characters).

While I’m by no means concerned, one niggling thought that I couldn’t get rid of was that The Veilguard might be trying to appease too wide of an audience, losing its uniqueness and core identity in the process. That being said, if there’s a studio capable of striking a careful balance like this, BioWare would be a top contender — and I’m certainly hoping that they are propelled back into the AAA game dev spotlight when Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases this fall.

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EA’s latest earnings presentation heavily hinted that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will likely appear before April 2025. The company has steadfastly refused to confirm an actual release date for the game, although more “details on timing” are expected to be revealed at a later date.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf could be released this fiscal year

One of EA’s earnings slides shown to investors displayed all the games scheduled to be released during the current financial year. One of those is an unannounced “owned IP title” that insider Jeff Grubb later clarified was Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. The game wasn’t included in the table so the release date is yet to be narrowed down to a specific quarter of the year. EA “expect to provide more details on timing at a later date.”

Most people reading this will likely be concerned over the fact the game was called “unannounced.” Fear not, as EA has done this before. Two years ago, EA issued an earnings presentation that referred to a “Remake” that had “not yet been publicly disclosed.” Because Dead Space Remake had been announced 10 months prior, many people assumed this wasn’t the game in question. The very next day, EA confirmed the game’s release date and that the “Remake” was, in fact, Dead Space.

There are very few surprise games due to be released in the current financial year. EA Sports F1 24 is set for May 31. At some point between July 1 and September 30, fellow sports titles EA Sports College Football 25, EA Sports Madden NFL 25, and EA Sports FC 25 will be released. These will be followed by EA Sports NHL 25 between October 1 and December 31.

Finally, the only game that remains a mystery is an unannounced “partner title” that will arrive during the first quarter of 2025. This is thought to be the latest game from Hazelight Studios, but we’ll have to wait for more information on that too.

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Shift Up’s recent statement regarding Stellar Blade censorship status has drawn the ire of Dead Space remake‘s Japan team. Shift Up confirmed that its PS5 exclusive will not be censored in any region including Japan, puzzling Electronic Arts Japan’s general manager, Shaun Noguchi. Dead Space remake was banned by Japanese rating board CERO.

Stellar Blade censorship update draws attention to Japanese rating board’s ‘vagueness,’ says EA

As spotted and translated by Automaton, Noguchi took to X to point out that part of the reason Dead Space was denied a rating in Japan was its depiction of “severed body parts and internal organs.” However, Stellar Blade includes the same content and received a CERO D rating (ages 17 and up). On the other hand, Dead Space wasn’t even awarded a CERO Z rating (18 and up). The game was banned outright.

In a follow-up tweet, Noguchi stressed that he’s by no means criticizing Stellar Blade or taking a swing at its devs. He added that he personally enjoyed the demo and encouraged his followers to buy the full game. Noguchi added that he’s vexed by the vagueness of CERO’s review process.

CERO is known for being strict. The authority routinely bans and censors games for a variety of reasons.

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It looks like Electronic Arts‘ Black Panther and Iron Man games will be open world, or feature open world elements, at the very least. Fans have spotted a pair of job descriptions for the games suggesting as much. Black Panther is in development at Cliffhanger Games whereas Iron Man is in development at EA Motive.

EA has yet to confirm if Black Panther and Iron Man are open world

EA has revealed little about both Marvel games beyond initial announcements and brief development updates. However, the job description for a Principal Sandbox Designer at Black Panther studio Cliffhanger reveals that the developer is looking for someone with knowledge and experience of “evolving” open worlds.

The successful candidate will be “instrumental in designing and populating encounters, systems, and gameplay within a dynamic and evolving open world,” EA says. The role draws upon “a deep understanding of technical design principles and a passion for creating immersive sandbox experiences.”

As for Iron Man, a job description for Senior Technical Artist spotted by folks over at Geekinout states that the job holder will “help oversee the rendering related aspects of an open world action adventure AAA title.”

EA recently said that Iron Man is an “important priority” for Motive.

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Electronic Arts has told subscribers it is increasing the prices of EA Play subscriptions. Both monthly and annual subscriptions will be rising in price for the standard EA Play tier on all platforms, while PC players will also see the cost of EA Play Pro subscriptions rise proportionally.

The new EA Play subscription prices

While the price increases in the US are still chunky, they seem more severe in other countries. The standard EA Play monthly subscription is increasing by $1 / £2. This brings the price from $4.99 / £3.99 per month to $5.99 / £5.99. Meanwhile, annual subscriptions are increasing by $10 / £16. This brings the price from $29.99 / £19.99 per year to $39.99 / £35.99, nearly doubling the price in the UK.

The EA Play Pro subscription, which is only available through the EA app on PC, will see its prices increase more proportionally. The monthly subscription is increasing by $2 / £2 from $14.99 / £14.99 per month to $16.99 / £16.99. The annual subscription price has gone up by $20 / £20 from $99.99 / £89.99 per year to $119.99 / £109.99.

In an email sent to EA Play subscribers, players were told that “any new subscription purchases will be charged at the new prices.” However, those who have stacked their membership until a date in the future have been told “this price increase will not take effect until your next renewal date.”

While EA didn’t reveal a reason for the increase, GamesIndustry.biz was told the changes are being made to reflect changes in currency value and to bring fees in line with market value. EA Play isn’t the only subscription to increase in price recently. Sony increased the price of all tiers of PS Plus back in September, while Xbox Game Pass prices increased back in June.

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Dead Space 4 is increasingly looking like a pipe dream as reliable insider and journalist Jason Schreier reports that the franchise is officially “on hold.” Yesterday, fellow journalist Jeff Grubb claimed that EA was working on a Dead Space 2 remake at one point, but the publisher denied his report. Later, Schreier shed some more light on the rumor and explained where Grubb’s claim stemmed from.

Dead Space remake’s sales mean Dead Space 4 is unlikely to happen

Writing for Bloomberg, Schreier clarified that following the release of Dead Space’s remake, a small team at EA’s Motive Studio began conceiving ideas for a new game. In a follow-up comment on ResetEra, the journalist said that the plans “mostly involved a Dead Space sequel.” Perhaps, Grubb heard the same and assumed that his sources were referring to Dead Space 2.

Whatever the case, Schreier claims that Dead Space 1 remake’s sales didn’t meet EA’s expectations so plans for the new entry — whether it was Dead Space 4 or Dead Space 2 remake — were iced. And since last summer, Motive devs who worked on the January 2023 release have been working on other projects.

Unfortunately, Dead Space remake’s positive reception failed to translate into sales.

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Contrary to recent rumors, EA’s Motive Studio was never working on a remake of Dead Space 2. Supposedly canceled due to the first remake’s lackluster sales, EA claims it never existed in the first place.

There were never plans for a Dead Space 2 remake

According to Jeff Grubb in a recent Game Mess Mornings podcast episode, a Dead Space 2 Remake was canceled in the concept stage. “They were working on Dead Space 2, and they are no longer working on it because the first game had lackluster sales, is how it was phrased to me,” he said. However, it appears that Grubb’s source gave him inaccurate information.

“We don’t normally comment on rumors,” a spokesperson told IGN, “but there is no validity to this story.” While EA hasn’t revealed sales numbers, the first game’s remake reportedly sold well, and the publisher considers it a success. According to EA, Motive never planned to remake Dead Space 2.

The rumor emerged shortly after Motive announced it was forming a new team helmed by the Dead Space remake’s directors to work on EA’s Battlefield franchise. The studio is also working on a still-untitled Iron Man game, and neither project has a release window. However, Motive described the Iron Man game as a “priority” and said it recently hit a “major development milestone.”

Still, Dead Space fans will no doubt be disappointed at the well-received remake’s lack of a follow-up. Visceral Games released Dead Space 2 in 2011 to critical acclaim, and it’s backward compatible on PlayStation and Xbox consoles. However, EA shut the multiplayer servers down last year. It might also be nice to see a version that can take advantage of modern gaming hardware.

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April 2024’s PS Plus game Immortals of Aveum received an update today that adds HDR support on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. And the game is also set to become the first title to bring AMD’s FSR 3 with frame generation to consoles in a future update.

Immortals of Aveum is available to all PS Plus members including Essential subscribers

Today’s Immortals of Aveum update (version 1.0.6.3) will simply add HDR support for consoles. The feature will be added to PC later. As for the incoming update (version 1.0.6.4), Ascendant Studios hasn’t shared a release date or window, but did say that it’ll offer “FSR 3’s temporal upscaling, advanced frame generation, and built-in latency reduction technology for improved framerates and game performance.”

The FSR 3 update will also extend VRR support on both consoles and PC. Ascendant Studios has promised that patch 1.0.6.4 will “improve frame pacing and reduce occurrences of judder or screen tears.”

Immortals of Aveum had a rough start. Despite a promising premise, the game failed to make its mark both critically and commercially, with players and critics noting that its execution left much to be desired. Shortly afterwards, Ascendant Studios lost nearly half of its employees to layoffs.

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