TGO Daily | February 3, 2021 | EA Announcements
February 3, 2021
In The News
Tons of EA News
Financials
Electronic Arts reported on their Q3 financials with their highest quarterly net bookings in company history. For the three months ending December 31, 2020, they had $2.4 billion in bookings which is up 19% year-over-year.
Most of their revenue comes from live services — things like FIFA Ultimate Team and free-to-play games like Apex Legends. By the end of March they anticipate that 72% of their revenue comes from that, with the remaining 28% from straight up game sales.
In terms of player numbers, they’re doing better than ever. Various sports games, Apex, and The Sims 4 have all hit records in terms of growth and active players. Their subscription service EA Play has also seen a massive uptick in players thanks to the integration with Xbox Game Pass.
Apex Legends
One of their top performers was Apex Legends. They announced that the game will be coming out on the Nintendo Switch on March 9th, with a mobile version planned for March 2022 at the latest. They’re investing pretty heavily in the game now because it is financially outperforming their expectations.
New Battlefield
They plan on revealing the next Battlefield game in the spring, and claim that it is going to take “full advantage” of the next-gen consoles. They say it will have a bigger player count than it has ever had before.
College Football
EA has signed a new partnership to bring college football back under their wing. The first game is already under development, with no current timeline for a release. While they got the rights to do it with the CLC, but cannot use real student names and likenesses until some legalities are cleared up with NCAA. So really EA is getting the rights to university names and logos.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
The Mass Effect remastered trilogy is now slated for May 14th, and they’ve provided some details about the game. It will have all the technical goodies that the new consoles afford: 4K support, 60FPS, etc. The collection will include all three games, with all single-player DLC bundled in, and will not include multiplayer or any newly developed content.
If you’re interested in the nitty gritty, this Eurogamer article goes SUPER in-depth about what changes they’ll be bringing. It looks like Mass Effect 1 is getting the biggest overhaul, including some gameplay changes, but there are massive changes across the board.
Talking about BioWare as a whole, EA recognized that the company has had its issues with recent releases, but that they are confident in its future with new leadership.
Game Subscription Updates
Xbox Game Pass
The Xbox Game Pass is getting a bunch of new games for February, headlined by Final Fantasy XII, which is a game that a lot of people love in the franchise. They’re also bringing Project Winter, which is a social deduction game ala Among Us that is more complex but still lots of fun! The Falconeer is an indie game that has made a splash in some circles — it’s an aerial combat game where you play a falcon. It never seemed to hit the mainstream, it might be worth a look.
PlayStation Now
On the other side of the aisle, PlayStation is adding a bunch of new games to their subscription service. Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be there until the end of April. Detroit: Become Human is a game from Quantic Dream that I know a lot of people love. They’re also adding Little Nightmares and Hotline Miami 2, both of which are top notch indie games that I encourage you to check out if you have PlayStation Now.
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