EA is combining two of its biggest franchises with the announcement of a Dead Space crossover event coming to Battlefield 2042. The event runs for one week, starting on July 9, and features unlockable rewards and a new bundle.

What is the Battlefield 2042 Dead Space crossover?

Battlefield 2042’s Dead Space crossover event is called Outbreak and tasks players with surviving “a new and relentless enemy” in the Boreas laboratory. Rather than Necromorphs, the new enemies are more human in appearance and clearly the result of some manner of unethical experiments. They’re also not quite zombies, seemingly possessing the coordination to use guns and melee weapons in combat.

Players who participate in the Outbreak event can unlock rewards, including a new weapon charm, weapon skin, player card background, and tag. Meanwhile, the event also sees the arrival of the Dead Space Bundle to Battlefield 2042. It includes three legendary weapon skins and the Marked Man Operator outfit. The former transforms the player’s guns into weapons from the sci-fi horror trilogy, with the new outfit drawing inspiration from Isacc Clark’s iconic space suit. The bundle costs 2200 BFC from the game’s store.

Battlefield 2042 hasn’t had the best reception since it launched in 2021. The game received mixed reviews at release and an overwhelmingly negative reception from players. Developer DICE made hundreds of changes in subsequent updates to address the criticisms. EA also denied rumors in 2022 that it had reduced the game’s developer to a “skeleton crew.”  

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The PS3 and Xbox 360 are set to lose three multiplayer games by November, leaving players four months to mop up online trophies and achievements. The games in question are Battlefield 3, 4, and Hardline, which still have a sizeable player base on the retro consoles.

PS3 players have until November 7, 2024 to unlock Battlefield 3, 4, and Hardline multiplayer trophies

Publisher Electronic Arts announced this morning that PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the aforementioned Battlefield games will first be de-listed from their respective storefronts on Wednesday, July 31. After this date, players can neither purchase the games nor any DLC or add-on content associated with them.

On November 7, online servers for all three Battlefield games will be shut down on the PS3 and Xbox 360 specifically. PC servers will remain live. Server closures will not impact Battlefield 4 and Hardline on the PS4 and Xbox One.

PS3 players will still be able to play the single-player campaigns if they purchase the games on disc or buy them digitally before July 31.

EA doesn’t have any other planned shutdowns that we don’t already know of. Just a reminder for FIFA 22 players: the game’s online services and features will be sunset across all platforms on November 4, 2024.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard will come with four difficulty levels, including the new Unbound difficulty that offers a range of customization options.

EA has now explained some of the gameplay aspects that players will be able to change when using the Unbound option, although some still remain a secret for now.

What is Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Unbound difficulty?

The Unbound difficulty option is the brand-new fourth difficulty mode that BioWare is implementing into Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Game director Corinne Busche told Game Informer that the mode is “an option to make sure players of all abilities can show up” as the world of Dragon Age opens up to all types of players.

There will be many different settings that can be customized in Unbound mode, including plenty of combat options. Aim assistance can be enabled, and those that struggle with this can even enable auto-aim. The default option for parrying attacks from enemies can be made easier or harder. Enemy health can be changed to alter how much damage is dealt to them, while the damage received from enemies can also be adjusted to the point where there is a no-death option. Finally, enemy pressure can be tweaked.

None of the customization options outside of combat were detailed right now, although Busche confirmed there will be “similar accessibility and approachability options” for other factors.

Outside of Unbound difficulty, players have three other choices. Storyteller mode will let players concentrate on the story rather than combat, while Adventurer will provide a finer balance between the two. These seem to be the new names for the Casual and Normal difficulties available in previous installments of the franchise. Players can switch between Storyteller, Adventurer, and Unbound difficulties at any time during their playthrough.

The final option is Nightmare difficulty that increases the difficulty of enemies in combat. Previous games have also enabled friendly fire in this mode, although this isn’t a certainty for The Veilguard. The exact details of the latest version of Nightmare mode haven’t been revealed yet, although we do know that it is a permanent choice. Once Nightmare mode is selected, players can’t switch to another difficulty in the same playthrough.

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EA and Respawn Entertainment launched Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S last year. Unfortunately, the planned PS4 and Xbox One versions still don’t have a precise release date. However, that may be about to change, with Brazil recently rating it on last-gen platforms.

When is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s PS4 release date?

We still don’t know precisely when the game will be released on PS4. EA announced the last-gen ports during the company’s earnings call in August 2023. Since then, nearly a year has passed without much news. However, its rating for PS4 and Xbox One in Brazil indicates the ports may be coming relatively soon. At the very least, it’s likely that EA will make a formal announcement before too long.

Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after 2019’s Fallen Order and about nine years before A New Hope. It sees protagonist Cal Kestis, now a resistance fighter working under Saw Gerrera, continuing his fight against the Galactic Empire. Players can experiment with different lightsaber types and stances. These include the single- and double-bladed stances from the previous game. Meanwhile, the three new stances let him dual-wield sabers, combine a lightsaber and a blaster, and equip a crossguard lightsaber like Kylo Ren’s.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor saw a mostly positive reception at release. The PS5 version averaged an 85 on Metacritic, with PlayStation Lifestyle’s Jason Faulkner awarding it a 9/10. Though not everyone was impressed with the game’s story, critics praised its visuals and gameplay enhancements.

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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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