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With Microsoft set to acquire Activision Blizzard, EA is on the cusp of becoming gaming’s biggest western third-party publisher in terms of revenue and market cap. The company has sustained success for decades — despite notable controversies surrounding its business practices — thanks to a diverse portfolio of games, from mobile money makers and annual sports titles to AAA experiences from renowned in-house studios like Respawn, DICE, and BioWare.
Considering how difficult it is to keep track of all that’s going on within such a massive publisher, we decided to compile this list of every EA game we know to be in development for consoles and PC. (This list doesn’t include rumored projects or the publisher’s many phone games in development at Glu Mobile, Playdemic, or its other mobile-focused studios.)
Click through the gallery below or continue scrolling for our rundown of all 12 console and PC games in development at EA, as of February 2022.
Grid Legends
EA’s next release is Grid Legends, the Grid World Series racer in development at Codemasters. It’ll be the studio’s second game since being acquired by EA in early 2021.
Grid Legends blends the series’ classic racing gameplay with an all-new story mode called “Driven to Glory.” The story, which aims to tell a “classic underdog tale,” features live-action cutscenes starring Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa. As for the racing, Grid Legends features over 100 vehicles and over 130 tracks.
Grid Legends comes to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on February 25. The studio is likely working on the next F1 racer as well, though it’s yet to make an official announcement.
By acquiring Codemasters, EA plans to release a new racing game every year moving forward.
New Need for Speed
A new Need for Speed is in development at Criterion Games, the studio best known for creating Burnout.
The long-running racing series returns to Criterion after a four-game stint at Ghost Games (now EA Gothenburg). Criterion previously developed 2010’s Need for Speed Hot Pursuit and 2012’s Need for Speed Most Wanted. The studio also worked with Ghost Games on 2015’s Need for Speed Rivals.
The new racer was put on hold last year when EA tasked Criterion with helping DICE get Battlefield 2042 out the door. With the latest Battlefield now released, Criterion’s focus has presumably returned to Need for Speed, which is in development for current- and last-gen consoles.
While an official release window has not been announced, VCG reports the new Need for Speed is targeting a Q4 2022 release. It’ll be EA’s first original Need for Speed game since Need for Speed Heat in 2019.
Dead Space Remake
One of EA’s most exciting projects is a ground-up remake of Dead Space in development at Motive Studio, the developer behind Star Wars: Squadrons and Battlefront 2’s story mode.
Motive’s take on Dead Space will be fully rebuilt in EA’s Frostbite engine, with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla game director Eric Baptizat at the helm. Working alongside Baptizat is creative director Roman Campos-Oriola, who was the lead designer on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Campos-Oriola says the remake will include “all new assets, new character models, [and] new environments” based on the original designs.
While the team doesn’t want to mess with the series’ foundation, it is open to making certain changes. On the gameplay front, Motive has added a new damage system called peeling, which allows players to shoot the flesh off of Necromorphs. It’s a grotesque visual treat that also serves as a sort of diegetic health bar for enemies, much like Isaac Clarke’s spine-mounted lights.
Other potential changes include the implementation of Dead Space 2’s improved zero-gravity gameplay and slight adjustments to the story, such as creating references or links to events that occur in the sequels.
Mike Yazijian, former art director at EA Montreal on Dead Space 2, is leading art direction on the remake. Also returning is actor Gunner Wright, the original voice of protagonist Isaac Clarke.
Based on an early look at the remake, Dead Space is shaping up rather nicely. As work continues at Motive, the team is checking in with the community to assure it doesn’t make any game-breaking changes: “We don’t want to be in siloed and create our own bubble of the game we’re making,” said senior producer Philippe Ducharme. “So from the conception, we’ve reached out to members of the community to create a community council to be a sounding board for what we were making.”
Motive also confirmed the remake won’t have microtransactions after their controversial implementation in Dead Space 3.
The original Dead Space was released in 2008 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. At the time, we awarded it an 8.7 and called it “a great example of [survival horror].”
Dragon Age 4
BioWare’s next epic RPG is the fourth installment in its Dragon Age series. It was originally said to be a “live” game, but has since shifted to a single-player focused experience. It’s seemingly in development for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
According to a BioWare development book, Dragon Age 4 will be set in Tevinter, a nation that’s yet to be visited in the Dragon Age games. The location was teased at the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC.
The teasers we’ve seen thus far hint at an epic scale and the prominent return of Solas, a.k.a. The Dread Wolf. Lead writer Patrick Weekes shed a bit of light on what we can expect from the story, teasing a departure from our experience as the Inquisitor: “What happens when you don’t have power? What happens when the people in charge aren’t willing to address the issues?”
Behind the scenes, some key talent has left the Dragon Age 4 development team, including former BioWare GM Casey Hudson, Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah, senior creative director Matt Goldman, and executive producer Christian Dailey. Gary McKay now serves as studio GM; Corrine Busche, formerly a senior design director, is now directing Dragon Age 4.
BioWare most recently commented on the project in early 2022, confirming the next Dragon Age is now in the middle of production: “Our blueprint was completed last year, so we’re now focused on building out our vision: creating amazing environments, deep characters, strong gameplay, impactful writing, emotional cinematics – and much more,” said McKay.
The series’ last game, Dragon Age: Inquisition, was released eight years ago. It was IGN’s 2014 Game of the Year.
New Mass Effect
Alongside the next Dragon Age, BioWare is developing a new entry in its sci-fi saga, Mass Effect. As of February 2022, the development team was “actively prototyping new ideas and experiences.”
Little is known about the new Mass Effect besides what’s been shown in its sole trailer and promotional poster. The reveal trailer seems to confirm the return of Liara T’Soni (or at least an Asari that looks very much like her), while the 2021 N7 Day poster contains “at least five surprises,” according to BioWare GM Gary McKay.
Several key developers from the original trilogy have returned to BioWare to work on the series’ fifth installment, including narrative designer Dusty Everman, cinematic designer Parrish Ley, art director Derek Watts, and programmer/designer Brenon Holmes. The project is being led by 13-year BioWare veteran Michael Gamble.
While the series’ latest entry, 2017’s Mass Effect Andromeda, was built using Frostbite, BioWare is reportedly considering a return to Unreal, the engine used to create the original trilogy.
The new Mass Effect will presumably ship after the next Dragon Age, meaning our return to BioWare’s beloved world is likely years away. The long wait provides a great opportunity to revisit the original trilogy through the remastered Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2
Respawn is officially working on a new Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Director Stig Asmussen, who helmed 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is once again leading development on the sequel. EA has yet to reveal any further details about Star Wars Jedi 2, including whether or not Jedi hero Cal Kestis will return as the sequel’s protagonist.
Fallen Order was a high point for EA during its time as the exclusive maker of Star Wars video games. It “significantly” exceeded EA’s sales expectations and went on to become the second best-selling Star Wars game of all time in the U.S., as of March 2021.
We awarded Fallen Order a 9/10 and placed it second on our list of the best soulslike games.
Respawn’s Star Wars FPS
The second of three Star Wars projects currently in development at EA is a first-person shooter led by Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond director Peter Hirschmann.
Hirschmann, a former VP of development at LucasArts and executive producer on the original Battlefront games, said he and the team are looking to past Star Wars first-person shooters as “a guiding light for this new project.” He specifically called out Dark Forces and Dark Forces II as inspirations.
There’s currently no release window for the shooter.
Star Wars Strategy Game
Alongside Star Wars Jedi 2 and the untitled FPS, EA and Respawn are working on a third Star Wars project: a new strategy game led by 20-year Firaxis veteran Greg Foertsch. Respawn will produce the game while development is handled by Bit Reactor, a studio formed by Foertsch and other ex-XCOM devs in early 2022.
Foertsch told GamesIndustry.biz the studio’s objective is to blur “that line between what a strategy game is and what an action game is.”
Nothing else has been revealed about the project, but considering Bit Reactor’s formation was just announced, EA’s Star Wars strategy game is almost certainly years out.
Skate 4
EA delighted fans with the announcement of a new Skate, the publisher’s beloved, formerly dormant skateboarding franchise, during E3 2020. At the time, returning series producers Cuz Parry and Deran Chung said the game was “really early” in development. However, during EA’s latest earnings call in February, Chairman and CEO Andrew Wilson said it’d be “launching soon.” An official release window has not been announced.
While details are scarce, EA has hinted at an open world and the inclusion of user-generated content. In that same earnings call, Wilson affirmed user-created content is “to the very center of the design of Skate.”
The project is in development at Full Circle, a newly formed EA studio led by former Xbox Live GM Daniel McCulloch. It’ll be released at least a dozen years after the series’ previous game, 2010’s Skate 3, and it’ll be the first Skate game released on PC.
RustHeart
RustHeart is an EA Originals game in development at Glowmade, a U.K.-based independent studio founded by former Lionhead devs.
As detailed by USgamer, RustHeart is an action-RPG with a fully customizable giant robot companion. Glowmade CEO Jonny Hopper cites Iron Giant, ’80s movies, and Rick and Morty as inspirations.
Glowmade and EA have been conspicuously quiet about RustHeart since it was announced in 2019. Both the game and studio’s official websites lack substantial information or updates on the project.
EA Sports College Football
“College Football is coming back,” EA announced in 2021. It’ll be the publisher’s first college football video game since 2013’s NCAA Football 14.
We’ve yet to see gameplay or screenshots from NCAA’s return, though we do know it’ll feature over 100 colleges, including their logos, stadiums, uniforms, and gameday traditions.
EA is considering using players’ real names and likenesses as well — something made possible by the Supreme Court’s ruling on payments to collegiate athletes. “We are building the architecture of the game with database structure so if and when that comes online we can add it to the game very seamlessly,” said EA COO Blake Jorgensen.
Player names and likenesses were at the heart of NCAA’s decision not to renew its contract with EA Sports back in 2013. EA eventually paid $40 million USD to settle lawsuits and pay license expenses related to its NCAA games. The litigation was brought on by former college athletes that alleged EA used their likenesses without permission.
EA has not announced an official release window, though internal documents suggest the company is targeting a July 2023 release.
EA Sports PGA Tour
EA Sports PGA Tour will be EA’s first licensed golf game since 2015’s Rory McIlroy PGA Tour.
The “next-gen” golf sim features a career mode that allows players to participate in all four of golf’s major championships —Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open Championship, and The Open — as well as the FedExCup Playoffs.
Notably, the new game will feature women’s golf. It won’t, however, feature Tiger Woods, the former face of EA’s PGA Tour games; the athlete signed an exclusivity deal with 2K in 2021.
PGA Tour was initially scheduled for spring 2022. However, it’s since been delayed, and a new release window has not been announced.
Other EA Sports Games
While only the games listed above have been officially announced by EA, it’s safe to assume the company is working on new entries in its annual sports franchises (FIFA, Madden NFL, NHL, and F1). Other non-annualized EA Sports titles may be in development as well, such as new UFC and Super Mega Baseball games.
There’s likely even more in the works, as EA has stated multiple times that it’s looking to expand its offering of sports games.
Other Known Projects
Lastly, it’s worth noting EA opened two new studios in 2021, led by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto and ex-Monolith VP Kevin Stephens, respectively. Lehto and his studio are working within EA’s “connected Battlefield universe,” while Stephens is leading work on an open-world action-adventure.
What do you think of EA’s upcoming lineup? Which games are you most excited to play? Be sure to vote in the poll above or let us know in the comments!
And stay tuned to IGN next week as we run down of every game in development at Ubisoft.
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