June 9, 2018, 11:00 AM PT
Los Angeles, CA

Just like last year, EA kicks off E3 2018 with its own press conference. Dubbed EA Play, the event is designed to let the public try out the company's new titles, sort of like the main E3 event — albeit for free. Going to the event, games like Anthem were known quantities, and Battlefield V had a focused reveal two weeks ago. The question is whether there are any surprises left up EA's sleeves. Another interesting question is whether they'd address the elephant in the room: loot boxes.

In a way, that last questions was slyly answered by some of the game announcements; some stated that loot boxes were gone or that you could purchase cosmetic items and see exactly what they are. CEO Andrew Wilson also addressed this indirectly by giving a speech about choice and they didn't want to promote grind. Time will tell how long this new edict will last.

Battlefield V

The presentation started off with more information on Battlefield V. There was a highlight on mobility, as players can now dive out of windows to get the drop on someone. Artillery was now a moveable thing, provided you have the vehicle for it. That's a major development because building destruction has been emphasized here, as demonstrated by a tank bulldozing through houses. War Stories, the single-player mode introduced with Battlefield 1, was mentioned again with the promise that Microsoft's conference would show off the mode in more detail. Before the end trailer, however, it was mentioned that Battlefield V would join Call of Duty in releasing its own battle royale mode shortly after the game's launch.

FIFA 19

FIFA 19 was up next, and the big news was the integration of the UEFA Champions League. That focus is larger than expected, as every facet of the game focuses on that as the ultimate goal. Season mode is working toward that, as is Franchise. The Alex Hunter story mode is making a return, and the goal is being part of the club that wins that championship. FIFA 18 was also given a nod here, as it was announced that a new demo of the game is complete, with all of the material used for the free World Cup upgrade.

EA Origin Access Premier

Andrew Wilson came out next to talk about how streaming and subscriptions are a big part of the gaming future. For the former, EA acquired a firm in Israel to develop a streaming service so EA games could be played anywhere on almost any device. For the latter, the EA Origin Access service is expanding for PC. Dubbed EA Origin Access Premier, the service unlocks every game in the vault and gives players complete access to every new game from EA for the platform. The big news is that Madden NFL 19 will be part of that service and return to the PC after more than a decade. Though the conference only mentioned the service coming later this year, a subsequent press release pegs the service at $99.99 for a year.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order

Before going back on stage, they went to Vince Zampella in the crowd, where he gave some tidbits on the next game Respawn is working on, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. There wasn't much revealed except for the fact that it takes place between Episode III and IV, and the game is targeting a Holiday 2019 release date. That transitioned into a segment on Star Wars Battlefront II, where the team said it learned from its past mistakes and is hoping to do better. The team also mentioned that the hunt mode in the latest Ewok expansion was doing well and that the season-celebrating "Solo" was also going fine. The big reveal was the game would soon delve into the Clone Wars era with hero characters like Anakin, Count Dooku, General Grievous and young Obi-Wan.

Unravel 2

Unravel 2 was up next, with the new mechanic being drop-in/drop-out co-op. Interestingly, the game takes a page from the old Sega 32X game Knuckles Chaotix, as both characters are tied up together. The co-op is local only, but the game can also be played solo, with one character choosing to carry the other during the faster-paced platformer sequences. In a surprise to some, the game is out now, so we're hoping to get a chance to review it soon.

Sea of Solitude

Continuing with the EA Originals indie trend, Sea of Solitude was announced, and it sounds like a game aiming for that emotional punch. You play the role of Kay, a woman suffering from an ailment that uses the emotion of loneliness to transform her into a monster. In a world where everyone suffers from this, her job is to traverse a waterlogged world to balance her emotions and be cured. Aside from the platforming seen in a lightly cel-shaded world, little else is known about this, aside from the early 2019 release date. By far, this game proved to be the most intriguing of the show.

NBA Live 19 and Madden NFL 19

Both NBA Live 19 and Madden NFL 19 were up next, but information on these was very thin. For the former, it looks like The One mode from last year's game is continuing and expanding to include a whole team dubbed The Squad. For the latter, there was a trailer shown for the current Madden NFL 18 world championship before moving into a mood trailer, where the only thing revealed was that the game uses the Frostbite engine — just like almost every other game from this publisher.

Command & Conquer: Rivals

Next up was a mobile strategy game that turned out to be Command & Conquer: Rivals. Demoed via a versus match between a mobile pro and a strategy game pro, the game uses your forces to occupy spaces in the map, so you can secure control of a missile to launch at your opponent's base. It looks fine, but the use of the license for a mobile title will surely raise the ire of fans who haven't seen a proper PC title in the franchise for some time. While the game is coming soon to iOS, it was announced that a pre-alpha is now available on Android.

Anthem

The final game of the conference was Anthem, but instead of going with a deeper reveal trailer, they decided to hold a panel on the game to explain more about it. On the surface, the game looks like Destiny with jetpacks in a lusher world, and based on the comments by the developers, that description isn't too far off the mark. There are four suit types, with the Interceptor being the only one that felt different due to its super speed. A war is waging between invading aliens and the last surviving human population in a city that's fighting over artifacts that have been left behind by ancient gods. It all takes place in a living multiplayer world where everyone sees the same events happening to everyone else. It all sounds so familiar, but there are a few changes here. First is the ability to fight both in the air and in the water. Second is the fact that your fireteam is now four players deep instead of three. Finally, there's an emphasis on the story, with the missions serving as big multiplayer areas while the city serves as the solo world. They didn't show off how this is done or how deep the story can go, so it'll be interesting to see how this works out before the February 2019 release.

Overall, the EA Play conference had only a few real surprises. The continuation of the EA Originals program continues to yield memorable games, while the expansion of the Origin subscription service on PC to include brand-new titles makes it seem like Microsoft's Game Pass idea of including first-party titles at launch was a good idea. Everything else was good but expected, while it remains to be seen if Anthem has enough to get away from the Destiny comparisons. Look for more coverage on these games and more as E3 2018 continues.