The Biggest Moves and Mistakes EA Could Make in 2017

Avoid Delays and Announcing Too Early

It can be easy to announce games too early, and not really show fans anything about the experience for years to come. Even Mass Effect: Andromeda fell victim to this a little, officially being announced at E3 2015, and then going silent for nearly a year before we learned anything else. Star Wars Battlefront was similar, being announced at E3 2013 but getting little information or gameplay until over a year later.

It’ll be important for EA to give fans realistic timelines for their upcoming games, instead of just small teasers here and there that don’t give us any conception of how the projects are coming along. This holds true for projects that we currently know are in production, like Amy Hennig’s Star Wars game, which we still know virtually nothing about.

Of course another part of all this is delivering games out on time. At this moment, the only big game that EA has absolutely confirmed for 2017 is Mass Effect: Andromeda and a Star Wars Battlefront II that we don’t know anything about. There will, of course, be more coming throughout the year along with the usual lineup of sports titles. However, it’s important that the titles that EA does have coming get released on time. Andromeda is basically the only big title EA has for these first four months of the year, and it’s undoubtedly one of the biggest titles of 2017. It’s been a long time since the last Mass Effect game, so getting Andromeda out in a timely manner is critically important.

Star Wars

One of the biggest opportunities EA has is to capitalize on the Star Wars series. In May 2013, EA gained the exclusive rights to develop games for Star Wars, an absolutely massive opportunity for the company. Since then we’ve seen The Old Republic get expansions, gotten a handful of mobile games, an X-Wing VR experience, and Star Wars Battlefront. It seems like there’s so much more EA could be doing with the license however, and hopefully 2017 is the year we really get to see the fruits of their labor since 2013.

We know of three Star Wars titles currently in development, which EA detailed at E3 2016. The first is Battlefront II slated for release in 2017. This sequel is being worked on by both DICE and EA Motive, and will supposedly be featuring content from the new films. Next, we have the new game from Visceral, the makers of Dead Space and the writer behind the first three Uncharted games, Amy Hennig. On top of that, there’s a third-person action/adventure title in production from Respawn Entertainment, the makers of Titanfall.

There are certainly a lot of projects in production for Star Wars, but we’ve only heard the very basics about them. 2017 is when EA needs to come out with a big showing and show us just what these projects are, even if they aren’t releasing within the year. There are very few franchises in the world that generate the kind of fan following that Star Wars does, and fans are definitely hungry for a new gaming experience in a galaxy far, far away.

Continued Support for Big Games

EA had a pretty incredible year in 2016, with big releases like Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, and more. Considering their two biggest shooters of the year released right at the tail end of the year, it’ll be important for EA to provide compelling follow-up content to each.

We know Battlefield 1 is getting future expansions, and luckily EA just showed us some concept art of the first one called “They Shall Not Pass.”  Star Wars Battlefront recently received its final map pack, so now it’s time for Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 to fill that spot. On top of that, with Mass Effect: Andromeda hitting in March, surely it will be getting support for the rest of the year as well.

EA has done a good job lately of extending the life of their titles, and making them easily playable for more than just a few weeks or months after release. Fans have a lot to choose from, and hopefully EA can keep the communities for their biggest multiplayer games thriving for some time to come with new maps, modes, and expansions.

Avoid Social Media Blunders

Battlefield 1 has been a huge success both critically and commercially, in part from how respectfully it handles World War I. For as good of a job as the actual game does with its themes, unfortunately the same cannot be said for some of its social media activities as the game released. Battlefield 1’s Twitter started using #justWWIthings in association with pictures from the game.

One of these featured a soldier using a flamethrower in battle with the caption, “When you’re too hot for the club, #justWWIthings.” This instantly drew the ire of quite a few fans, and for good reason. DICE knew how important it was to treat the games’s setting with respect and care, which is something the game does very well. The distasteful tweets were in stark opposition to this, and definitely not a good image for both EA and DICE regardless of whoever was actually responsible.

Luckily, EA did issue a formal apology for the tweets and immediately removed them, but not before the damage had been done. You can bet EA will definitely be more aware of what’s happening with their social media channels from now on.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the only social media faux pas that happened last year, as the Titanfall 2 Twitter decided to take some jabs at Call of Duty when Infinite Warfare released. This even led to the developer of Titanfall 2, Respawn Entertainment, distancing themselves from those actions and noting that they have nothing but respect for their fellow devs. Both of these events definitely drew attention to EA, and for all the wrong reasons. Now it’s critically important they avoid anything like this going forward.

Give Titles Release Dates With Room to Breathe

EA is one of the biggest publishers in the gaming industry, and every year they release multiple huge titles. With so many huge titles releasing, you’d obviously want each of them to get the proper attention and hype. Unfortunately, this may not have exactly happened with Titanfall 2 which was given the unfortunate honor of releasing on Oct. 28 right between Battlefield 1 on Oct. 21 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare on Nov. 1. One of those titles EA has no control over, of course, but they could have changed up the release between Battlefield and Titanfall.

There’s no argument that Battlefield 1 is the larger release of the two, and giving players another huge shooter one week later is a bit rough, as many people may have to decide between purchasing one or the other. Titanfall 2 did get stellar reviews and good word of mouth, but it was the awkward third player in the battle of the two biggest shooters of the year. Especially as Titanfall is a relatively new series trying to find its footing, it’s baffling that EA wouldn’t change the release date by a week or two.

It’s hard to say the exact effect this release date had on Titanfall 2, but the first week’s sales figures for the title were actually lower than the first Titanfall, despite Titanfall 2 being multi-platform. Going forward, there’s no reason why EA can’t give their big titles room to breathe, so they each get their time in the spotlight. For example, EA has said Star Wars Battlefront II will be coming in 2017. They should do everything they can to make sure nothing else shooter-related launches around the title, because few things can stand up to the hype that Star Wars generates. It’d be a shame to see great titles’ sales suffer based on a poor release date.

Make Full Use of Their Wide Array of Developers

At this point, EA has amassed a pretty stellar group of developers under them that can create a wide array of products. 2016 in particular showed us a diverse lineup with titles like Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, the indie game Unravel, and more. Although we don’t know of many titles coming from EA this year, hopefully they’ve got a lot more in store, and they always benefit the most when they play each developer to their strengths.

After hearing about Visceral’s new Star Wars game being made with Amy Hennig, it’s high time that we see just what that is. Show us what’s coming from PopCap, Criterion Games, EA Montreal, and maybe even Coldwood Studios. What EA really needs to do is give us a road map of what’s coming in 2017 and 2018. Give us things to look forward to for the near future.

BioWare is bringing their A game in 2017 with Mass Effect: Andromeda and the ongoing MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. This creates a strong foundation for EA to build on with other developers, hopefully to make a truly memorable lineup of games. 2016 was a fine year for EA, and they have a chance to make 2017 even better.