EA Play 2017 live report
Footballs, Star Wars, Battlefields and more! Join us from 8pm BST for all the action.
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It's the annual Electronic Entertainment Exposition in Los Angeles next week, and EA's kicking it off by throwing a party all of its own in Hollywood for its EA Play event. We'll get a proper look at Star Wars Battlefront 2, some more on FIFA 18 and if we're lucky a handful of surprises too. Join us here from 8pm BST.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
A jetlagged good morning from sunny LA - well, it's forecast to be sunny once the sun properly comes up.
spliffhead: Looking forward to Andromeda 2 ;)
:'(
EA isn't due to show off its Battlefront 2 gameplay for a few hours yet, though you can watch a good chunk of it right now, thanks to this leak showing off Darth Maul and Rey fighting on Naboo
Hoping to see more of this today - the game being worked on by the team behind indie hit Brothers. EA snapped the game up last December.
I spy with my little eye what could be the EA E3 conference running order. BioWare's Project Dylan is on the list.
Gooooooood eveeeennning! So far today I've stormed out of a PES tournament and spent most of the afternoon in a brewery, so I'm well pumped for an EA conference!
While Bertie's in Brighton and Tom P is in Los Angeles, I'm in sunny Lewisham where I'm watching with my girlfriend as we eat some chips.
'What game is this we're watching' she asks.
She is also new to Twitch chat, which we've got streaming onto our TV at the moment. 'Why did he just say that? Why did he scream that into the void?'
As an aside, these chips are pretty mint.
This sausage ain't bad either.
The meat content is super low, but I think it's mostly fox so you'd be okay?
I think he got slightly riled by our live chat at Gamescom last year. WHERE ARE YOU NOW PETER.
Oh yeah, he's got his dream job at Anfield. I will miss that lovely man and his warm-up routine before big events.
We have sound and we have vision.
We don't have any chips any more though, because I was fairly ravenous after a few pints.
Lovely seating arrangement they've got going there, a really neat fan or white chairs.
Really into that vibe, there's real synergy with the stage itself. They've thought this one through.
Never forget.
15 minutes people!
I've got three beers in the fridge, though I'm worried it might be dangerous to get involved too soon. Who's drinking what for tonight's show?
Tom Phillips has just taken his seat in the venue. Don't think he's braved that delicious semi-circle though.
You're playing with fire there.
That's a Tom's Eye View.
What I want to know is if everyone's baked at this year's event like they were last year. Maybe they've moved on to harder drugs though and it'll just be bagloads of ket at the back before everyone gets involved in Battlefront 2.
If you're a wanker god knows what I am. Have got some tiny tinnies of la-di-da IPA from our Co-Op.
Chris and Aoife there, having a lovely time with a robot.
'Electronic Arts? What do they make? Do they make Final Fantasy?' No. 'Oh'. Needless to say, my partner's delighted I've hijacked the living room TV for this.
Tom and I are sat near the front for EA's E3 2017 media briefing. Some dude is on stage to welcome us to EA Play.
They're calling this the "Creators Cave" and there's 300 YouTube content creators here.
I'm looking forward to seeing Bioware's Project Dylan most of all, as a big Destiny fan. They're in a really interesting place at the moment so pressure's on.
We're being told not to try and get in the Need for Speed cars parked outside.
Outside this big room is a mini village where people can play various games, including FIFA 18, Need for Speed and Star Wars Battlefront 2. I haven't seen FIFA 18 on Nintendo Switch anywhere yet though, which is a shame.
So, what are we expecting from this? Well, FIFA 18, Need for Speed and Battlefront 2 are a given. Beyond that? Dylan, BioWare's next big project, is due a reveal, and... Oh, you could just read the leaked schedule that was posted here earlier.
"Or a security guard will punch you in the face."
Dude on stage wants the crowd to bring the energy. Not sure I heard many Brits cheering.
One minute to go. LET'S ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO EVERYONE!
Hooooooo boy we're straight off the bat with some M rated goodness. Let's have some swearing please!
Well right off the bat this is incredibly loud. RIP my ears.
A parade of drums. Did I mention my ears are still funny from the plane.
Madden drum band to kick things off. They're quite good!
There's a drum line! Apparently the movie Drum Line is also good?
Ah it looks like this year's Madden has a story mode, like FIFA does.
Oh man was that Mahershala Ali?
Andrew Wilson in a tucked shirt - just to get in there before Martin.
Andrew Wilson is so well turned out. He's very handsome, isn't he?
Jeans and jacket.
All brought to you by Frostbite.
Classic jeans, shirt no tie and blazer get-up. Andrew Wilson, approachable businessman.
'They're here to tell us what they like, and especially what they don't.'. I think that was a joke? I'm also pretty sure it didn't land.
He just explained his own joke then licked his lips like a bad lizard.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is the headline - and you can watch a lot of leaked gameplay already on YouTube dot com
30 minutes of Star Wars Battlefront 2 gameplay coming up. Hasn't that leaked already?
I'm not quite sure this isn't a lizard with a business degree. And a well-fitted suit, mind.
Anyway here's a man in a cave.
Take a shot every time you hear "Creator Cave" then punch yourself in the face.
A brutal drinking game would be to do a shot every time someone says "content". Wouldn't last long, mind.
Wes, I'm rising to that.
To be honest I'm sitting here with a big thirst on waiting for someone to say content. Get to it boys, this beer's getting warm.
Also hey Battlefield 1 is getting its new DLC soon.
Does it count if I say it?
Content.
Wes, is it okay if I drink when they say 'experiences' too? Otherwise I'm never getting through this beer.
No Martin. Content, as you know, is king.
Well screw you I'm drinking this anyway.
It's the tall handsome man!
Patrick Soderlund is on stage wearing a loose jumper and casual trousers. He's very tall and Swedish.
And handsome. Don't forget that.
On it.
I'm not sure the FUT pro is a "worldwide star", Patrick. Bit of a stretch there mate.
Fut.
Can I drink when they say that?
I think I need to as otherwise I'm going to dash my head against the coffee table.
Futfutfutfutfut.
Futting hell make it stop.
So, FIFA 18. I played it recently and you can read my impressions on Eurogamer dot net in 45 minutes.
Soccer time now.
PES is better, obviously, but you probably know that already.
Men in Blazers, by the way, is a popular podcast apparently.
Me neither.
Two Brits on stage here with some Brit banter. I don't get the sense from the crowd that this is being understood.
It's an American thing, apparently.
FIFA standup. I may leave.
Too true.
Shoutout to Peter Moore who is now at Liverpool FC. Never forget.
I can't bear this.
They're doing a joke about England being shit. On a stage in Los Angeles.
Any nipple would be sweet relief right now.
Spoilers from the autocue, next up is Need for Speed and it'll be played by a YouTuber.
All this to say there's more The Journey coming in FIFA 18.
Hot scoop for you there.
Anyway that was balls here are cars.
This YouTuber is struggling a bit. Don't want to be mean, but he's obviously nervous.
We're here with a YouTube 'creator' called Jesse who's really flummoxed by the autocue blanking out on him.
Is this dude a big YouTuber?
Feel for those guys there - looks like the autocue died on them.
Whatever car this guy is driving, it seems impervious to harm. The Superman of cars, if you will.
Every time I see a new Need for Speed it looks enough like Hot Pursuit for me to be excited and then I play it and get sad all over again.
What is with all the talking and explosions? What is wrong with nice cars and pretty roads?
So much has been talked about prior to E3 it's difficult to remember how much of anything shown so far is actually new. I think this is?
I like it when the cars do a crash though.
Next up, the game from the makers of Brothers.
I'm getting that vibe too. It's not a good vibe...
Is Patrick Soderlund handsome? 'In an evil villain type of way' says my partner.
NEEEEEEXT. It's the new game from the Brothers devs.
Well, one of them anyway - the filmmaker Josef Fares, who worked alongside Starbreeze for Brothers.
It's Prison Break: The Indie Game.
It looks very... EA?
A Way Out looks quite nice. Could be interesting.
I'm going to be honest - that was not what I expected.
Here's Josef, who struggles to pronounce his own surname. That's the pressure of being on an E3 stage, I guess.
This guy's quite good. Seems good for a laugh.
Josef is going very off autocue. I respect that.
A Way Out is 'a co-op game like nothing before'.
This is EA's annual 'let's get an indie and let them go nuts on-stage' section.
Only split-screen co-op, so you have to play online or local multiplayer.
They've got the audio levels messed up here, in the room at least. Can't hear the video narrator over the music.
Kind of looks like Brothers without the charm and a lot of wannabe HBO nonsense in its place?
'Does he have unusually long thumbs?'
SEED - Search for Extraordinary Experiences Division is a new "stealthy" team within EA.
The hand gestures of executives will always be a source of fascination and bewilderment for me. Is it something they're taught?
Here comes Project Dylan from BioWare.
Interesting, Patrick is bigging up Project Scorpio. Seems an odd thing to do during EA's media briefing. More tomorrow!
Here's Dylan.
Or Destiny I don't know.
Anthem is the new IP.
Of note - that Anthem footage is pre-alpha and "representative of the final experience".
It's called Anthem, and we'll see the rest tomorrow at Microsoft's briefing.
It's looks like Destiny meets Avatar.
I thought NBA Live was dead, but what do I know.
The first image of Anthem with the post-apocalyptic wall reminds me of Destiny, but the rest is a bit Titanfall meets Horizon.
I kind of get where he's coming from tbh.
The basketball bit is when the UK press get the chance to breath and make sure we're all up to date with our stories.
Amazing.
Lizardman is back on-stage, and he just did his lizard lips thing again.
Kind of want to see a fly buzz around in front of his face and see how long that thing goes.
Free Origin and EA Access! Excellent!
And now, Star Wars. For 30 whole minutes?
I'm kind of excited for this though - Battlefront turned into something pretty awesome over time.
Janina Gavankar is being very stern. Very aggressive. Are you okay, Chris Bratt?
If you're counting, here's our first non-male presenter.
Also our first non-robot presenter.
Battlefront 2, as we all know by now, introduces a big cinematic story mode plus three times more... content... *glug* *glug* *glug*
Slow nod. Love the slow nod.
All I want to know is if I can shout 'JAR JAR, UUUUSSSA DA BOOOOMA' in this one.
Oh good, EA's had the YouTubers in to play Star Wars first. Yay.
CONTENT! DRINK MARTIN!
Can we kill Gungans?
We can thank those YouTubers playing Star Wars for the leak this morning.
Haha. Not that I'm bitter that they've all played it before us.
Not at all.
Duel of the Fates is in.
And that's me out of however much they're asking for this.
'Couldn't you just pay for an upgrade, or do you have to buy a whole new game'. My partner there, talking way too much sense.
Am I the only one excited about playing prequel stuff? THEY WEREN'T THAT BAD.
Well, graphically Star Wars Battlefront 2 looks incredible. That's got to be the PC version, yeah?
I mean, they were, but Darth Maul was cool right...
The prequels were that bad Martin, you monster.
Oh lord we're getting our first look at the game via a 'shoutcaster' and some 'game changers' what even is this.
The big news - it sounds like EA's moving away from season passes, with free content coming to Battlefront 2. Including Finn, Captain Phasma and more.
Free DLC. Well that's good!
The first season will be The Last Jedi themed.
And all maps, vehicles etc will be free to all owners of the game.
This is all, all good.
Now, though, some shoutcasting.
In case you were wondering, the seats in the room are not comfortable, and my bum currently hurts. That is all.
What is a game changer though?
And thanks, Wes, I was wondering.
Playing first-person is sacrilege in Battlefront! Also, harder.
FinalLegion89: Anyone else not a massive fan of shoutcasting?
*raises hand*. I think it's my age, though.
iconld: So, will there be anything after this game?
I think it's 30 minutes of this then close.
I'm looking forward to Battlefront 2. I'm not enjoying this reveal, though. Being old sucks, I guess.
Don't know but if last year was anything to go by maybe some of those game changers are baked?
So, the different eras will all play together and not be splintered off, which is interesting.
Rey v Darth Maul v Vader etc.
Again I'm showing my age, but watching people play a game like this is kind of like watching someone read a book.
I'm sure they're having a lovely time and everything, but it's not for me.
The guy next to me (not Wesley) has bad breath.
That's all I've got right now.
Next up - a Star Wars mobile game.
I was hoping EA would show the campaign for Star Wars Battlefront 2, as that's what I'm most interested in. Gamescom, perhaps?
Oh, we're not actually seeing Galaxy of Heroes. Ah well.
EA dude boasts about paying $1000 in the Star Wars mobile game. Not sure that's something to be proud of, mate.
That was something.
Congrats on making Battlefront 2 look boring, I guess.
The tall man who keeps on doing a weird thumps up is back on stage.
And he's gone again, which I think means we're done.
Thanks guys! See you tomorrow for Microsoft.
Not the best start to E3, but it's EA so...
EA media briefing impressions: Brothers' dev new game looks interesting, Anthem looks like Destiny and Star Wars Battlefront 2 looks good. Oh, and FIFA 18 is fun to play.