For the past few years, EA has “skipped” E3 by hosting their own event the weekend prior. Held at the Hollywood Palladium, it’s a three-day event filled with announcements, demos, and experience. With the shift to digital events (or a mix of digital and in-person) due to the global pandemic, EA is keeping EA Play Live, but changing up the dates. This year its digital version returns after E3.
For 2021, the four broadcasts dubbed EA Play Live Spotlight will lead up to the main show. This Spotlight series takes place throughout July, with each broadcast dedicated to specific genres or games. After that, it’ll be time for EA Play Live’s Main Show and it will be held on Thursday, July 22nd.
EA shared the following schedule and details on its site:
July 8 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. CET: The Future of First-Person Shooters
The Series kicks off with an extensive discussion of two of our most exciting shooters: Apex Legends and the just-revealed Battlefield 2042 (special thanks to our Battlefield community for showing up to watch us during E3, we have more coming in July).
For the Spotlight, DICE’s General Manager Oskar Gabrielson and DICE LA’s General Manager Christian Grass, and Respawn’s Founder and Group GM Vince Zampella and Chad Grenier, Apex Game Director, will join host Stella Chung of IGN to discuss the Battlefield 2042 reveal, what to expect to see from both games on July 22nd as well as the future of FPS games as a whole.
July 13 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. CET: EA <3s Independent Studios
We love seeing innovation in the industry and we love partnering with studios who have that same passion. So we’re devoting an entire Spotlight to the vital role indies play in the industry. Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times will host a panel featuring Josef Fares of Hazelight (It Takes Two), Olov Redmalm of Zoink (Lost in Random), Mel Philips and Abubarker Salim of newcomers Silver Rain, and Guha Bala of Velan (Knockout City™). This is guaranteed to be a spirited and wide-ranging discussion!
July 19 at 4:00 p.m. PT / 1:00 a.m. CET: Madden NFL 22 All-Access: Scouting – How the Community is Shaping Madden NFL 22
Fans always influence their favorite games. This year, EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 22 is taking that idea to a new level by putting the voice of the player at the heart of the development process earlier than ever via the Madden Design Council. Find out how fans impacted the development of Franchise Mode and helped bring to life highly requested features like Staff Management, weekly game strategy and a new scenario engine. Plus, did we mention you’ll get the first ever deep dive reveal of the brand new scouting feature coming to Madden NFL 22 via a live service update targeted in September? Join EA SPORTS’ Seann Graddy, Tom Lischke, and Andre Weingarten, as they come together to discuss the vision for their ultimate sandbox mode, Franchise. Not to mention, the panel will be hosted by Nick Mizesko, longtime play-by-play announcer for the Madden Championship Series.
July 20 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. CET: More EA SPORTS!
Look, we’re not allowed to tell you much about this one yet, sorry. But we can say this Spotlight will highlight an extremely cool new addition to an extremely popular and long-running EA SPORTS franchise. We may have said too much already. Just keep your calendar free, OK?
July 22: EA Play Live at 10:00 a.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. CET
With all these Spotlights, you may be wondering what will be left for the main event. The answer: a lot. Diving deep in the Spotlight series allows for the EA Play Live main show to make games the unwavering focus, with new gameplay reveals, a few giveaways and other surprises. Lifelong gamer and WWE superstar Austin Creed will host the event and keep things moving right along.
The show is a fast-paced one, coming in around 40 minutes and will feature what’s next for games like Battlefield 2042 and Apex Legends. You’ll also see the first gameplay for Lost in Random, featuring explosive dice battles, time-freezing tactics and card collection. We’ll have a couple other games to highlight as well, but for those, you’ll just have to wait and see.
For more details, you can visit the EA Play Live site.
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Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
