Tag: Star Wars Battlefront

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Star Wars Battlefront to exceed expectations? EA ups sales estimations

Star Wars Battlefront is releasing with expectations as high as any game that has come out since the start of the new generation consoles, and after a very successful beta EA’s financial estimations are going up by a substantial margin — 13 million to the previous 9 million units shipped throughout the 2016 fiscal year.

The 31% increase in sales projections comes after a 9.5 million-player beta — the most successful beta for a game ever.

Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen talked about the confidencce that Battlefront has invoked on the entire company.

“Based on the ongoing strength of our business and reception of Star Wars Battlefront, we are raising our full-year outlook for the second time. Our markets are very healthy, the digital transition continues to drive margins, and engagement in our live services and excitement for our upcoming launches is exceptional.”

The excitement was expressed in the latest investors conference call for its second fiscal quarter. The Star Wars IP is expected to grow into a tremendous asset for EA with the potential for an entire new younger demographic up for grabs. There are two key groups that EA is relying on according to CEO Andrew Wilson.

“One are gamers that have lapsed, traditionally who have been big gamers in the past and maybe haven’t played for a while, and it’s certainly been a catalyst for those people to come back into the gaming universe as it relates to console. And two, onboarding a new younger age demographic.”

The Star Wars IP is expected to be used extensively in gaming over the span of the next trilogy of movies. Battlefront is simply the start for EA and with the ability to piggy-back on the success of the movies it should bode extremely well for fans hoping for more high-quality Star Wars games.

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The Sony Empire Strikes Back with Limited Edition PS4 Bundles

On November 17, 2015, the Playstation 4 is getting another limited edition console that features the glorious face of Darth Vader. Announced during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, the Limited Edition Star Wars Battlefront PS4 Bundle will come with:

  • a custom 500GB PS4 of the CUH-1200 series(that’s the re-modeled PS4 with the mechanical buttons and increased power efficiency) with Darth Vader on the top of the console,
  • the Darth Vader Edition Dualshock 4 that’s designed to resemble Darth Vader’s chest plate which makes this the most asymmetrical PS4 controller to date,
  • Star Wars Battlefront Deluxe Edition,
  •  a download voucher for four classic star wars titles – Super Star Wars(SNES), Star Wars: Racer Revenge(PS2), Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter(PS2/Xbox), and Star Wars Bounty Hunter(PS2/GC) – with enhanced graphics and trophy support.

Not only that, Disney Infinity has their own Star Wars bundle that’s coming out in November.

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The Limited Edition Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars PS4 Bundle will also include the 500GB custom Darth Vader Playstation 4(CUH-1200 series), Darth Vader Edition Dualshock 4, the download voucher for the four classic Star Wars games, as well as the Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars Edition PlayStation Exclusive Hardware Bundle Kit. The kit includes:

  • a physical copy of Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition
  • the Disney Infinity Base
  • the Rise Against the Empire Play Set Pack (featuring Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa figures, as well the Rise Against the Empire Play Set piece)
  • the Boba Fett figure, exclusive to PlayStation through this holiday

A standard edition bundle will also be available with the standard Playstation 4(CUH-1200 series) and Dualshock 4 with Star Wars Battlefront Deluxe Edition and the four classic Star Wars games.

2015 seems to be the year of the special edition consoles for Sony, starting with the Batman LE console in June; the Japan, Europe, and Australia exclusive Metal Gear Solid V LE console in September, a new Destiny LE console also in September, and now a Star Wars LE console in November. Perhaps another limited edition console will appear in December during the Playstation Experience.

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EA introduces new control point game mode, Supremacy, for Star Wars Battlefront

Mutliplayer is all the focus of Star Wars Battlefront and EA is ready to make sure fans get enough variety in their online gameplay experience as they announce a new game mode called Supremacy.

Designed to encompass a variety of situations ranging from close-quarters combat to long-distance sniping battles, Supremacy faces two teams against each other with a series of points (5) to control in “the largest fighting grounds that Star Wars Battlefront has to offer.”

The game mode along with the large map sizes will be reminiscent of Conquest from the Battlefield franchise — something for fans should expect of the whole game given this a DICE developed game.

The influence from previous Battlefield games will show, but some key tweaks will make “improve the formula” that was used for Conquest.

Merging the Star Wars characters into the gameplay will give it its own sense of fun.

“Using a character like Darth Vader to secure control points is great, as he can take increased damage before going down. Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett are great for moving swiftly between attacking and defensive positions, and giving you the edge against opponents in battle,” – Lead Level Designer Dennis Brännvall

While the action takes place on the ground the battles continue on the sky with “TIE fighters and X-wings soaring through the sky to assist the quest for supremacy at each location.”

Supremacy will be available right away on Star Wars Battlefront when it releases on Xbox One, PS4, and PC November 17, 2015.

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EA to continue work with Star Wars IP

In the latest Investor’s earnings conference call Thursday afternoon, EA has claimed that they will take advantage of the Star Wars IP in continued work with Disney in the future on both consoles, PC, and mobile devices.

“Lots to come on Star Wars. We’re very excited about the franchise.”

More Star Wars games to come — and likely another Star Wars Battlefront, however the continued work with Disney is making way for an even greater focus on the movie franchise in video game.

Very strong pre-order numbers post E3 and even higher pre-order numbers are expected after Gamescom in Cologne Germany.

The expectations for the return of the Battlefront franchise is as high as they can be and EA’s reps spoke on how crucial the ties that the games will have with the movies. The continued envelopment of consumers in the Star Wars brand — especially during the immediate release of the movies — will surely help sales for the Star Wars games. With sales numbers already projected to be so high the game it’s no surprise to hear of future work with the Star Wars IP.

While they didn’t specifically mention another Battlefront, the promise for more Star Wars games coinciding with the movies makes the likelihood of a Star Wars Battlefront 2 almost a certainty.

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EA investors report reveals Mirror’s Edge 2 and more

Electronic Arts is in as good a position as they could be for the rest of 2015 and the near future. In an investors webcast Tuesday Andrew Wilson, the CEO of the major gaming publisher, announced the excitement is due to continue with the releases of some highly-regarded titles — most notably a prequel to Mirror’s Edge.

The success of Mirror’s Edge is greatly deserving of a sequel after it sold over 2.5 million units with praise being showered upon it from most-all game review sites. Mirror’s Edge 2 looks to build on that success.

The minimalistic style, first-person platformer is poised to “revolutionize the action-adventure genre” according to Wilson when it releases in Spring of 2016.

As for a prognosis of the company’s expectations for this year, things couldn’t look better with the release of the DICE developed, Star Wars Battlefront. The trailer alone has generated 29 million views and the publisher is expecting between 9 and 10 million copies sold by April of 2016. DICE is already merging the frostbite engine popularized with the Battlefield series and setting it to work in Star Wars Battlefront to replicate the far, far away galaxy to the best of their ability. The timing is perfect with the Star Wars VII movie release coming in the same quarter as the game’s release.

Other upcoming titles in 2016 include a new Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and a new Need for Speed. The next Need for Speed will release on both console platforms and mobile platforms given the current success of free-to-play mobile-based Need for Speed games according to EA.

Adding all these new titles together, the CEO is expecting a $4.65 billion gain on their current pace — and likely a lot of very happy investors.

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Star Wars Battlefront revealed

Amid so much excitement surrounding the Star Wars universe, even the return of the movie can’t completely overshadow the excitement of the return of the beloved Star Wars: Battlefront series.

Disney revealed today their current EA DICE-made re-envisioning of the Battlefront games nearly a decade since Battlefront 2 released on PlayStation 2, PSP, PC, and the original Xbox in 2005.

The Battlefront games have long been held in high esteem with sales in the upper-echelon of the rankings at 10+ million units sold. As Lucas Arts was bought by Disney in 2012 and Pandemic Studios was acquired by EA in 2008.

The new trailer shows fans what they can expect from the new release as it showcases the great visuals in the classic lush-jungle planet of Endor. Beyond just Endor, Hoth and Tatooine will also be returning as well as a new planet — Sullest.

Lead your team in battle taking control of the sith lord himself.
Lead your team in battle taking control of the sith lord himself.

Executive producer Patrick Bach said to the Associated Press that they worked to get the game to feel as authentic to the universe as possible.

Just as it was in the previous games, players can take control of some of the iconic characters in the Star Wars universe like Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and other heroes and villains.

Back spoke of the importance and power that players have when playing as these major characters.

“You can wield a lightsaber. You can Force choke the rebel scum, which is fun. Basically, you are the boss of the battle. This means that you, as Vader, can lead your team to victory — if you play well.”

Take control of TIE Fighters and X-Wings in awesome dog fights.
Take control of TIE Fighters and X-Wings in awesome dog fights.

When the foot battles end, the X-Wings and TIE Fighters will be the host of the aerial combat.

While the details on how the gameplay will play out is still a bit hazy, there is some exciting news regarding the player perspective. Players can now immediately switch between first-person and third-person views.

As incentive to pre-order, EA is offering a free DLC for all those who buy the game before release. The add-on centers around the “Battle of Jakku,” a major historical event that is shown in the Force Awakens trailer.

“You never get to see it in the new movie, so it was this brilliant opportunity to recreate the Battle of Jakku, which you only see the remnants of in the movie,” said executive producer Patrick Bach, according to the Associated Press.