EA dropped a Battlefield 2042 gameplay trailer at E3, but otherwise skipped the big show, preferring to hold its reveals until EA Play Live later this month. We now know that two games won't be among those reveals: Dragon Age 4 and the new Mass Effect.
In a tweet today, BioWare said that it "won't be showing anything at EA Play Live" this year. The RPG studio points to today's Star Wars: The Old Republic livestream for the latest news it can share, and otherwise says that it's "hard at work" on the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect games.
We’re hard at work creating the next @dragonage and @masseffect games and have some exciting stuff coming to @SWTOR this year. While we won’t be showing anything at EA Play Live, be sure to check out our SWTOR Livestream at 12PM PT today for info on what’s to come!July 1, 2021
We've known about the next Dragon Age (which we've been calling Dragon Age 4 for simplicity's sake) for a while, but it's still likely two or more years away. All we've seen so far are teases and concept art which position fan-favorite mage Solas in a leading role.
The new Mass Effect, which was announced more recently, is in a similar place. We know that it's closely connected to the original trilogy—popular blue alien Liara appears in the teaser—and that series veterans are returning to work on it. It's in early development, though, and feels like something we might play around the time The Elder Scrolls 6 comes out.
Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that BioWare has its head down given that it has two games in development, both of which are presumably very large RPGs. After plucky Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to usher in a new era for the sci-fi RPG universe, and Anthem failed to break BioWare into the live service FPS scene, it feels like the studio may be on a 'back to the basics' course. Its most recent release is a remaster of the original Mass Effect trilogy, and its next two games are leading with already-beloved characters in early teases.
EA Play Live will be streamed on July 22, with a preshow starting at 10 am Pacific. We'll find out about what mystery Battlefield 2042 mode DICE LA has been working on, and probably see a big gameplay demo for the newly 128-player shooter. EA's also got its sports games, and studios like Respawn and Motive to talk about.
