Including the world map which looks waaaaay bigger than most people were anticipating, I bet.`

Here’s the thing about EA: Even if they have one high profile fail, the live service gains that they’ve made in the last financial year are still bringing in levels of cash that can only be described as obscenely stupid.

As a ranked mode was recently introduced into the game, it only makes sense that Respawn and EA would announce the game’s push into the competitive esports scene. Apex Legends is the battle royale game that nobody knew they so desperately wanted. With many believing the genre to have reached a saturation point and massive titles like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and …

EA’s been in the news again (for good reasons I swear!), as a few weeks ago saw the reveal of a new Plants vs Zombies game for mobile, while yesterday saw a listing for the next chapter in that car racing series that gives people a desire for velocity. While EA did confirm that a new Need for Speed game was on the horizon, a new listing from Austrian retailer Gameware may have spilled the beans on this next entry in the franchise which goes by the name of Need for Speed: Heat.

Looking at Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order which arrives well after the launch of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice you’d think that Respawn poached plenty of inspiration from its Japanese counterpart, but seeing as how Respawn began work several years ago on their Star Wars tale, it may just be a case of amazing coincidence at play once again. That doesn’t mean that Respawn doesn’t like the comparison though.

EA Access, the company’s subscription service allowing players to download from a vault of EA games has finally launched on the PlayStation 4. Originally an Xbox One exclusive that eventually found its way to PC, EA Access lets players pay a set monthly or annual fee (that’s R48.50 per month, or R299 annually) to download and play many of EA’s games. It’s now available on PlayStation 4 at the same price as it is on other platforms – and it kinda sucks.

Months after launch, something is finally happening inside of Anthem as part of a pre-Cataclysm event. New challenges are now up, but the only thing that’s actually noteworthy right now is how they’ll make a homeopath shriek in terror as the majority of them involve killing crystallised enemies, collecting their quartz remains and completing other crystal-themed events.

The year has been a treat for strategy game fans so far, hasn’t it? They Are Billions is now fully realised, Conan Unconquered is putting its own spin on the survival RTS sub-genre and later this month sees squad tactics on the go with Fire Emblem: Three Houses. There’s another older game on the horizon that I’m chomping at the bit to get my teeth on, now that it has some remaster sizzle to it: Command and Conquer.