Pressure is always on for big game publishers to put on a show to engage with audiences around the world with their new titles to be launched, and EA do have some pretty splendid games coming later in the year. EA’s press conference for E3 2017 were full of highs and lows, and with things being done live, there were moments when the show took a turn for the worse. EA experienced technical errors as well as YouTube influencers incorrectly cast into roles that really didn’t do their personalities justice. So with all this in mind, we’re going to kick off from the top, with some drummers that fell just short of the mark.

A traditional marching band in branded American Football jerseys and Madden NFL ’17 drum skins entered by marching through the crowd. Now I’m sure that the drumming was much more impressive to those in the crowd, but to us that are dotted around the world streaming their conference, it was just very bland. Andrew Wilson, the CEO of EA followed up by welcoming us to the conference.

The first game up was Battlefield 1 where we’re told the night maps Nivelle Nights and Prise De Tahure will be released this summer. There’s even a new add on pack named In The Name Of The Tsar coming which sees you fight in the east. There will be six new maps, a Russian army, new vehicles and weapons and even a new Females Of Death battalion.

The hosts of one of the top football shows, Men In Blazers hit the stage to discuss the new FIFA 18 title coming later on in the year. Although… they were very British, and although being British myself, it was quite enjoyable, I feel for a worldwide audience, some of their humour fell on deaf ears. Yes they got a couple of laughs throughout their stint, it just felt a little bit awkward.

Now for one of the biggest let downs during EA’s press conference was Jesse Wellens. Wellens is a YouTube prankster with around 10 million subscribers, so gaming isn’t really his forte. It came during the introduction to the new Need For Speed Payback game, released later on in the year. Take a look at UndersteerNetwork’s video of his poor effort to introduce Need For Speed Payback below.

Now I don’t know what really went wrong here, whether Wellens was unprepared, or if there was a problem with his teleprompter. The unfortunate thing is that there are professional announcers that do this kind of thing for a living, and to put a YouTuber in that position, especially one that doesn’t really cater to a game audience was just poor judgement on EA’s behalf. I feel sorry for the guy, he’s clearly a little distressed as you can hear it in his voice, and the fact that he called the lead producer Marcus, and then Nick in the same sentence. I know that EA is starting to use key social media influencers to advertise their titles, but I think EA really let themselves down with this one. By the way, his name is Marcus Nilsson, the executive producer on this game.

However, once we got past the hump, Need For Speed Payback was introduced. It follows the same recipe as previous NFS titles. This time you are on a revenge mission against the House, a notorious cartel that runs the city’s casinos and are wrapped up in all sorts of crime. Expect wild races, action packed police chases and a whole lot of car customisation for you to sink your teeth into. Once the telepromter issue was sorted, Wellens was back on form. They showed us a single mission where a car had to take down a truck, and visually it looks amazing.

Next up was A Way Out, a one of a kind title that can “only be played in split screen co-op.” says Josef Fares. Being published under EA Originals, and developed by Hazelight Studios, A Way Out is an exciting concept that looks as if it’s bringing couch co-op back to the world. It can be played online, but it’s said you will lose a lot of the game’s unique experience. A game full of puzzles, this looks to be an incredibly promising title coming out of EA at this year’s E3 2017.

I’m going to bunch Madden and NBA Live together, as most of the things announced were two new career modes. Start from the bottom on the streets, and then make it to the big leagues. It’s been done before with the likes of FIFA ’17, but it’s the first time it’s come to the American sports game titles.

NOW! Battlefront 2! I cannot wait for this title to hit Origin. Boasting 3x the content of the first game, the new Battlefront 2 game promises more heroes, more guns, deeper progression and maximum customisation across all eras of the Star Wars films. The single player looks mega exciting too, enabling players to get full immersed into a full story mode where you get to play as the bad guys. WHAT? Yeah you heard me. You get to play as the Imperial army. They showcased some multiplayer gameplay where we saw some new customisations to the player upgrades, and Darth Maul absolutely owning the battlefield. Expect intense Star Wars themed fights. We cannot wait to play.

So what did you guys think of EA’s announcements? And their blunders? We’re going to be keeping an eye on EA over the rest of the year, so check back with us later on to see what news we have for you.