It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but EA has gone on the record saying it’s ready to support next-gen consoles. While obviously the publisher isn’t ready to reveal what titles it’s planning for the next generation of consoles yet, we definitely know it’s got something in the pipeline, and you should expect to see it when they launch in 2020.
During EA’s first quarter earnings call, CFO Blake Jorgensen laid out the publisher’s initial plans for the next round of consoles. Calling the next-gen systems “Gen 5,” Jorgensen stated, “We’re working hard on building games for next year on Gen 5, I think that’s obvious. I think everybody in the industry is doing that.” According to the executive, EA has been working on next-gen titles “for some time.”
Interestingly, Jorgensen’s statements suggest that Sony’s PlayStation 5 will indeed release in 2020, something which remains unconfirmed. While fall 2020 has been the assumed release date for the still-unnamed PS5, Sony has yet to make any official statements on a release window, unlike Microsoft. We do know definitively that it won’t be releasing in early 2020, however.
As for what titles we could expect to see at launch, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the newest Madden title. Just don’t expect to see the PS5 at the same time as Madden NFL 21’s launch, likely sometime around August 2020. “As has happened in the past, not all games will come out on Gen 5 immediately. Obviously, games like Madden, you probably bring the Gen 5 game out when the Gen 5 console ships, not when Madden itself ships,” Jorgensen stated.
EA is only the latest company to comment on next-gen platforms. Ubisoft previously stated it had intentions to support the next generation, though it didn’t lay out any immediate plans. Conversely, Platinum Games head Atsushi Inaba has expressed hesitations on the forthcoming platforms. While Sony hasn’t formally revealed i’s next console yet, it has laid out quite a few reasons why you should be pretty excited about it.
In other EA news, the publisher recently delayed (and announced, technically) NBA Live 20 to sometime in late 2019. In addition, expect to finally see the next Need For Speed game in the coming weeks.
[Source: Video Games Chronicle]
