On September 17, EA held its annual Investor Day event. This is where the company shows off the future of what it’s working on, discusses how it plans to expand its franchises, and tries to convince a lot of people with money that they are profitable and worth further investment.
You might have missed it as it’s not quite offering E3 levels of excitement. But some stuff did get announced, both at the event and as part of a media blitz outside Investor Day. So here’s all the big news that you might care about.
The Sims 5 isn’t happening, but the franchise isn’t ending
It might seem weird, but EA isn’t planning on making a Sims 5 anytime soon. Kate Gorman, EA’s vice president and general manager of The Sims, told Variety that it’s entering a “new era” for the franchise, and doesn’t want to replace past games with new games, forcing players to completely restart.
“We don’t want to reset your progress. And so it’s not about as much of what the numbers are in the games, but know that the future of the franchise looks more like keeping your progress, keeping things across titles, and really having an ongoing experience, and not a start-and-stop experience between products,” said Gorman.
EA will continue to update and improve The Sims 4, while releasing other related games, including the previously announced Project Rene, which isn’t The Sims 5, but instead something more focused on multiplayer. The goal, it seems, is to stop replacing games with new games and support things for longer.
“We are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we’re only going to be adding to our universe,” Gorman said. “With that, you’ll see there are more ways to experience The Sims on different platforms, different ways to play, transmedia, and lots of great offerings within this universe.”
The Sims movie is happening and Margot Robbie is involved
Meanwhile, EA also confirmed a Sims movie is in the works. The game publisher is working with Amazon MGM and Barbie star Margot Robbie’s production company LuckyChap. The movie will be directed and co-written by Loki season one director Kate Herron.
EA says it’s “very excited” about the movie, but didn’t have much to share about it. “It’s still too early to share more about the movie but stay tuned for updates as we mark our 25th birthday next year!”
Star Wars Jedi 3 in active development and is the end of the series
The next entry in Respawn and Lucasfilm’s award-winning Star Wars Jedi series is currently being developed, according to EA during today’s Investor event. It will also be the end of the trilogy and series.
“Over 40 million Star Wars fans have connected with Cal Kestis and his arc of becoming a powerful Jedi,” said Laura Miele, president of EA Entertainment and Technology, during the event.
And that story will continue in the third game, which Miele confirmed is in active development. “Respawn is working hard to bring the final chapter of this thrilling story to players,” said Miele.
EA didn’t share any other details about the next game at the event.
Previously, Jedi 1 and 2 director Stig Asmussen told IGN that he always envisioned the games “as a trilogy” and that the team had plans for what would happen after 2023’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Asmussen left Respawn in September 2023 and won’t be involved in the upcoming third entry in the trilogy.
We learned a lot about the next major Battlefield game
Ahead of Investor Day, head of Respawn & group GM for EA Studios Organization Vince Zampella talked to IGN about the future of Battlefield. And the gist is: Did you like BF3? Well, they are making that again.
“I mean, if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it’s that Battlefield 3…Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern,” Zampella said. “And I think we have to get back to the core of what Battlefield is and do that amazingly well, and then we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Zampella confirmed that the next game will ditch specialists and return to the classic class-based system found in BF3 and older games in the FPS franchise.
When can players expect this next installment? EA isn’t saying. Zampella hinted at a community testing program coming next year, but didn’t reveal a release window for the full game. It seems EA is taking its time with the next Battlefield game after BF 2042’s less-than-stellar reception. You can read more about this next Battlefield game here.
The Skate reboot is launching in 2025
The internet can finally stop asking EA about Skate’s release date. The publisher confirmed on September 17 that the reboot is finally arriving in 2025 via Early Access.
The publisher didn’t have much else to share about the new entry in the beloved skateboarding series, but that’s fine. I’m just happy Skate is coming back next year. I can’t wait to crash 200 times in the process of trying to nail that one perfect kickflip over some stairs. Read more about the new Skate here.
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