Netflix seems to be closer to coalescing its gaming vision, as the company just hired former EA and Oculus exec Mike Verdu as Vice President of game development. Netflix aims to offer not only streaming video content, but also a gaming pass subscription that ties into its monthly subscription philosophy. Bloomberg says that Netflix might add game streaming to its library as soon as next year - just as if they were another content category, and at no extra charge, which would make sense from a market penetration perspective.

Netflix is still in the hiring process for its gaming team, even though the company prefers to list job openings without employing the word "gaming", choosing instead to market it as "interactive experiences". It remains to be seen what will come from these efforts; another games developer with deep pockets such as Netflix would surely be welcome into this space, especially considering the breadth of Netflix-developed IPs. However, as we've seen with Google's gaming development efforts, deep pockets don't solve all the problems related to delivering compelling gaming experiences. But who would say no to a good Stranger Things interactive experience?

Electronic Arts Inc., today introduced EA SPORTS FIFA 22, featuring next-gen HyperMotion technology that brings the football's most realistic and immersive gameplay experience to life, in every match and across every mode on next-gen consoles and Stadia. FIFA 22 will be available worldwide on October 1 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Origin and Steam, Stadia, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Powered by HyperMotion, FIFA 22 combines Advanced 11v11 Match Capture and proprietary machine learning technology to deliver the most realistic, fluid and responsive football experience for next-gen consoles and Stadia, unlocking the raw emotion, passion and physicality of the world's game. HyperMotion technology enabled the integration of the first-ever motion capture of 22 professional footballers playing at high intensity. Additionally, EA's proprietary machine learning algorithm learns from more than 8.7 million frames of advanced match capture, then writes new animations in real time to create organic football movement across a variety of interactions on the pitch. Whether it's a shot, pass or cross, HyperMotion transforms how players move on and off the ball.

EA DICE on Tuesday named NVIDIA as the official partner for Battlefield 2042 on the PC platform. To gamers, this means that Battlefield 2042 will feature support for NVIDIA DLSS and NVIDIA Reflex. DLSS integration will allow gamers to increase performance with minimal loss to image quality, while NVIDIA Reflex integration will be key to the game's online multiplayer component, as it works to cut down input latency. There is no word on whether Battlefield 2042 will feature RTX real-time raytracing, but given that Battlefield V was the pioneering title for RTX, some form of raytracing for Battlefield 2042 cannot be ruled out.

Among the other companies named as partners by EA DICE are Xbox Series X/S, as the "official console partner." Logitech has been named the official gaming peripherals partner, which means we'll see plenty of Battlefield 2042 co-branded gear from Logitech G. Western Digital, specifically its WD_Black brand, is the storage partner, with co-branded SSDs and external storage devices on the anvil, both for PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Since teaming up with Electronic Arts, we've been working to provide Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC members an EA Play membership at no additional cost. We want to thank the PC community for your patience over the past few months as we worked to deliver a better Xbox App experience for EA Play. We're excited to share with you that starting tomorrow, March 18 at 2:00 p.m. PT, Xbox Game Pass PC and Ultimate members will be able to enjoy all the benefits of EA Play on Windows 10.

These benefits include access to more than 60 of EA's biggest and best PC games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, FIFA 20, Titanfall 2, and Need for Speed Heat, as well as titles from some of EA's most popular franchises like Battlefield, Madden NFL, Command & Conquer, and The Sims. You also receive exclusive in-game challenges and rewards, special member-only content, and discounts on EA digital purchases via the EA Desktop app beta. Xbox Game Pass with EA Play also includes the option to trial games for up to 10 hours from best-loved franchises and top titles like FIFA 21. Finally starting on day one of EA Play on PC with Xbox Game Pass, members can play the new-to-Play List title Star Wars: Squadrons on PC and console.

Silver Rain Games, an interactive entertainment development studio co-founded by BAFTA-nominated actor and producer Abubakar Salim has signed a major deal with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) EA Originals Label, which is dedicated to elevating bold independent studios. EA Originals will provide funding for the up-and coming studio's unannounced IP, as well as guidance and support in the team's journey to bring a fresh perspective to games and to the industry.

Silver Rain, which is based in the U.K., was co-founded in December 2019 by Salim, best known for his role on HBO's hit show Raised by Wolves, alongside Melissa Phillips, who will lead as Head of Studio, who previously worked as the BAFTA Games Programme manager on BAFTA Games programs and events. The company was launched with the intent to generate thought-provoking and innovative games and content across different mediums of entertainment. Since its inception late last year, the studio has quickly grown to approximately 20 staff members, who all currently work remotely.

In the spirit of transparency and closure we wanted to share that we've made the difficult decision to stop our new development work on Anthem (aka Anthem NEXT). We will, however, continue to keep the Anthem live service running as it exists today. Since Anthem's launch, the team has been working hard to continually improve the game, releasing multiple updates that brought with them a variety of improvements and introduced new content to play. Towards the end of 2019 we expanded on that effort and started working on a more fundamental restructure of the game.

During the development we've provided updates revealing some of the team's work through blog posts and conversations with you on social media and it's been inspiring for us to see the positive reactions and feedback. I've been incredibly proud of the work the team has been doing, and excited to see and play each new build of the experience.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), a global leader in interactive entertainment, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Codemasters for 604 pence (approximately US$8.37) in cash for each ordinary share of Codemasters with an implied enterprise value of US$1.2 billion.

The combination of Electronic Arts and Codemasters marks an exciting new era in racing game entertainment. Bringing together two of the most passionate, creative and talented game developer and publishing organizations in the industry will enable further growth and continued success for a stable of the most powerful and popular racing brands in the world, including Formula 1, Need for Speed, DIRT, DiRT Rally/WRC, GRID, Project CARS, Real Racing and more. With this critically acclaimed portfolio, Electronic Arts and Codemasters will be positioned to bring fans a regular cadence of new and exciting racing content, in addition to reaching across more platforms and more regions of the world.

The upcoming "Battlefield 6" would mark a "soft-reboot" of the franchise in a modern-era setting; much like "Battlefield 3" was, according to Tom Henderson, a reliable source with leaks related to the franchise. He predicts that the game could even be titled simply "Battlefield" (not to be confused with "Battlefield 1"). The game (if it includes a campaign), could have a modern mechanized warfare setting, and be a marked departure from the historic (or pseudo-historic) plots of "Battlefield 1" and "Battlefield V."

Much like how Activision is handling various game modes with its latest releases of "Call of Duty," the next Battlefield could include a dedicated Battle Royale mode that's more evolved than simply being a gameplay mode within its Multiplayer. The main Multiplayer could build on the modes Battlefield perfected, including large PvP conquests with up to 128 players on the PC platform (fewer players on consoles).

The EA-announced, Bioware-developed love letter to the original Mass Effect trilogy will be seeing a remastered once-over that brings the games' graphics up to today's standards. As much as possible, of course, whilst keeping the "Remaster" tag instead of the "remake" one - it seems that the Legendary Edition of the original Mass Effect will still keep those long treks on scannable planets. The improved versions of the original trilogy of games will feature improved graphics, alongside higher resolution and refresh rate support. The Legendary Edition will further bring together all the pre and post-launch DLC for each release, bringing those together for a cohesive package.

The 12th march release date is derived from release dates online stores Shopitree and GSShop have attached to the game, and has since been confirmed by Eurogamer, whose site editor Tom Phillips added that "...barring any further delays, Eurogamer understands the above date to be currently accurate". It seems we won't have long to wait until we can vault through the stars against the Reapers once more.

Microsoft has recently announced that the introduction of EA Play on PC to Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has been delayed until 2021. EA Play is the subscription service that gives you access to a large catalog of EA's games along with other benefits such as early access to new games and discounts on other EA games and DLC. Microsoft has stated that this delay is required so that they can fully integrate EA Play into Xbox Game Pass and deliver a more complete experience for their users. Microsoft will update us on the exact timeline for EA Play on PC early next year.

MicrosoftWe established this partnership with Electronic Arts because they are as passionate as we are about helping people and communities discover great games, and we knew we could provide a great experience for members by working together. In order to deliver on that, we need more time to provide the Xbox Game Pass experience.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, vendor revenue in the worldwide server market grew 2.2% year over year to $22.6 billion during the third quarter of 2020 (3Q20). Worldwide server shipments declined 0.2% year over year to nearly 3.1 million units in 3Q20. Volume server revenue was up 5.8% to $19.0 billion, while midrange server revenue declined 13.9% to $2.6 billion, and high-end servers declined by 12.6% to $937 million.

"Global demand for enterprise servers was a bit muted during the third quarter of 2020 although we did see areas of strong demand," said Paul Maguranis, senior research analyst, Infrastructure Platforms and Technologies at IDC. "From a regional perspective, server revenue within China grew 14.2% year over year. And worldwide revenues for servers running AMD CPUs were up 112.4% year over year while ARM-based servers grew revenues 430.5% year over year, albeit on a very small base of revenue."

Electronic Arts has reportedly expressed interest in taking over UK-based game developer Codemasters, the studio behind the official Formula One-licensed F1 series; DiRT series, and other hit motorsports franchises. EA comes from the legacy of Need for Speed, and is possibly eyeing the prestige of the F1 license that comes with Codemasters, besides the studios innovations and expertise with race simulation. In doing so, EA has gatecrashed the £725 million take-over bid by Take-Two Interactive, announced in November 2020. EA will reportedly formalize and disclose its competing bid for Codemasters later today (December 14, 2020), which is naturally expected to be higher than that of Take-Two.

UPDATE: EA really swung out of the gates with a baton made of stylishly compacted bills, and took the prize home. The company has announced it has reached an agreement with Codemasters' Board of Directors to purchase the company for $1.2 billion.

Electronic Arts Inc. is taking The World's Game to the Next Level with today's unveil of EA SPORTS FIFA 21 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, launching December 4. The power of new generation consoles combined with advances in the Frostbite engine enables players to experience lightning fast load times and enhanced sights, sounds, and player movement, in addition to ultra-realistic football environments that immerse fans in the most authentic matchday experience in EA SPORTS FIFA franchise history.

The sights and sounds of FIFA 21 are reimagined for next generation consoles, with the brand new EA SPORTS GameCam inspired by the look and feel of top-level football broadcasts and LiveLight Rendering, a deferred lighting system that enhances every aspect of the on-pitch experience. Thousands of authentic chants captured exclusively from the world's biggest competitions, including the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga, deliver the ultimate EA SPORTS Atmospheric Audio experience, unparalleled in sports video games.

The Electronic Arts owned BioWare studio have recently announced the Mass Effect Legendary Edition during N7 day celebrations. The Mass Effect Legendary Edition includes a compilation of the first three Mass Effect titles released between 2007 and 2012. The remastered games have all single-player DLC and additional in-game content included. While the games will be optimized for 4K with updated textures, shaders, models, and effects they will not be receiving a full remake. Mass Effect Legendary Edition is now available for pre-order at 60 USD launching in Spring 2021 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, with forward compatibility and targeted enhancements on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

EA late last week confirmed that the studio is working on the next chapter in the "Battlefield" franchise, unsurprisingly titled "Battlefield VI." What remains to be seen is the production design, whether EA DICE sticks to its formula of making the next Battlefield a AAA set-piece and technology demonstrator, much like how BFV was among the first games with real-time raytracing, although the mandate from EA CEO appears to favor a "truly next-gen" approach. Pressure from EA's bean-counters will also ride heavy on DICE to make at least one of the components of the game to be e-sports optimized, and feature a battle royale multiplayer mode. We predict the implementation could be similar to the current Call of Duty, which features a nested "Warzone" mode in addition to a AAA campaign experience. EA DICE is targeting a Holiday 2021 tentative release for "Battlefield VI."Update 08:17 UTC: Apparently the image above is fan-art. EA did not reveal any details about the premise of the game.

Feel the thrill of the chase and the rush of escape in Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, coming to Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 6, and to Nintendo Switch on November 13! Ten years ago, Criterion Games released their critically acclaimed franchise debut Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. It introduced NFS and racing fans to the winding, open roads of Seacrest County, Criterion's renowned feel for breakneck speed and gameplay, and the innovative Autolog system, empowering true social competition between friends.

Ever since, we've heard so many stories about the triumphant moments and heated rivalries Autolog fostered. Some of which run very, very deep. Unleash a savage sense of speed both as an outlaw and a cop in this timeless racing experience updated for today's platforms. Get cross-platform multiplayer and Autolog, enhanced visuals, all main DLC delivered at launch, and much more. It's time to reignite the pursuit.

Respawn Entertainment, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), and Oculus from Facebook today announced during Facebook Connect that the highly-anticipated upcoming Virtual Reality (VR) title, Medal of Honor : Above and Beyond will release on December 11, 2020, worldwide. This new innovative and immersive title blends films and games into one, and will be available on the Oculus Store for Oculus Rift and Steam with OpenVR support and cross-platform play.

"The Medal of Honor franchise has always been a powerful series that tells the untold stories of war heroes, and from the beginning of this series in 1999, our goal has been to create grounded and emotionally authentic games that are true to the experiences of people that fought and lived through it," said Peter Hirschmann, Director, Respawn Entertainment. "We're honored to share these moving first-hand stories from survivors and veterans of WWII and deliver an immersive VR gameplay experience that provides high-flying action and emotional, intimate storytelling in equal measure."

Microsoft and EA have recently announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate & Xbox Game Pass for PC members will soon be receiving an EA Play membership at no additional cost starting this holiday. EA Play formally EA Access & Origin Access is the game subscription service from Electronic Arts which grants access to a library of over 60 EA games along with providing a variety of perks such as early access and discounts on new games. This means Ultimate members can enjoy EA Play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Windows 10 PCs, while Xbox Game Pass for PC members get EA Play on Windows 10. Microsoft seems to be going all-in with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with the launch of next-generation consoles with the recently announced console/subscription bundles and the android xCloud support.

Electronic Arts are simplifying their EA Access and Origin Access services into a single service under the name EA Play while Origin Access Premier becomes EA Play Pro. The rebranded EA Play will continue to provide gamers with access to a library of top titles, early game trials, and 10% game discounts that the previous services offered just under a fresh new look.

This move comes as EA continues to expand the program with the offering set to arrive on Steam, August 18th to coincide with the rebrand. The new EA Play service will also be rebranded on existing platforms including the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Origin client. EA's annual live event previously EA Play will become EA Play Live and continue to be the place for the latest EA news and game updates.

EA is preparing to launch its game subscription service EA Access on Steam. The EA Access service grants access to a library of over 70 EA games, this is the first time the program will be available outside of the company's Origin launcher. The game subscription service will cost 4.99 USD per month or 29.99 USD per year and includes major titles from the Battlefield, Need for Speed, Plants vs Zombies, and STAR WARS Battlefront series. Program members will also receive a 10% discount on all EA games & DLC along with a 10 hour early access period for certain new titles. This will be the fourth platform to receive the program after the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Origin client.

EA has recently decided to break away from the exclusivity of its games on Origin game launches and started to offer some games on Valve's Steam gaming platform. The move has turned out to be quite substantial for EA and Valve just reported some big news. Out of the top 20 best-selling games on Steam for the month of July, EA games accounted for eight of them. This rather massive share is all thanks to the new markets EA opened themselves to. Without a doubt, Steam is still the world's biggest gaming platform, so it was a smart move to expand the availability of games to it. The financial gains follow as well. EA saw a massive 74% surge in PC revenue it is a quarterly report, all thanks to expansion to Steam.

The Origin Launcher provided by EA isn't very popular and has only received intermittent updates over the past few years. EA is hoping to change that with their new Origin Launcher Beta which will be launching soon for Origin Access Premier members. The new Origin Launcher Beta will be a major overhaul designed to improve speed, stability, and reliability. Information regarding specific changes is unavailable but from the new sign-up page we can see that launcher should be receiving a redesigned user interface and a new dark theme. Origin Access Premier members can join the beta here.

OriginWe've heard your feedback on Origin - you want a fast, stable, and reliable app that connects you to the games you love and the players you want to play with. This feedback has inspired us to enhance the Origin experience to power a faster, smarter, more connected desktop app and we'll be rolling out improvements over the next few months through the beta.

Today, Electronic Arts Inc. revealed new innovation in fan favorite modes coming to EA SPORTS FIFA 21. From more ways to play with friends through new social elements, to having more control than ever to manage every career moment, players can experience The World's Game like never before. FIFA 21 also embraces a new generation of football with Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappé, gracing the cover across all editions and available worldwide on October 9, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC via Origin and Steam.

"Being on the cover of FIFA is a dream come true. From my time at Bondy to Clairefontaine to the World Cup, this marks another big milestone. I've been playing this game since I was a kid and I am honored to represent a whole new generation of footballers and be in the same group as many other amazing footballers who I now share this honor with," said Kylian Mbappé.

EA and Crytek have been preparing to remaster the popular Crysis game for some time. And finally, we know the dates when we can see some gameplay as well as when we can get the game to play it. On the official Crysis YouTube channel, there is a video titled "Crysis Remastered - Official Gameplay Trailer Premiere", which is premiering on July 1st at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PST time. After the July 1st premiere, the full game will be available on July 23rd. You can set a reminder on YouTube so you get a notification when the premiere starts. Below we have put the YouTube link so you can check it out and join others in waiting.

EA via its EA play event has teased next-gen graphics and gameplay from upcoming titles on its publishing label. The games showcase work in progress for next-generation games that seem to be set in three well-known franchises, with Motive, who has just recently developed Star Wars Squadron in conjunction with Lucasfilm, seemingly presenting the only new IP.

From Criterion, a new Need for Speed game is teased, with particular emphasis being put on both detail level on cars and reflections, as well as the absence of any loading times granted by next-gen hardware. Bioware's showcase seems like a tease for Dragon Age 4 - there is a distinct fantasy look to the video, and I believe I've seen those red colors in previous entries' red lyrium crystals. DICE, of course, showcased a new Battlefield game, which exceptional fidelity on character models, and what seems like truly epic battles with hundreds of soldiers on-screen at the same time. Lastly, Motive seems to be developing a physics-based game where environment interactivity is key. Models used seem like a mash-up between fantasy, sci-fi and modern-day, so it's difficult to pen exactly what we're looking at. Catch the video teaser after the break.