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EA Sports Announces Next-Gen Versions of FIFA, Madden, UFC, and NBA Live
Mega-publisher/developer Electronic Arts took the stage at Microsoft's Xbox One to pull back the curtain on its next-gen sports plans.
Electronic Arts made an appearance at the Xbox One reveal event – unlike Sony's February shindig for the PlayStation 4 – and EA Sports' Andrew Wilson talked about the games coming to the system in the next year. Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 14, UFC, and FIFA 14 are all coming to Xbox One in the next 12 months, although Wilson did not say exactly when these games will show up. Will they be there on the system's launch day or window, which Microsoft says will be sometime later this year? Or will they release at some point off-timeline from the sports franchies' usual schedules?
Wilson later announced a vague "broad strategic partnership" with Microsoft, one aspect of which will be exclusive Ultimate Team content for FIFA 14. Wilson also said that EA Sports' titles on are powered by EA Sports Ignite, a new sports game engine. Wilson says this new technology enables four times more calculations per second and ten times more in animation than the last generation engine. Player motion, crowds, AI, and more should be positively impacted. Though EA didn't say one way or another, we expect this engine is going to be used for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games.
EA wrapped up the demo by showing wireframe footage of UFC, Camp Nou in FIFA 14, and Madden – as well as some slick teaser footage – but actual details on the Xbox One EA Sports titles was not divulged. This includes how these games will or won't use the new Kinect functionality.
Stay tuned for more on these sports titles at E3.
Visit our Xbox Reveal Headquarters for complete coverage of today's news.
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