Publisher Electronic Arts has announced to investors we’ll be seeing new games from both Plants VS Zombies and Need For Speed by April 2020.
EA chief operating and financial officer Blake Jorgenson confirmed the return of these popular franchises in a news release attached to EA’s third-quarter fiscal 2019 earnings – a real page turner.
Jorgenson said of the future:
We’re making adjustments to improve execution and we’re refocusing R&D. Looking forward, we’re delighted to launch Anthem, our new IP, to grow Apex Legends and related Titanfall experiences, to deliver new Plants vs. Zombies and Need for Speed titles, and to add Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to our sports titles in the fall.
Need For Speed Payback was the last game in the fan-favourite racing franchise. It was released in November 2017 to a fairly middling critical and commercial reception.
Obviously what people really seem to want is a remaster of Need For Speed Underground 2, but we’re much more likely to be getting a brand new entry in the series rather than a rehash of old ground.
EA also confirmed the the story driven Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order would arrive by Fall 2019, alongside a new “premium” Titanfall spinoff that plans to build on the momentum of the recently released free to play Titanfall spinoff, Apex Legends.
EA boss Andrew Wilson said of the upcoming Star Wars release:
It’s very far along in development, and having spent time with it recently myself, it plays spectacularly well. This game truly captures the fantasy of becoming a Jedi, and we will have a lot more to share soon. It is exceptional in terms of its level of polish depth and living inside of the star wars world as a Jedi.
Of course, EA would doubtless make vast swimming pools worth of cash in which to splash around in if they ever did re-release either of the Underground games, so you have to wonder why they haven’t done it yet.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.