Starting Saturday, June 10, E3 2017 kicked off. The biggest week of gaming news of the year was full of huge announcements, but there was one common thread between almost all of the press conferences: sports games. From EA to Nintendo and every company in between, here is a breakdown of all of the sports video game announcements from E3.
Need for Speed Payback Emulates Fast & Furious
The latest entry in the Need for Speed franchise was shown at EA Play with a change of focus for the series. Instead of just focusing on street racing and avoiding the police, Need for Speed Payback feels like an action movie. The gameplay trailer showed a car heist, ramming into other vehicles to blow them up, and a cast of three playable characters. Need for Speed Payback will release on November 10 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Ubisoft Announces The Crew 2
At their press conference yesterday, Ubisoft announced The Crew 2, a racing game that can let the players drive on any terrain with almost any vehicle. The announcement trailer showed street racing, offroad racing, planes, and boats. The Crew 2 is currently in beta and will be released for PS4, Xbox, and PC in 2018.
Forza Motorsport 7 Announced With New Porsche World Premiere
Microsoft announced the latest entry in Xbox’s realistic racing series, Forza Motorsport 7. Forza is partnering with Porsche to use their vehicles in their game, which features real-time weather effects and a day-night cycle. With the announcement of the new game, Xbox also hosted the world premiere of the new Porsche 911 GT2 RS, the cover vehicle for Forza Motorsport 7, releasing for Xbox One on October 3.
Madden NFL 18’s New Trailer Focuses on Story Mode
With the success of story mode in FIFA 17, EA has brought a similar approach to Madden NFL 18. A new story trailer shows the new campaign mode titled “Longshot.” In Longshot, players will build their ranks as a young football player with the hopes of reaching the NFL. Madden NFL 18 releases for PS4 and Xbox One on August 25.
Nintendo Switch Receiving Three New Sports Games
With the Nintendo Switch releasing in March, it is starting to build its sports library on top of Mario Kart 8. For the new home console that can be played anywhere, Nintendo is adding FIFA 18, Steep, and Rocket League.
Steep is a winter sports game released by Ubisoft for PS4 and Xbox One towards the end of 2016. Those versions of the game are receiving a new “Extreme Pack” featuring rocket wings, base jumping, and speed gliding. The Switch version is still in development, but no release date has been announced.
FIFA 18 is perhaps the most ambitious sports title coming to the Nintendo Switch. When it comes to gameplay, FIFA 18 on Switch is very similar to FIFA 17, but it is not running on the Frostbite engine. This unfortunately means a downgrade in graphical quality, but for a game that can be played on the go, graphics will not be the main focus. The custom built engine runs the game at 60 frames-per-second, giving Switch owners quality gameplay. However, since the Journey story mode is built on the Frostbite engine, it could not be transferred to this version. Every other feature in FIFA 18 is the same for every platform, and it will release for all platforms (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, & PC) on September 29.
Rocket League, the car soccer phenomenon from Psyonix, is a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch. With short games, it takes advantage of the easily accessible direction that the console tries to emphasize. There is local wireless multiplayer between Switch systems, exclusive Mario-themed items and cars, as well as cross-network play with Xbox One and PC (Sorry PS4 users). Rocket League releases for Switch Holiday 2017.
On top of all of the news to come out for sports video game before E3, all of these recent announcements show that 2017 could be the best year in sports video game history.
