The weather may still be tempremental, but summer is approaching and with it convention season.
That means EA Play Live 2021 is coming around. Not usually a big one for race fans, this time around it could have something special as the latest EA Studio, Codemasters, could well be involved.
So, what could racing fans see?
EA Play Live 2021 date
The date for EA Play Live 2021 has finally been revealed! Fans can tune in on 22 July to discover what EA has planned for the rest of the year.
There will be big features from EA's core sports titles like FIFA 22 and Madden 22, as well as Battlefield 6. But there should also be a prime slot for Codemasters this year.
The date, a week after the release of F1 2021, should be a good spot to highlight the game to EA's wider fan base and also shine a spotlight on the future plans of the studio.
So if there's no deep dive for F1 2021, what else could Codemasters show off?
DiRT Rally 3
Codemasters always has a November release, and while this year's is unannounced so far, here are RacingGames.GG we expect it to be DiRT Rally 3.
Arguably the best rally sim out there, DiRT Rally 2.0 has been out for over two years now and Codemasters has said they aren't providing any more updates for the title. Which can only mean a new one is around the corner, right?
With Codemasters picking up the WRC lisence from 2023 they seem to have a window for one more DiRT Rally game before introducing us all to the next evolution of the genre.
Need For Speed surprise?
The planned 2021 release from the Need For Speed franchise was officially moved back to 2022 earlier this year, as Criterion has been put on the Battlefield 6 project.
However, there is certainly scope for a surprise move for the franchise. There's no doubt that Codemasters is one of the biggest names in motorsport, and has created some awesome arcade racers in its time. When EA announced the move to buy Codemasters it seemed like a natural fit to move the NFS franchise to them.
It's not yet happened, it may never happen, but it would certainly maximise the impact if the move were announced at EA Play Live 2021.
A recent statement from CEO Andrew Wilson showed EA has grand plans for racing, and those could be unveiled this summer.