Mirror's Edge reboot is open-world, says EA Labels boss

The Mirror’s Edge reboot will be an "open-world action adventure game", EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said today during the publisher's E3 2013 analyst call (via CVG). The executive made no further mention of the game, other than to say there’d been a terrific fan reaction to Monday’s news that protagonist Faith is returning in what has officially been described as an “all-new origin story”.

In a recent feature called Mirror's Edge 2 - 15 things the sequel needs, we said: “Mirror's Edge 2 may benefit from an open-world aspect, allowing us to see the entire City in between missions, perhaps wandering off the beaten path for acrobatic side quests. Ancillary missions and other urban intricacies could be buried throughout the place, we just need the linear leash to be taken off. We want to go to the City limits, so let us!”

Gibeau also said today on EA’s analyst call that the company plans to release 11 HD and 14 mobile games in fiscal 2014, down on the number of titles launched in the past two years as the company continues to execute on its "fewer, bigger, better" software release strategy. However, the exec said EA's release rate "will increase going forward” as the next-gen kicks in, noting: "There are probably about five or six new IPs that are fully owned and we haven't announced yet.”

The EA Labels boss also discussed the company’s move to sign a console exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Respawn's Titanfall. While he said EA has “a very balanced portfolio" across both Sony and Microsoft platforms, Gibeau explained: "There are tactical opportunities from time to time on a title or on a service component that we do enter into a relationship with one or two of the first parties on that particular opportunity and we'll execute on it. Titanfall is an example of that. It's a product that came in through our EA Partners group, it's a partnership with Respawn, and there was an opportunity for Microsoft, EA and Respawn to create a tactical opportunity to make Titanfall exclusive to Microsoft.” Titanfall will hit Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC in spring 2014. In a recent opinion piece, we argued that exclusivity will be the key battleground between Microsoft and Sony in the next-gen.