EA Originals program continues with A Way Out

Electronic Arts has revealed the next step in its EA Originals initiative, which starts with new title A Way Out.

The program was announced last year and sees the publisher funding new titles by independent developers, promising all profits from the final products will go to those studios. It was inspired by the success of indie platformer Unravel.

After unveiling the first title at E3 2016, fantasy adventure Fe, EA has received hundreds of pitches from studios wanting to be funded by EA Originals, with several projects now in the works.

The publisher's Patrick Söderlund then unveiled the next title to be released under this label: A Way Out, a new co-op adventure from the developers behind Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

The partnership apparently originated after Söderlund played Brothers and reached out to creator Josef Fares, who was forming a new studio Hazelight.

EA is now funding Hazelight to support development of A Way Out, which sees players controlling two men trying to escape from prison, as well as all their escapades after the breakout.

Fares took to the stage to discuss his new project, saying his team had "full creative freedom and trust" from EA to "deliver the game we believe in".

"After I finished Brothers, I wanted to make another game that pushed the boundaries of telling stories without compromising gameplay," he said.

A Way Out is designed to be split-screen co-op - and only split-screen. However, interestingly Fares promised people will still be able to play online, but it is designed to be ideally experienced as a couch co-op title.

No release date was given beyond a vague 'Early 2018' window, but a trailer for the game certainly looked impressive - more AAA than indie. It's a clear sign EA Originals will not just be focused on smaller indie titles, but much larger titles as well.

We interviewed EA's global publishing boss Laura Miele about EA Originals shortly after E3 2016. You can read the full interview here.