PopCap Games announced last week that Plants vs. Zombies 3 was in development with the pre-alpha available for Android users. A new Plants vs. Zombies shooter is also on the way though. According to several users and outlets that received emails (such Totes4Goats on Reddit), the new game is codenamed “Picnic”.

It’s from the team that created Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare but is it really the third title in the spin-off franchise? EA did confirm that a Plants vs. Zombies sequel would be out later this year but didn’t specify whether it would be a new Garden Warfare. Even if there is a name change, don’t expect anything out of the ordinary with regards to gameplay.

EA also has plans to unveil the next Need for Speed, with Gamescom 2019 being the most obvious place. That will be out sometime this Fall and looks to revitalize the “street racer vs. cops” fantasy. Will it be an improvement over Need for Speed: Payback? Stay tuned for more details in the coming month – Gamescom 2019 runs from August 20th to 24th.

If you played the excellent Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, and are also going to be playing the equally great looking upcoming sequel, then there’s some good news for you- the sequel is going to be showing its appreciation for fans of the series by giving special rewards to all of its players who also played the original Garden Warfare.

These rewards include a range of customization options, consumables, and character packs.The bonuses you unlock are based on your rank in the original game, and they all stack- so basically, the more time you invested in the original game, the more (and better) stuff you get in the sequel.

• Rank 10+ – Helpful Fun Pack – A mix of 5 customisation and consumable items
• Rank 25+ – Wondrous Pack of Greatness – A mix of 7 customisation and consumable items. Guaranteed Super Rare item
• Rank 50+ – Phenomenal Character Pack – Guaranteed Rare or Super Rare character
• Rank 100+ – Century Pack – Includes 5 Super Rare customisation items
• Rank 313 – Legendary Unicorn Chomper – Unlocks the Legendary Unicorn Chomper

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 launches on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 25.

Xbox One users take note – today marks the beginning of free EA Access until January 24th. This will allow users to take advantage of the Vault’s sizeable collection of games including Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Titanfall, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Battlefield 4, Battlefield: Hardline, Need for Speed Rivals and much ore.

It should be noted that while this is a trial, your progress will carry over should you decide to purchase EA Access or any of the games available on it. Unfortunately, you won’t be getting access to those early trials on upcoming games.

According to EA Access on Twitter, “Play First Trials are not available through the Free Play Days that start tomorrow.” These include trials for FIFA 16 and Need for Speed 2015.

EA Access is available only on Xbox One for $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year. Origin users have their own alternative with Origin Access that currently costs $4.99. Thoughts on the free trial for EA Access? Let us know in the comments.

Electronic Arts’ Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, a third/first person shooter spin-off of the highly successful tower defense games developed by PopCap Games, has achieved a new milestone. The publisher announced that Garden Warfare has seen more than 8 million players since its launch in February 2014. If you’re still playing it now, then congratulations – EA is giving away 80,000 PvZ coins to all players to celebrate.

The new figure, as of November 1st, comes from promo offers and game sales. We’re unsure whether it includes Origin Game Time, wherein players can experience Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare on PC free for a fixed time. EA also revealed that more than 1,600 matches have been played per minute for a total of 1.4 billion matches and 7 billion zombies stomped thus far by players.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is out on February 23rd 2016 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Will you be picking it up? Let us know in the comments below.

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare was, all said and done, a great game. It had oodles of charm, and a highly addictive design to its gameplay that ensnared you with its deceptively simple exterior. It was also a bit of a hit for EA, so of course it is to be expected that there will be a sequel to it.

And that’s exactly what is being teased- a new video by EA seems to hint that Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 will be announced at E3 next week. Almost as interestingly, it appears that this sequel, like the original game, will also be aligned with Xbox. That’s interesting, because common knowledge has dictated so far that EA has had second thoughts on its backing the Xbox One early on in the gen.

Garden Warfare 2, it appears, is slated to be revealed during Microsoft’s E3 conference next Monday. So, mark that date, fellows.

We will keep you posted.

While revealing details about its financials today, EA revealed that there be a new Need for Speed title releasing in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016 (in the same quarter as Star Wars: Battlefront). However, it also revealed DICE’s reboot of Mirror’s Edge and a new Plants vs. Zombies would be out in Q4 FY 2016, so sometime between January 1st to March 31st 2016.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson stated the new Plants vs. Zombies would be a follow-up to Garden Warfare with more details coming at E3 2015.

“After Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare became a sensation last year with console players young and old, we’ll be returning to the Plants vs. Zombies universe with a bigger and bolder new console experience in FY16.”

EA also revealed a tentative release period for Titanfall 2 though it stated that it would be out in fiscal year 2017. What are your thoughts on the plethora of upcoming AAA titles from EA? Let us know in the comments.

There are always plenty of disappointing games that more gamers got their hands on as compared to the good games. Games like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed are the ones that garner the sales while games like Wolfenstein: The New Order manage a respectable but still average sales tally.

That being said, games like The Evil Within and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare found a strong amount of success. Even if they won’t be beating out Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare or Destiny any time soon, they still managed to do well.

Now, as for a great game that no one played? Well…

Nominees:

• The Evil Within
• Wolfenstein: The New Order
• Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Winner: Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze

Normally, 130,000 units in 8 days isn’t a bad amount. But this is Nintendo’s sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns. This is a sequel that’s very good in its own right and came at a time when there weren’t any compelling releases for the Wii U. Like, at all.

However, you have games like Wasteland 2 which earned more than $1.5 million in revenue in the first four days. This is for a digital-only release that was funded through Kickstarter. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze had the might of Nintendo behind it and still didn’t notch up decent enough sales, especially for a platform that didn’t have many exclusives available at the time.

It’s a shame since Tropical Freeze is one of the best Wii U games available especially with competition like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 available. If you find it somewhere, even in the bargain bin, do yourself a favour and pick it up.

Note: GamingBolt’s Game of the Year categories, nominations and awards are selected via an internal nomination, voting and debate process. You can check the rest of categories and the respective winners here.

PopCap Games is the star of this week’s Deals With Gold on Xbox Live. Gold subscribers will have a chance to avail of discounts on major PopCap releases on both Xbox One and Xbox 360 from now till December 15th.

For Xbox One users, you’ll be able to pick up Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare at 66 percent discount and Peggle 2 at a 60 percent discount. The Xbox 360 has a wider range of discounted titles available with Peggle, Bejeweled 3, Peggle Nights, Zuma’s Revenge, Plants vs. Zombies, Feeding Freenzy 1 & 2 discounted at 50 percent. Like the Xbox One version, the Xbox 360 version of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare is discounted by 66 percent.

Both Peggle 2 and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare some of the more fun games to be had on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 so they’re definitely worth picking up. What are your thoughts on this week’s Deals With Gold? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information on discounts.

EA COO Peter Moore made an appearance at the PlayStation Experience. Remember that important announcement he was teasing a few days ago? It turns out that, in celebration of PlayStation’s 20th anniversary, EA will be giving away free games on the PlayStation Network. These free releases will be live at noon PST today. Oddly enough, they will only remain free until tomorrow midnight PST.

What were the game announced to be free for all users? Need for Speed: Most Wanted for the PS Vita, Mirror’s Edge on the PS3 and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare on the PS4.

Yes, EA is actually giving away games that are several years old as a free gift to PlayStation gamers. All aboard the hype train. At least Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a compelling recent release.

What are your thoughts on the announcement though? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more information.

PopCap Games’ Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, which released recently on the PS3 and PS4 (besides releasing in June for the PC), is now available on EA Access. Subscribers will have access to all the DLC and custom items.

For those unaware, EA Access offers unlimited access to games within its vault with all prior released content. It requires a monthly or yearly subscription and EA has assured consumers that once a game enters the vault, it stays there.

That’s good news for Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare since it’s one of the better EA games in a long time. It offers co-op and competitive play with players either playing as plants or as zombies in a mix of third person/first person shooting and tower defense. What are your thoughts on Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare now being available on EA Access? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.