EA has announced it will host four Spotlight events ahead of its EA Play Live event on 22 July.

The four separate events, which will take place across July in the build-up to the main event, will dedicate time to the company's most popular titles and franchises.

The series of panels will begin on 8 July, with the focus squarely on Battlefield 2042, Apex Legends and, in general, the future of first-person shooters. EA says that the discussion will feature folks from both DICE and Respawn Entertainment, and focus on the Battlefield 2042 reveal from E3 and what to expect from both titles at EA Play Live.

The spotlight, as it were, will then shift to indie games and developers for the next event on 13 July. EA is promising a "spirited and wide-ranging discussion" during the showcase, with Josef Fares of Hazelight (It Takes Two and A Way Out), Olov Redmalm of Zoink (Lost in Random), Mel Philips and Abubarker Salim of Silver Rain, and Guha Bala of Velan (Knockout City) all set to take part.

From there, EA Sports will take over, with a double-header taking place on 19 July and 20 July.

The first of the two will be zeroing in on Madden NFL 22, looking at how fan input has helped change Franchise Mode, as well as the new scouting mechanic that it hopes to launch in September. 

Interestingly, for the 20 July Spotlight event, EA is keeping its cards a bit closer to its chest.

"Look, we’re not allowed to tell you much about this one yet, sorry," the company said in its blog post.

"But we can say this Spotlight will highlight an extremely cool new addition to an extremely popular and long-running EA Sports franchise."

Though it's impossible to know what EA has in store for its fourth and final event, FIFA 22 fans will hope this tease is a subtle nod to the potential arrival of an Online Career Mode - especially since this is something that was alluded to in a recently uncovered job listing.

All in all, these Spotlight events are a win-win for both EA and the gamer. It provides the company with an easy avenue to build more hype around its upcoming titles - as well as keeping things all action at EA Play Live - and consumers who want all the extra details are able to seek them out.

Let's just hope there's still the odd surprise EA has in store for 22 July.