Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Confirmed by EA (Updated)

Update:

EA announced that the game formerly known as Mirror's Edge 2 will now be known as Mirror's Edge Catalyst.

DICE and EA have confirmed that Mirror's Edge Catalyst is the official new name of the next Mirror's Edge title. Earlier today, we learned that EA filed a trademark for the name Mirror's Edge Catalyst and posted a cryptic Tweet about it (featured below). Here's what Catalyst senior producer Sara Jansson had to say about the rebranding (courtesy of Kotaku):

Mirror’s Edge has always had a special place in the hearts of all of us at DICE. The first game had a lot of promise. It was unlike anything else in terms of the gameplay and style — it had a unique soul. But as much as we loved that game, we knew it could be more. So that’s what we have set out to do as we introduce Mirror’s Edge to a new generation.

The team has spent a lot of time re-evaluating every aspect of the game and making it a new experience. This is not a sequel, this is not Mirror’s Edge 2. We have landed on a vision that honors the first game — pushing the boundaries of first person movement and diving deeper into the story behind our heroine Faith — but also brings a lot of great new, interesting gameplay and features to the experience for our players.

We'll be seeing more of Mirror's Edge Catalyst, most likely including an official trailer, next week at E3.

Original Story:

EA has trademarked something called Mirror's Edge Catalystand is already teasing us about it.

A recent trademark filed on the official European website for the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (via Destructoid) reveals that EA is gearing up for something called Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Likewise, EA's official Twitter for Mirror's Edge posted a picture of the word Catalyst in the game's signature font style along with it's definition:

Catalyst: A person or thing that precipitates an event. "she acted as a catalyst for change"

• a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change

It's safe to say that EA and DICE will formally unveil Mirror's Edge Catalyst at E3 next week, given the timeliness of this trademark filing and Twitter post. The big question here is what this actually means. This is most likely the official name of Mirror's Edge 2, but there's a small chance that it could be for something entirely different, such as the subtitle of a game trailer (which is doubtful, as this would have had a colon after the word Edge) or a spin-off title heading to last-gen consoles. EA revealed that Mirror's Edge 2 would act as a sort of prequel to the first game and showcase how Faith became the heroine freedom fighter that we all know and love. The Catalyst moniker would obviously play off of that. And it would be nonsensical to name a game Mirror's Edge 2 if it's a prequel to Mirror's Edge 1.

We'll just have to wait until E3 next week where EA will most likely formally unveil the next Mirror's Edge title. A couple months ago, we reported that a financial analyst's research suggested that both next Mirror's Edge and Mass Effect title will launch by March 2016.