With recent hits like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Apex Legends, Respawn Entertainment has become a household name among EA’s studios. But more recent fans might not remember that the studio’s first projects were 2014’s Titanfall and its 2016 sequel, which both stood apart from the FPS crowd with an incredible premise: taking control of mech suits and the elite pilots that fight with them in explosive, far-future battles.
These days, the studio might be better known for throwing would-be champions into arenas and letting players live out their Star Wars fantasies, but fans and the studio itself both haven’t forgotten about its roots. With a new generation on the horizon, the coming years could be the perfect time for a Titanfall comeback or Respawn could just as easily continue its focus on its existing hits.
RELATED: Titanfall 3: 5 Reasons We Want It To Happen (& 5 Why We Want EA To Focus On Apex Legends, Instead)
The original Titanfall earned positive reviews at launch, though a major criticism of Respawn’s debut title was that it lacked a compelling single-player campaign. With many of the studio’s staff at the time being comprised of former developers from Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward, the absence was felt much more strongly back in 2014 than with more recent, story free shooters.
Respawn took the feedback to heart. Titanfall 2 arrived two years later with a refined multiplayer experience and a substantial story component hailed as one of the best FPS campaigns in years. Players fell in love with the fast-paced combat, the variety of Pilot and Titan playstyles to choose from, and the bond between lead characters Jack Cooper and BT-7274, but Titanfall 2 failed to impress publisher Electronic Arts on store shelves. The game’s sales, while decent, just couldn’t stack up against Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and EA’s own Battlefield 1, both of which launched in a relatively similar timeframe.
The studio’s efforts to continue the series were eventually refocused into the battle royale format with Apex Legends, its first title released after EA bought Respawn in 2017. Meanwhile, a second team within Respawn worked to build upon its single-player expertise with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Both games bookended 2019 with successes for Respawn and EA, which gave the studio a level of recognition it arguably had deserved from the beginning.
But the decision to focus on new projects meant Titanfall had to take a backseat. Studio head Vince Zampella confirmed in May 2020 that a third game was not in development, but the second saw a resurgence in activity on PC after launching on Steam over the summer. By August, executives at EA were suggesting that a Titanfall return could be on the way, stopping short of announcing new developments ,but making it clear the publisher hadn’t forgotten about the series.
The most compelling case for Respawn and EA to start working on Titanfall 3 is, quite simply, that it’s a series players still care about. The studio’s frequent use of elements from the first two games within Apex Legends has stirred up fan interest since that game launched a year ago. Much like Mirror’s Edge and Skate before it, Titanfall has a premise and a style all its own that holds a strong appeal to a particular kind of gaming fan, and even if it might not have as much mainstream appeal as other EA games, ignoring the love fans have for the series would be a mistake.
Conversely, EA could be willing to sacrifice Titanfall‘s future in favor of games it believes have greater chances to be sales successes. The publisher’s history of pulling the plug on series that failed to meet expectations—Dead Space, Burnout, Command and Conquer and SimCity, to name just a few—is well documented. Fan responses have occasionally been enough for the company to give some of its less successful titles another shot, but these cases are usually the exception rather than the norm.
EA’s ruthless reputation certainly doesn’t inspire much hope, but Respawn’s recent success bodes well for the studio’s moves as console players move to the Xbox Series X and Playstation 5. Apex and Fallen Order earned a laundry list of award nominations, including a win at the Game Awards for Best Multiplayer Game for the former. The heightened profile and Respawn’s track record for producing hits could be enough for EA to consider a gamble with a less proven but still well-loved property like Titanfall. Even if it doesn’t sell Star Wars numbers, Respawn still has two established series to fall back on.
Titanfall 3 hasn’t been confirmed yet.
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