10 years ago today, Respawn Entertainment, helmed by former Infinity Ward (Known for some game named Call Of Duty) leads Vince Zampella & Jason West, launched their debut game exclusively on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles and on PC – Titanfall.
The game release was very well received both by critics and players alike and was set to be the Xbox One's first real "killer app". After playing one match you could feel the Call Of Duty DNA in it, but it felt fresh, mostly because of your mech (Titan). Indeed while it was a first person shooter, it was the Titans that really made it stand out in a crowded space. At this stage of my life I had mostly moved away from playing much multiplayer but even I was hooked. It was truly a blast to play and while it wasn't directly made by an Xbox studio, it was the first time in awhile Xbox had something big outside of their big 3 of Halo, Gears Of War and Forza. The biggest setback for some however was a lack of a campaign. Enter Titanfall 2...
Titanfall 2 released two and a half years later (remember when games didn't take 6 years between sequels?) and was no longer exclusive to Xbox and released on the PlayStation 4 as well. The sequel had the same great multiplayer as the first but it included a campaign. And boy did it ever deliver on that campaign. Playing as Jack Cooper you become bound to your former mentors Titan named BT-7274 after your mentor tragically dies in the opening section of the game. I won't go into great detail here incase anyone hasn't played it, but I highly suggest you do. It is arguably the best shooter campaign in modern history and at worst top 10 of all time in the genre. I don't like using the word perfect, but it's about as close as you can come to reaching perfect.
So then what happened? 2 great games should mean a third right? Well unfortunately not, at least not how you might think. The second game ultimately did poorly from a sales standpoint, mostly due to publisher EA's inexplicable decision to launch the game smack dab in between industry giants Battlefield & Call Of Duty. They sent out arguably the best game they had made in the last 10 years to die in one of the biggest mistakes in video game marketing. I also can't help but wonder if going multiplat was ultimately a mistake. If they released the game a few months before or after and had the Xbox marketing fully behind it perhaps things could have played out differently, but that's just revisionist history.
Since then fans have called for Titanfall 3 but the request has fallen on deaf ears. Respawn did create Apex Legends which is set in the Titanfall world and is extremely popular, it's just never gone back to Titanfall proper. Instead they've seemingly turned into a Star Wars studio, and while those games have been very good and done very well, many in the gaming world still clamour for a new Titanfall. It feels like the momentum for one grows more and more as some of the bigger influencers and media members continue to ask for it. If there was ever a time to bring the franchise back it would be now, and hopefully EA and Respawn listen...
It's time for Titans to embark once more.
