Ex-Respawn dev has tragic update on Titanfall 3 development
Our dreams of Titanfall 3 have been dashed, but now, an ex-Respawn reveals how far along it was and how close we came to a third Titanfall.
13th Jun 2023 15:29
Images via Respawn Entertainment
Ex-Respawn dev has tragic update on Titanfall 3 development
Our dreams of Titanfall 3 have been dashed, but now, an ex-Respawn reveals how far along it was and how close we came to a third Titanfall.
13th Jun 2023 15:29
Images via Respawn Entertainment
It's not just Valve that's scared of the number three, with Respawn Entertainment famously skipping out on Titanfall 3. While we've got Apex Legends to expand the world further, there are many questioning why the mech favourite has largely been cast aside.
The first Titanfall made waves in 2014, taking us to Frontier and giving us all the wall-running fun we could ask for. 2016's Titanfall 2 was an even grander affair, but with Respawn saying it was never planned as a trilogy, focus soon moved to Apex Legends as a spin-off.
Was Titanfall 3 in development?
There's been a lot of recent buzz about a potential return to a mainline Titanfall game, but to be honest, we'll believe it when we see it. Speaking to The Burnettwork, ex-Respawn developer Mohammad Alavi claims Titanfall 3 was in the works at some point.
"Titanfall 2 came out, did what it did, and we were like, 'Okay, we're gonna make Titanfall 3.' We worked on Titanfall 3 for about 10 months, in earnest." This wasn't just some cooking it up in the planning stages, it sounds like a third game was really moving forward at Respawn.
Hyping what could've been, Alavi added, "We had new tech for it, we had multiple missions going, we had a first playable which was on par to be just as good, if not better, than whatever we had before." Interestingly, Alavi said it was "incrementally better" but not "revolutionary.
What happened to Titanfall 3
Alavi notes the devs didn't have the same "feeling" they did when making Titanfall 2. Added to this, the multiplayer team was having a nightmare trying to nail things. Alavi noted that people don't tend to play a multiplayer for multiple years, and it was a problem they'd faced since the first Titanfall in terms of retention.
The release of PUBG was the ultimate nail in the coffin, with the Titanfall 3 team realising battle royales were the future of the genre. "We were like, 'We can make this game and it's going to be Titanfall 2 plus little bit better or we can make this thing which is clearly amazing."
Although Alavi laments that he'll always miss having another full-blown Titanfall. The final snippet is that EA didn't even know Titanfall 3 had been axed in favour of Apex for six months - allowing the team to have a prototype ready to try and win the bosses over.
EA's Chief Studios Officer Laura Miele has claimed Titanfall 3 is in Respawn's court, however, with Apex Legends: Mobile shuttering and the codenamed Titanfall Legends kicking the bucket, it isn't looking good. Even though Respawn's Vince Zampella has said he'd "love to see" another outing, the dev's actions say otherwise.
About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.
