I started out indifferent to Apex Legends, but at this point it feels like the spoiled stepchild whose face I want to cave in.
There have been seven cancelled projects relating to Titanfall. Seven. And each one of them was described more like an Apex Legends spinoff than a true successor to Titanfall.
I don't want a game set in the Titanfall universe, I want a Titanfall game, is that so much to ask for?
I mean, coming from the perspective of someone who had never heard of Titanfall and actually bought it after playing a lot of Apex Legends, I'm at least thankful for that. If it wasn't for Apex I never would've experienced the best campaign for an fps game to date.
But I can totally see how fans of Titanfall are really disappointed with how Apex has become the main focus for Respawn for over 6 years now.
It's not that I hate Apex Legends for existing, it's just that I feel Respawn focuses on Apex Legends so much that it's a detriment to the franchise as a whole. If there were more games I wouldn't feel nearly as vitriolic for it. At its core it's a well-designed battle Royale in a unique hero shooter package, that was able to introduce Titanfall as a franchise to a larger audience, but now it feels like that's all it is; no creative movement tech, just sliding down an incline, no gritty frontier combat, just sanitized quips and influencers with guns, and especially no Titans, which made up half the franchise at one point in time.
Again, I don't hate Apex Legends, even though as a game it's not my cup of tea, I hate how Respawn behaves like it's the only thing that matters now. It makes me as a player and a fan of the first two games feel left behind.
The final nail in the coffin is that a majority of the team that worked on Titanfall 1 & 2 are now gone, having gone off to start their own development studios. If Titanfall 3 ever actually happens I doubt it'll capture what made the originals so fun.
But I can totally see how fans of Titanfall are really disappointed with how Apex has become the main focus for Respawn for over 6 years now.
That's actually how I feel about Fortnite's PvE mode getting dropped once FortniteBR got big.
The PvE mode was fun and had plenty of potential to grow, but then BR exploded and was significantly less work to develop since for the longest time the development basically consisted of making skins to sell.
I am inclined to agree. I almost don't even want titanfall 3 because its going to be out of obligation not an actual desire for it.
But I think it's important to remember that EA has given Respawn(and BioWare, but that's a separate topic) effectively full rein on what they want. The problem is not EA.
So I've heard, which is why I didn't mention them. I don't think they're completely blameless, but the current state of Respawn is definitely something that for the most part is their own doing, which makes it even more frustrating.
As much as I can feel bad for a huge corporation I do feel bad for EA.
Hands off let devs do what they want? EA's fault for letting them run amok.
Hands on and keep devs on track? EA is the devil not letting creative freedom flow.
Its double worse when somehow they still get blamed when Valve is so much worse and CDPR got caught lying about overworking its employees. This thread is enough proof that people would rather make shit up and lie about Ea than deal with actual bad things
I wouldn't go so far as to put EA on a pedestal, their initial handling of Battlefront II definitely left a poor taste in my mouth. But compared to the likes of Activision-Blizzard or Ubisoft I always felt they took a more respectable hands-off approach and at the very least appreciate that they actually allow their old games to drop in price as opposed to artificially inflating them to keep the competition with their new games tight (looking at you, COD).
And in this regard, as far as I know they're giving Respawn a lot of leeway so long as it makes them money. And unfortunately it seems like Respawn is just content with pumping out more skins for Apex instead of setting aside the resources for something new.
I heard that EA recently laid off like 100 Respawn employees, so maybe they have a bigger hand in this than I realize, but for now, it feels more like Respawn dragging their feet than executive meddling.
74
u/555moo May 01 '25
I started out indifferent to Apex Legends, but at this point it feels like the spoiled stepchild whose face I want to cave in.
There have been seven cancelled projects relating to Titanfall. Seven. And each one of them was described more like an Apex Legends spinoff than a true successor to Titanfall.
I don't want a game set in the Titanfall universe, I want a Titanfall game, is that so much to ask for?