The third entry in the Titanfall series, Titanfall 3, had reportedly been in development at Respawn Entertainment for a period of 10 months.
Speaking during an interview on THE BURNETTWORK, former Titanfall Game Designer Muhammad Alavi stated that the 3rd entry in the series, Titanfall 3, had been in development for a period of 10 months prior to its cancellation.
According to Alavi, after its 10 month production, Titanfall 3 had received incremental improvements over its predecessor, Titanfall 2, but was not considered revolutionary. Around that time, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) had released with a Battle Royale mode. As a result, Respawn Entertainment decided to pivot to turn Titanfall into a Free-to-Play Battle Royale game.
As per Alavi, the studio hadn’t discuss the new concept with EA until it had a running prototype to show to the publisher. EA had acquired the studio for the Titanfall IP, with the expectation of development a full priced title. However, it was ultimately reshaped into a Free-to-Play game, and the decision worked well for both the publisher as well as the developer.
Alavi’s statements are in line with what Respawn Entertainment’s Executive Producer, Drew McCoy, had stated over 4 years ago regarding the project. He had made it clear that the studio was no longer working on Titanfall 3.
“There are some people who think there are too many battle royale games or it’s a fad, the world thinks we’re making Titanfall 3 and we’re not – this is what we’re making, ” said McCoy in the interview. “To try and convince a skeptical audience for months with trailers and hands-on articles, we’re just like ‘let the game speak for itself’ – it’s the most powerful antidote to potential problems. We’re doing a free to play game, with essentially loot boxes, after we were bought by EA, and it’s not Titanfall 3. It’s the perfect recipe for a marketing plan to go awry, so why have that – let’s just ship the game and let players play.”
