Titanfall fans are grappling with the news that EA has canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment, while also implementing layoffs across its incubation, Apex Legends, Star Wars: Jedi, and EA Experience teams.
Bloomberg reported the canceled game, codenamed R7, was an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe. While not the Titanfall 3 sequel fans have been demanding, many are disheartened that the beloved Titanfall 2 remains without a follow-up nearly a decade later.
"I just fell to my knees at Walmart," remarked one player, while another simply stated: "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE."
"How many more times will this happen before they finally give up and leave us to our grief?" asked another.
Not all fans view this as bad news, however. Some believe an extraction shooter in the Titanfall universe could have failed, potentially dooming the franchise permanently.
"This is the best possible outcome for the franchise's survival," argued one Reddit user. "A Titanfall extraction shooter would likely have flopped, and executives would conclude 'people just don't like Titanfall anymore,' ignoring the obvious fact that nobody asked for a Titanfall extraction shooter."
"I’m fine with this cancellation," replied someone else, adding: "An extraction shooter? Good riddance."
"I'm so tired of 'extraction shooters.' They're formulaic and dull. I don't want to loot useless items, camp in an attic, hide in a bush for 20 minutes, or risk crossing open fields. Give me fast-paced matches, wall-running, and titans blasting away," commented this fan.
"I was sad. Then I read 'extraction shooter.' Suddenly, I'm okay with it," concluded another.
The roughly 100 affected positions at Respawn included developers, publishing staff, and QA workers on Apex Legends, along with smaller teams on the Jedi project and two canceled incubation titles. One of these was reported on back in March, while the other is believed to be the aforementioned Titanfall extraction shooter.
These cuts follow a series of layoffs at EA in recent years. Earlier this year, the company restructured BioWare, reassigning some developers and letting others go. It also cut 50 jobs at BioWare in 2023 and an unspecified number at Codemasters. A broader 2024 restructuring led to 670 company-wide layoffs, including approximately two dozen at Respawn.
In 2023, it was revealed that Respawn Entertainment worked on Titanfall 3 "in earnest" for 10 months before shifting focus to Apex Legends.
Mohammad Alavi, who became narrative lead designer on Titanfall 3 before its cancellation, told The Burnettwork that significant progress had been made on the sequel.
“After Titanfall 2's release, we decided, ‘Okay, we’re going to make Titanfall 3,’ and we worked on it seriously for about 10 months.
"We had new technology, multiple missions in development, and a first playable build that was on track to be at least as good as our previous work—incrementally better, but not revolutionary. That's the key point.
“We felt reasonably good about it, but it didn't have the same revolutionary feeling we had when making Titanfall 2.”
So, what changed? According to Alavi, two factors converged: the multiplayer team struggled to design an experience that didn't exhaust players quickly, and the Battle Royale genre exploded with PUBG's 2017 release.
“The multiplayer team was having a tough time refining the mode. Many players love Titanfall 2's multiplayer,” Alavi said.
“But that group is relatively small. Most players try it, think it's excellent, but find it overwhelming—it's dialed up to 11, and they burn out quickly. They see it as a great experience, not something they'd play continuously for years.
“We were trying to solve that issue from Titanfall 1 to 2, and again from 2 to 3. The multiplayer team was struggling.
“And then PUBG launched.”
Respawn developers found themselves more engaged with a Battle Royale map built using Titanfall 3 classes than with the standard multiplayer modes they were developing. This led to a pivotal realization: cancel Titanfall 3—which might only have been a marginal improvement—and instead create a fantastic Battle Royale game.
“I had just become the narrative lead designer on Titanfall 3. I had pitched the story and the entire game concept that Manny [Hagopian] and I created. We presented it, took a break, and upon returning, we agreed: ‘We need to pivot. We need to make this other game.’
“We essentially canceled Titanfall 3 ourselves because we realized: we could make this game, which would be Titanfall 2 but slightly better, or we could make this other thing, which was clearly amazing.
“Don't get me wrong, I'll always wish we had made another Titanfall. I love that franchise, and Titanfall 2 is my proudest achievement. But it was the right decision. It was such a drastic cut that EA didn't even know about it for six months, until we had a working prototype to show them!”
