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Standby for Titanfall: Electronic Arts acquires Respawn Entertainment

Gabe Gurwin
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Titanfall 2 - Ultimate Edition Trailer
Titanfall was one of the best games on Xbox One during the console’s early days, and Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall 2 managed to build on everything that made the multiplayer great while also adding a fantastic campaign mode. Respawn’s talent hasn’t been lost on publisher Electronic Arts, which just agreed to acquire the studio for as much as $455 million.

“Respawn brings to EA the proven leadership and studio talent behind Titanfall and Titanfall 2, two of the most highly rated shooter titles in the last five years,” said the publisher in a press release. “The acquisition builds on a successful publishing partnership between Respawn and EA, which multiple projects currently in development — a new title in the Titanfall franchise, a game set in the Star Wars universe, and a VR gaming experience.”

This is the clearest indication Electronic Arts has given thus far that it intends to make Titanfall 3, as both Respawn’s Star Wars project as well as its Oculus Rift game were already announced.

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The acquisition begins with a cash payment of $151 million, with up to $164 in stocks given to employees. Another $140 million could be given to the studio if it hits certain “performance milestones” over the next five years.

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Kotaku reported that Electronic Arts’ decision to purchase the studio came after the publisher Nexon — who released the mobile Titanfall: Assault — had made its own acquisition offer. The performance milestones mentioned in the press release are allegedly related to Metacritic scores. This is relatively common practice, but has caused developers to miss out on serious cash in the past. Obsidian, for instance, was promised a royalty bonus by Bethesda if its game Fallout: New Vegas compiled an average score of 85, and it missed it by one point.

Earlier this year, the publisher had admitted that Titanfall 2 didn’t meet its sales expectations, though it stressed that the game’s high review scores would likely lead to sales over a longer period of time, rather than just at launch. It had stiff competition from EA’s own Battlefield 1, as well, which released just a week earlier. Still, Titanfall 2 has managed to keep its community together over a long period of time because of free content updates — while the first game had a season pass, Titanfall 2 did not.

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will now release in April following delay
Cal Kestis.

EA and Respawn Entertainment need a bit more time to create Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, so the game has been delayed until April 28. 
Originally set to release on March 17 at The Game Awards 2022, this delay pushes the highly anticipated Star Wars game back by more than a month. In a tweet explaining the delay, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen explains that the game is "content complete," but needs more time to "enhance performance, stability, polish, and most importantly, the player experience." Ultimately, he believes this six-week delay will allow the development team "to hit the Respawn quality bar, provide the team the time they need, and achieve the level of polish our fans deserve." You can read the full message in the tweet below:
https://twitter.com/eastarwars/status/1620527593580806145
Thankfully, a six-week delay isn't that lengthy in the video game industry, so Star Wars fans will only have to wait a little while longer to experience Cal Kestis' next adventure. Today hasn't been the best for Respawn Entertainment fans, though, as the developer also announced it would shut down the mobile version of Apex Legends.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the sequel to 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a single-player action-adventure game that followed the journey of former Padawan Cal Kestis between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. This sequel takes place five years after that game, with Cal Kestis actor Cameron Monaghan telling Digital Trends that the narrative has an "emotionally complicated center where we’re exploring some challenging questions." Hopefully, that all makes this game worth the wait. 
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor now releases for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on April 28. 

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First Star Wars Jedi: Survivor trailer features dual-lightsaber combat, open-world teases
Cal Kestis with BD-1 droid on his shoulder.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is launching on March 17, 2023, for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC. The action-adventure game received an impressive trailer during The Game Awards that showed off several new features and teased some potential open-world aspects.
Survivor takes place five years after 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, continuing the adventures of Cal Kestis and his droid pal BD-1. Cal is no longer a young Padawan and is now a full-blown Jedi. The much larger scope of the game seems to reflect that change.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - Official Reveal Trailer
Combat is notably evolved in the trailer, as Cal can now freely use a dual-lightsaber stance in battle. Later, we see him enter “cross guard” stance as he takes down droids with heavy, two-handed slashes. EA tells Digital Trends that the goal of the sequel is to give players more agency when it comes to their playstyle.
Traversal plays a large role in the clip too. In addition to swinging around via grappling points, Cal is seen mounted on animals. He’s shown riding the back of a four-legged creature and using a winged one like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s glider. The clip seems to imply that the game’s planets might be more open-ended than Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s, as one shot shows Cal peering out over a gigantic vista. EA notes that the sequel is still largely a Metroidvania-inspired title where Cal gets new abilities over time.
Cal has a new human companion this time named Bode Akuna. In one clip, we see Bode flipping over Cal’s back to attack an enemy with a combo move.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was built with current-generation consoles in mind, with ray tracing being a major focus. It appears to be a graphically impressive showcase that features more dynamic lighting and flashy lightsaber effects. The adventure won’t launch on PS4 or Xbox One, but it’ll be available for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on March 17, 2023.

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor release date pops up on Steam ahead of Game Awards
Cal Kestis with BD-1 droid on his shoulder.

The release date of the highly anticipated Star Wars game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor leaked on the game's official Steam page.
A Steam Page for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor went live with this release date information on Monday morning, seemingly ahead of a heavily rumored appearance at The Game Awards. The store page description reveals more details about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as well as its Deluxe Edition, which contains cosmetics that make protagonist Cal Kestis look like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and the pre-order bonus with a costume, Lightsaber, and Blaster based on Obi-Wan. 

The "About This Game" section also provides more details on the game. Narratively, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's Steam page explains that "Cal is driven to make a stand during the galaxy’s darkest times -- but how far is he willing to go to protect himself, his crew, and the legacy of the Jedi Order?" On the gameplay side of things, new Force abilities, Lightsaber fighting styles, and enemies to take down are teased. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor looks like it will be a galaxy-trotting adventure like its predecessor the description hints that there will be lots of planets to explore and that they'll be bigger and have more secrets than the ones in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
EA and Respawn Entertainment have been relatively quiet regarding Star Wars Jedi: Survivor since announcing the game in May, so it's exciting to get a lot of new information about the game like its sooner-than-expected release date. If the rumors are true, this may have deflated the hype from one of The Game Awards 2022's big reveals.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 15, 2023.

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