Check out our review of Titanfall.
The only video game consoles that Titanfall will be available for when it hits stores in March 2014 all carry the name “Xbox” (though it’s coming to PC as well), and that situation isn’t going to change … at least, not until there’s a Titanfall sequel. Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen confirmed during the publisher’s latest earnings call that Respawn Entertainment’s debut effort is a “lifetime” exclusive on PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One (via IGN). Jorgensen made no mention of what that means for ventures adventures in the Titanfall universe, but some clarity came later, via Respawn.
Studio co-founder Vince Zampella offered more context in a Twitter post responding to the news. “Always MS exclusive at launch, great partner and focus is good for a startup. EA made a deal for the rest, we only found out recently,” he wrote, concluding the tweet with a frowny-face emoticon. Our expert Internet linguists inform us that this means he’s unhappy. It could be because he ate a bad burrito – that’s enough to kill anyone’s joy, right? – but it more likely stems from the fact that Zampella and the rest of Respawn is locked into an exclusivity situation that they’re only just learning about.
Neither of these statements indicate that Titanfall as a franchise is an Xbox console exclusive. This could turn out to be another Mass Effect situation; the first game in BioWare’s series was an Xbox 360 exclusive, though its sequels – and, eventually, the original game itself – were multi-platform releases. Titanfall may or may not make its way to other platforms at some far-future date – deals can sunset, or change – but the door appears to be wide open for any follow-ups to seek a bigger audience.
Respawn is ultimately a privately owned company that is working with EA as the publisher of its first game, rather than a wholly owned subsidiary. It’s not clear if EA has a stake in the Titanfall franchise as a whole or simply the March 2014 game, but it seems that the exclusivity deal Jorgensen mentioned only covers the initial game.
