Early sales numbers and projections for Respawn’s latest shooter, Titanfall 2, are lower than Electronic Arts had hoped for, but the publisher is committed to building Titanfall into a franchise for the foreseeable future.
In an investor Q&A spotted by Eurogamer and transcribed by Seeking Alpha, Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen and CEO Andrew Wilson were asked about sales projections for the game and how they would affect a potential third installment and the continuation of the Titanfall franchise. Late last week, financial services firm Cowen and Company estimated that Titanfall 2 would sell 6 million units — down from a previous estimate of 9 million.
“We are working with Respawn to build a franchise,” said Jorgensen in response. “[Titanfall] is something that we plan to be working with them on for many, many years to come, and there’s huge opportunity inside of that franchise to continue to expand it.”
This expansion relates not just to the core games, but also a mobile, card-based spinoff, as well as licensed toys and other merchandise.
Early physical U.K. sales data for Titanfall 2, while not necessarily indicative of the game’s performance overall, are slightly disheartening. Despite launching on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the game debuted at the fourth position on the sales charts, behind both publisher-mate Battlefield 1 and the remastered The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — Special Edition. As the game has been primarily marketed as an Xbox One title — the original wasn’t available on PlayStation 4 — it’s likely that the game saw a better reception in the more Xbox-friendly United States.
The quality of Titanfall 2 certainly isn’t the issue. The game’s single-player campaign, a first for the series, is surprisingly clever in how it introduces new gameplay mechanics and approaches a more open design structure, while the multiplayer is an even more polished version of what we were given in 2014. It also packs a hell of a value, with all future maps and modes available absolutely free.
Titanfall 2 is now available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
