During a financial call on Tuesday, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson announced that a new Titanfall game is being developed by Respawn Entertainment --- and it's due out later this year. Wilson stated that, "Respawn also plans to launch a premium game this year that is a new twist on the Titanfall universe. More to come on that in the months ahead." "Premium" in this context means that the new title will be a priced game, not free-to-play. The call confirmed speculation that started earlier in the day when Respawn CEO Vince Zampella tweeted that the developer was working on "more Titanfall for later in the year." He stopped short of specifically saying that they were developing a full new game, which left the exact nature of what they were working on unclear.
This news came just a day after Respawn launched Apex Legends, a free-to-play battle royale game set in the Titanfall universe. As the game launched, Eurogamer ran a piece that seemed to put the final nail in Titanfall's coffin. In it, lead producer Drew McCoy was quoted as explicitly stating that Respawn was not working on Titanfall 3. The announcement initially upset many people who were hoping to see a more traditional entry in the Titanfall series, but that doesn't seem to be hurting Apex Legends. On release day, Zampella tweeted that 1 million people had played the game within its first few hours, and initial impressions of the game are largely positive.
Still, while Titanfall 2 has a vibrant multi-player community, it was mostly lauded for the inventive level design in its single-player campaign. Successful or not, Apex Legends is delivering a very different experience. Along with Star Wars: Fallen Order, which is due this fall, it's also vying for the team's resources, further pointing to the idea that new Titanfall title will be something short of a true sequel.