Titanfall Fans Mourn Cancellation of Extraction Shooter: Is This the End for Titanfall 3 and Franchise?

Fans of the Titanfall series are grappling with disappointment following the news that EA has canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment, alongside laying off numerous employees across its incubation, Apex Legends, Star Wars: Jedi, and EA Experience teams. The canceled game, codenamed R7, was an extraction shooter set within the Titanfall universe, according to Bloomberg. While this wasn't the Titanfall 3 sequel that fans have been eagerly awaiting, the absence of a direct follow-up to the beloved Titanfall 2 nearly a decade later continues to be a sore point for many.

"I just fell to my knees at Walmart," said one disheartened player, while another expressed their frustration simply: "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE."

However, not all fans view the cancellation as a negative development. Some believe that an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe might have risked the franchise's future. "Best thing that could've happened as far as the continued existence of this franchise is concerned," posited a user on Reddit. "A Titanfall extraction shooter would probably flop and the c-suite executives would say 'see, the people just don't like Titanfall anymore,' instead of the obvious reason being nobody asked for a Titanfall XTS."

"I’m fine with this one being canceled," responded another, followed by: "Extraction shooter lmao. Good riddance."

"So sick and tired of 'extraction shooters'. They're so formulaic and boring. I don't want to loot a bunch of useless stuff and camp in an attic or sit in a bush for 20 minutes or risk getting shot moving through big open fields. Give me quick matches, wallrunning, and titans blasting," suggested a fan.

"Got sad. Read extraction shooter. Was literally okay," summarized someone else.

The layoffs at Respawn affected around 100 jobs, including roles in development, publishing, and QA on Apex Legends, as well as smaller teams working on the Star Wars: Jedi series and two canceled incubation projects, one reported on in March, and the other believed to be the extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe. These cuts are part of a broader trend of layoffs at EA, including restructuring at BioWare, moving developers to other projects and laying off others, the elimination of 50 jobs at BioWare in 2023, an unknown number of layoffs at Codemasters, and a larger restructuring in 2024 that saw 670 workers laid off company-wide, including around two dozen at Respawn.

In 2023, it was revealed that Respawn Entertainment had worked on Titanfall 3 "in earnest" for 10 months before shifting focus to Apex Legends. Mohammad Alavi, who transitioned to narrative lead designer on Titanfall 3 before its cancellation, shared insights with The Burnettwork about the development process. "Titanfall 2 came out, did what it did, and we were like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna make Titanfall 3,’ and we worked on Titanfall 3 for about 10 months, right? In earnest, right?" Alavi explained. They had developed new technology, multiple missions, and a first playable version that was on par, if not better, than previous entries. However, he noted that the improvements were incremental rather than revolutionary, which was a crucial factor in their decision-making.

"The multiplayer team was having a hell of a time trying to fix the multiplayer, because a lot of people love the multiplayer. People love Titanfall 2 multiplayer," Alavi said. Yet, the issue was that the audience for Titanfall 2's multiplayer was relatively small, and many players found it too intense, leading to quick burnout. Efforts to refine the multiplayer experience from Titanfall 1 to 2 and from 2 to 3 were challenging.

Then, the landscape of gaming shifted dramatically with the release of PUBG in 2017, sparking a surge in the Battle Royale genre. Respawn developers found themselves more engaged with a Battle Royale map featuring Titanfall 3 classes than with the traditional multiplayer modes they were developing. This led to a pivotal decision: to pivot away from Titanfall 3 and focus on what would become Apex Legends.

"And at the time, I had just literally become [the] narrative lead designer on Titanfall 3. I had just pitched the story, the whole game, that me and Manny [Hagopian] had come up with. We made this big presentation and then we went off at break, and came back from break, and we talked about it and we were like, ‘Yeah, we need to pivot. And we need to go make this game.’" Alavi recounted. The team decided to cancel Titanfall 3 themselves, believing that Apex Legends offered a more promising and exciting future. "We can make this game, and it’s going to be Titanfall 2 plus a little bit better, or we can make this thing, which is clearly amazing," Alavi concluded, reflecting on the decision that, while tough, ultimately led to the creation of a successful new franchise.