With Titanfall 2 sales lower than expected and the game’s player base dwindling, Respawn’s CEO feels that the game’s lower than expected sales might have been due to a holiday release window that was crowded with huge AAA games like Battlefield 1. EA has served as a publisher for all of Respawn’s game including the last years Titanfall 2. The studio seems to be working on a new Titanfall game, a third-person Star Wars game, and a VR game.
We’ve seen firsthand the world-class caliber of Respawn as a development studio with incredible vision, deep talent and an inspiring creative mindset,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a press release. “Our longtime partnership is grounded in a shared desire to push the boundaries and deliver extraordinary and innovative new experiences for players around the world. Together, we’ve brought this to life in the Titanfall franchise, and now with the Respawn team joining EA, we have exciting plans to accomplish even more amazing things in the future.”
CEO VInce Zampella in a letter on Respawn’s website states that “While it wasn’t necessary, going with EA made a lot of sense,”.With Titanfall and Star Wars, EA has been a great development partner that supports us and doesn’t interfere with our process for making games or studio culture. EA will provide us with more resources, access to new technologies, and expertise that we can tap into to that will help us make better games, and Respawn will retain the same creative freedom and culture we’ve always had. We’ve been talking closely with the leadership at EA and we share their values and vision for the future of being a developer-focused company that puts the players first.”
We’re excited for one of the world’s leading game studios to be joining EA!
Learn more about Respawn joining EA here: https://t.co/0KiLI1YSbm pic.twitter.com/3cQMVFtNdn
— Electronic Arts (@EA) November 9, 2017
Nexon a South Korean company that had earlier published the Titanfall mobile game was reportedly in talks to buy Respawn, according to documents acquired by Kotaku. However, EA outbid Nexon with an offer of $455 million in cash. The deal also included stock options and payments awarded for meeting performance milestones.
