Titanfall Fans Outraged: Extraction Shooter Cancellation Sparks Fears for Franchise Future

*Titanfall* fans are once again left grappling with disappointment after Electronic Arts (EA) reportedly canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment, while simultaneously laying off several team members across its *Apex Legends*, *Star Wars: Jedi*, and EA Experience teams.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the now-canceled game—codenamed R7—was an extraction shooter set in the *Titanfall* universe. While not the long-awaited *Titanfall 3* sequel that many fans have hoped for over the past decade, the cancellation still hit hard for those clinging to the possibility of new content in the beloved franchise.

“I just fell to my knees at Walmart,” said one emotionally affected player, while another simply wrote: “I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE.”

“How many more times will this happen before they finally give it up and leave us to our sorrow?” lamented yet another disheartened fan.

However, not all reactions were negative. Some fans believe that canceling an extraction shooter based on *Titanfall* could ultimately protect the franchise from potential failure. One Reddit user posited: “Best thing that could've happened as far as the continued existence of this franchise is concerned. 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.”

Another player responded, followed by: “Extraction shooter lmao. Good riddance.”

A vocal minority expressed frustration over the current trend of extraction gameplay mechanics, arguing that it doesn’t align well with the *Titanfall* experience. “So sick and tired of ‘extraction shooters.’ They’re so formulaic and boring. I don’t want to loot a bunch of useless shit 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 blastin’,” suggested one fan.

“Got sad. Read extraction shooter. Was literally okay,” summarized someone else, capturing the mixed but pragmatic sentiment among some players.

The layoffs reportedly affected around 100 roles at Respawn, including development, publishing, and QA staff working on *Apex Legends*, along with smaller groups involved in the *Jedi* series and two canceled incubation projects. One of these was previously reported earlier this year in March, while the other is believed to be the recently announced *Titanfall*-based extraction shooter.

This latest round of cuts continues a troubling pattern for EA over recent years. Earlier in 2024, BioWare underwent restructuring that included reassigning developers to other projects and letting others go. In 2023, EA cut 50 positions at BioWare, alongside an undisclosed number at Codemasters. Additionally, a broader company-wide restructuring led to approximately 670 job losses, including roughly two dozen at Respawn.

Do You Want Respawn to Develop Titanfall 3?

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AnswerSee ResultsIn 2023, reports surfaced that Respawn had actively worked on *Titanfall 3* for about 10 months before pivoting resources toward *Apex Legends*. Mohammad Alavi, who served as narrative lead designer on the canceled project, revealed significant progress had been made during that period.

“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. We had new tech for it, multiple missions in development, and even a first playable build that was on par—if not slightly better—than previous entries. But it wasn’t revolutionary, and that’s the key thing,” Alavi explained.

Ultimately, the decision to cancel came down to internal challenges and shifting market trends. The multiplayer team struggled to evolve the mode into something sustainable beyond the initial thrill, and the rise of battle royale games like *PUBG* in 2017 changed everything.

“The multiplayer team was having a hell of a time trying to fix the multiplayer because, while a core group of fans loves it, most people play *Titanfall 2* multiplayer and think it’s great—but too intense. They burn out quickly,” Alavi said.

Respawn developers found themselves drawn to a battle royale concept built using *Titanfall 3* character classes, which sparked a major shift in direction. After a presentation on the sequel, the team decided to pivot entirely.

“We literally canceled Titanfall 3 ourselves because we were like, ‘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 recalled.

Although he admitted missing the opportunity to see *Titanfall 3* fully realized, Alavi acknowledged the decision was ultimately the right move for the studio. “That is a crazy cut. Such a crazy cut that EA didn’t even know about it for another six months until we had a prototype up and running that we could show them!”