The much anticipated debut game from Respawn Entertainment - the developer founded by the former bosses of Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward - will be a next-gen Xbox exclusive.
This backs up a CVG report in February, for which we were tipped of a major deal between EA and Microsoft to be announced at the next-gen Xbox reveal event. One of our sources suggested that Respawn Entertainment will make a surprise appearance at the event.
Microsoft will reveal its next-gen Xbox at a special event on May 21.
Kotaku says that Respawn's yet-to-be-revealed game is a "futuristic multiplayer-centric online shooter", described as a 'battle of Davids and Goliaths' and, crucially, will be always-online.
According to the report, "The Davids are heavily-armed foot soldiers. The Goliaths are the giant exosekeltons-Titans-that these soldiers can pilot. These Titans are big mech-style walkers that move with an agility not seen in games like Mechwarrior or Steel Battalions."
It adds, "To keep the action balanced, game maps limit the number of Titans that can be used in a skirmish. Weapon loadouts for the foot soldiers are designed to ensure that the characters on foot can take out the Titans if need be."
The game, it claims, is also in development for the current-generation Xbox 360, but due to the EA/Microsoft deal, will not be coming to Sony or Nintendo platforms.
In response to the report, Microsoft has said it doesn't comment on rumours and speculation.
Respawn Entertainment recently filed an application for the game trademark "Titan", possibly indicating the name of its debut game.
The studio has pledged to make an appearance at E3 2013 in Los Angeles in June, but one of the sources suggests it won't be offered in playable form until next year.
Respawn has been working on the top secret project since its formation in 2010, to be published by EA. While nothing more than the blurry teaser image pictured has been revealed, EA Games president Frank Gibeau has previously hinted that the game is a sci-fi shooter that will compete with the likes of Halo and Gears of War.
Comments
42 comments so far...
adison on 29 Apr '13 said:
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah.....................................................................................................................................................................................................
Barca Azul on 29 Apr '13 said:
Someone been reading my second post here earlier?
forums.computerandvideogames.com/viewtopic.php?t=148687
Alaann on 29 Apr '13 said:
doesnt sound to interesting going by that product describtion but will still follow it because of who is developing it shame I cant play it on the ps3/ps4 well atleast untill it goes multiplat so basically 6 months to a year if it looks really good I will get it for the nextbox,maybe it will be better when I get to see a trailer or gameplay,only a couple of weeks now till microsofts reveal and e3
Barry316 on 29 Apr '13 said:
Would seem a strange one if true, MS have Halo that's guaranteed to sell millions and the similar sounding Destiny will be multi format. Then the obvious CoD will sell millions. So they probably don't need another shooter, and the average Joe won't know it's from the old CoD team so that won't help much.
I thought they'd go for a Madden game as the exclusive, means bugger all here but it would sell loads in America.
BenThomasFoster on 29 Apr '13 said:
Hurray another new anualised military modern fps tacticool shooter. yawn
TheLastDodo on 29 Apr '13 said:
Good luck Respawn, you're going to need it if this is true.
At least it's EA Partners, EA can't shut em down when their XBox exclusive new IP doesn't topple CoD in it's first week of launch.
Looking forward to this, especially if it's coming to 360 but I don't envy Respawn one bit, it's like been caught between a rock, a hard place, lava, rabid wolves and Katie Price.
nefariousbig on 29 Apr '13 said:
So in other words, weapon loadouts will be a s**tload of rocket launchers and c4 and trip mines and other totally unbalanced nubbery that will completely ruin infantry combat. This is by the old COD studio after all...
Chris_Shanahan87 on 29 Apr '13 said:
Wow, that description of the game made me lose all interest. Lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice and I would have liked to have seen these guys try something new.
If Microsoft are going to go down the 'FPS console" route again then I have a feeling they are in for a rude awakening. The fad won't last much longer.
Ali_ on 29 Apr '13 said:
Yup. A futuristic FPS by the company that sucked the life out of the FPS is just what Xbox needs because nobody's ever done those before.
The Drunken Spy on 29 Apr '13 said:
Probably about as much as the PS4 needs Killzone 4. What's the issue with futuristic fps all of sudden? I'd certainly take them any day of the week over another bloody modern war shooter, unless it's Spec Ops 2: Crossed The Line.
MrPirtniw on 29 Apr '13 said:
Future setting? Giant robot exoskeletons? Now that's more like it!
Audest_Oggust on 29 Apr '13 said:
Where did you see the words "annualized," "military," "modern," or "fps?" Just jumping to conclusions?
diablomaster000 on 29 Apr '13 said:
Ea making a exclusive game is absolute BS they want all the money they can get.
flyfletch on 30 Apr '13 said:
Good god, will you people ever stop yapping!! (not all just the usual suspects). Nothing wrong with another exclusive game, especially if it turns out to be good. Which it could do, not one single person on here has seen the game in action.
gnokgnik on 30 Apr '13 said:
If true, Respawn lost me. I'm going for PS4! Period(.)
Ali_ on 30 Apr '13 said:
Except they already have Halo to fill this gap.
That none of them really work or catch on bar the big two? See Shadowrun, Brink, Dust 514, Blacklight, Timeshift, Singularity etc. Even the mighty Crysis failed to find a multiplayer audience on console so what hope does a mech shooter have, regardless of developer?
silversun_111 on 30 Apr '13 said:
Well we can now make out the name of the console, Xbox FPS.
Black Mantis on 30 Apr '13 said:
It'll be a shame if they don't have a SP campaign in this, as for me, CoD4 had one of the best FPS campaigns this gen.
LiamT on 30 Apr '13 said:
at least brink tried something different. i really enjoyed it on PC but my son was born about 2 months later and i never played it again. best teamwork in a FPS since bf2142 with good squads. i wish more devs had the balls to try something a bit radical and different.
paperywhiteboy on 30 Apr '13 said:
I'd add that DUST hasn't even been released yet, and that there at least they're trying something new. The intrinsic link between it and EVE is intriguing, and the free-to-play model might just give it the spur it needs for reasonably wide adoption.
illage2 on 30 Apr '13 said:
Not interesting at all.
Always online? Really ..... and EA is publishing it ..... doesn't anyone else see whats wrong here ......
vulcanraven01 on 30 Apr '13 said:
A strange one but interesting none the less.
Xbox pretty much has FPS covered with Halo, alongside several high-profile multi-format games.
Personally I do not see the need for another unless this game is coming out before the next Halo, and MS want a flag-ship FPS game in the mean time...
Either way, I'm looking forward to see what these guys can do.
They are after all mainly the people that made COD what is was before it was milked until the tits were dry by Activision.
If they can replicate previous form, and not forget about a proper campaign mode, then it could be a sleeper hit for next-gen.
As for these people saying "I'm already PS4, don't care", how on Earth can you decide what console to go with when the next Xbox hasn't even been officially announced yet.
Only reason I can think is because you're buying for the PlayStation brand name...
Ah well...kids these days... lol
DAEDALUS79 on 30 Apr '13 said:
Im keeping an eye on this simply because the original Call of Duty games were very good, before Activision realised how franchise was becoming.
sonic_uk on 30 Apr '13 said:
Vs Multiplayer - check.
Online only - check.
No sale - check.
LiamT on 30 Apr '13 said:
i played the demo and it was like going back 10 years. not impressed at all. its an interesting idea for sure, similar with defiance and has a grand idea
LiamT on 30 Apr '13 said:
we do know a few bits. PS4 will be similar CPU to xbox but thats it. xbox will have 8gb of slow ram, almost half of which is dedicated to kinekt. it will still use directx APIs bottlenecking the system. it will still have paid online yet loads of adverts. and there are rumours that the xbox will also have a lesser specced GPU but we just dont know.
of course MS might well blow us away but im not holding my breath. sony seems much more focussed on devs this time. i also prefer the sony exclusives much more.
maybe you just arent in the loop as much as some of us.... and kids? im 38, unless you were talking to my son?
MrPirtniw on 30 Apr '13 said:
So you know that for sure? Or are you basing that on one of the 3 billion rumours floating around cvg?
gnokgnik on 30 Apr '13 said:
At least we know our age, I'm 43, and maybe we also would love to stick with the Playstation brand, so what?
Unless MS have got hold of some extra terrestrial hardware I doubt they will do Sony and the PS4 any real harm when finally announcing the nextbox.
schubacca on 30 Apr '13 said:
Good snag by Microsoft
I look forward to seeing what ideas this game brings to the table
I hope that the zealots finally stop with this idea that MS is not about games tripe that I see so much of....
schubacca on 30 Apr '13 said:
What you think you know, and what you actually know are two different things
The 360 and the PS3 showed that what a system looks like on paper can mean little in the real world.
Until the games come out and are directly compared, I am going to withhold my judgement.
LiamT on 30 Apr '13 said:
in fairness i do say 'we dont know' a few times. but this time its the same basic architecture so we wont have those issues like we currently have. i am still waiting on MS to see what they have in store before i make a purchase (1 console is enough for me with the little time i have to play)
Nimron Tang on 30 Apr '13 said:
This
Perhaps some people prefer the exclusives or the way in which a particular console maker treats its customers or maybe they prefer the controller. There are many reasons why an individual might have already decided which console they will buy first. I really don't get on with the Xbox controller, I much prefer the Dualshock 3. If the next Playstation and Xbox don't implement always online and don't block pre-owned games I'll buy the Playstation on release day and buy the Xbox if and when it has some exclusives that I'm interested in.
Claiming it's because of brand loyalty or branding those who have already decided as "kids" does not strengthen your argument squire, quite the opposite in fact. For me it has nothing to do with brand loyalty and everything to do with the controller. Would you have written what you wrote if the person had said "I'm already Xbox, don't care"?
Metagen on 30 Apr '13 said:
Spot on.
For me it's based on the exclusives and the huge back catalogue that I imagine will become available as the streaming service gets up and running. This generation I decided to get the PS3 first and told myself that I would get the Xbox when something that interested me appeared on it and I had the money. This never occured, with the very few that I was genuinely interested in being played on a housemates Xbox and Mass Effect jumping ship.
While it is very early to make a judgement all I can say is that it would take a serious game-changer to sway my decision the other way, especially with MS's track record of quality control upon initial release. I expect a lot from both consoles this gen but for me it's all about the games and MS is going to have to do a hell of a lot more to standout gameswise for me as, in my opinion, they just can't compete with Sony's offerings.
Ramiro on 30 Apr '13 said:
and even with all of microsofts money they will manage to whore out the micro trans and dlc whoring xD yay EA and IW ....... I just hope its not the douches that help make BO2 story mode.
Jensonjet on 30 Apr '13 said:
On what information do you base your theory? I assume you're ignoring the success of the Battlefield, Call of Duty, FarCry and Bioshock franchises!?
It's ok to dislike a style of game, but to predict its demise based on a dislike is a little silly, don't you think? Sadly for you first-person shooters are extremely popular. Developers and publishers understand how much money can be made in a successful first-person shooter franchise and they're going to be around for the foreseeable future.
MrPirtniw on 30 Apr '13 said:
Rumours emerge concerning the new Xbox- CVG readers hate on it.
Potentially exclusive game being made my popular developer being made for the new Xbox- CVG readers hate on it.
Same sh!t different day...
Barry316 on 30 Apr '13 said:
So you'll be staying away from David Cage stories in future? Or is that same shiznit allowed?
leucocyte on 30 Apr '13 said:
microsoft must be footing a substantial amount of the development costs for complete exclusivity. from EA's perspective, the market share for shooters on PS3 isn't exactly to be sniffed at.. if true, i'd consider this quite a coup for MS, but the synopsis provided by the 'report' sounds sh*te. like transformers vs humans multiplayer... it might play great though. but killzone 3 already has mechs vs jetpacks..
Lord Farquar on 1 May '13 said:
I see the thread about this on the Respawn forums was removed fairly quickly.
HelloLadies on 1 May '13 said:
Woo!
Gameoholic007 on 1 May '13 said:
Lol! Your absolutely right. reguardless what the article is about, a lot of people here start hating something about it reguardless. Then, they start hating each other after that, its amazing, but at the same time pathetic.
tmulford on 1 May '13 said:
If this is true then we'll know about it 21st May as it will be front and centre in the console reveal. Much like SONY did with Destiny's PS3/4 exclusive content and DIablo III.