(OPINION) Respawn is the MVP of the gen and the gold standard that AAA developers should strive for

Gaming
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As someone who adores Titanfall 2’s campaign and put over 150 hours into Apex. I truly believe Respawn is one of the best if not the best developer in the world. Why do I say this?

Respawn only started shipping games this console generation starting with Titanfall. Throughout the gen, they were purchased by EA for hundreds of millions of dollars (which EA probably made back already with APEX alone)

They shipped not 1…but FOUR GAMES this gen 3 of which were extremely high quality

They pretty much dominated the FPS scene with 2 different franchises

They showed that they can branch out with different franchises in different genres all together. Fallen Order was well received and overall a quality game and even though it wasn’t as critically well received as Titanfall and Apex it laid the groundwork for an inevitable sequel, showed that EA can do more with Star Wars than just Battlefront. The game also did mad numbers sales wise

Respawn basically is responsible for 3 franchises that undoubtedly have futures and EA will bank on in the next gen.

Respawn is easily the Crown Jewel of EA right now and have expanded into Vancouver

Vince Zampella has done such an amazing job that he’s basically been promoted to overseeing the entire Los Angeles EA division. Dude is a beast

Some people may argue guys like CDPR or Rockstar North but I consider quantity an important factor as well. These guys maybe deliver 1-2 big games per year. Respawn delivered 4 AAA games this generation. The turn around time is unreal for these guys.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, 343i and TC should both be at the same level as Respawn. This is the gold standard that any AAA developer should strive for. Not only because of their turn around but because they’ve shown they can branch into other genres and maintain quality.

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It’s really impressive what Respawn has been able to achieve. Today I had a look at the studios EA owns. I feel their future is bright, with an added Maxis studio, an added Respawn studio, that new Skate team, etc.

Hope EA gets back on track and deliver experiences I adore again. They were my favorite publisher in the early 00’s.

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I think EA really is trying to improve and have realized that having too many service based games would do more harm than good. Hope that Anthem gets the Realm Reborn treatment and Bioware is on the come back trail to making great RPG’s like they did with DA Inquisition.

EA is finally seeing the value in single player games again which is good.

Of course it could just be that Activision and Take Two are so bad that they make EA look tame in comparison lol

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Incredible take. I always wanted great things for the Respawn development team since some of the staff comes from the OG Infinity Ward team that made such great cod games. It’s the reason I knew Apex would be awesome and also have put countless hours into it.

Didn’t get a chance to play Fallen Order myself, was a bit hesitant to jump into another EA published Star Wars title after BF2, but heard great things about it. Looking forward to seeing what they have going into next gen and will root for their success

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I have mixed feelings about them: Titanfall is the best FPS for me but Titanfall 2 multiplayer was not as good, the campaign was amazing, I love the Star Wars game but absolutely hate Apex and finally, I feel sad about the lack of Titanfall 3, so, while they have a good quality, I wouldn’t call them MVP.

I am still interested in their future titles

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Its probably good that you haven’t played it yet because the game was somewhat…rough when it came out…should be a lot better now and you can probably get it for fairly cheap now. I think it’ll eventually hit EA Access too.

It definitely feels like they had to rush it out but even with that it turned out pretty great. Really laid the ground work for the sequel.

God that campaign was so fking good.

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Wondering if it’ll run at ultra settings on XSX will definitely look into buying it

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Titanfall and it’s sequel are so frickin good. Especially the first one, as I have fond memories of pouring countless hours into it when it launched on Xbox One in 2014.

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MS should never have let Respawn get away either …

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I would definately say CDPR as you can say respawn put out more games. However, a CDPR game is alot more meaty and deep then the style of game that respawn is putting out.

Im not saying saying that to disparage or discredit what respawn is doing but they are completely different style of games with different production values.

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Respawn is great, Titanfall 2 is easily the best singleplayer shooter this generation. J:FO was good, but rather short, I felt and didn’t have enough bosses. Also, I strongly believe outside the sports licenses, Respawn is singlehandedly carrying EA right now, artistically and critically I mean.

Honestly, CDPR made one great game, I would wait for CP2077 before calling them the Gold Standard. Also, they crunch hard as fuck. Although when it comes to pure pro-consumer ethos, no one represents it better than CDPR, that’s just a fact.

Here’s a gold standard.

Fromsoftware -

Created an entire genre of games, not a single bad game this entire generation (some might argue DS2 was average, but even that is revered for some aspects of it over others)

Strong sense of game direction through Hidetaka Miyazaki, bringing forth masterpieces like Bloodborne and Sekiro (he wasn’t involved in DS2, might be why it suffered a bit).

They’re highly efficient, with games every two to three years and all of em high quality in music, art direction, mechanical depth and never ending lore. They’re the epitome of quality AND quantity.

Also, they don’t crunch, which is extremely surprising to hear given how much of Japanese work culture has been notorious.

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Tbh, if there was one studio Xbox could have if it already wasn’t owned by a random ass corporation, it’d be Fromsoft. It’d also be that one be all end all Japanese investment, literally nothing else would be needed.

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I personally dislike the Souls series and my issue with From Software (they’re top tier no doubt) is that their games feel…kind of samey…

Obviously Sekiro isn’t a Souls game but it carries over a lot of the Souls mechanics but I think its From Software’s best game a long with Bloodborne.

I don’t think From is ever going to make as much of a drastic shift between their games as Respawn did with Titanfall and Apex to Fallen Order.

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I think Vince would of went with EA even if MS offered them a similar offer

Vince as promoted to oversee the entire LA division for EA, he would never have gotten that kind of promotion at Xbox

Also APEX being locked down to Xbox and PC, it wouldn’t never have gotten the success it has now by also being on PS4 and soon PS5/Switch.

It was basically more lucrative and better for the studio and Vince’s own career to go with EA

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I really like titanfall 1’s multiplayer, didn’t care too much for titanfall 2 multiplayer, the maps were pretty bad.

Campaign was cool.

Apex is nice if you’re into BR, after getting the 1000gs I haven’t been back myself.

And I honestly didn’t really care for star wars, I didn’t like the map or the combat, and all the jankiness, otherwise it did seem like it had incredible promise in a sequel.

I wouldn’t say I think they are the gold standard, but definitely competent :slight_smile:

(just my opinion, not stated as facts haha)

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Interesting. What did Sekiro carry over from Souls?

It’s a major departure on almost every single level. Sekiro is an action adventure, Dark Souls is an action rpg. Sekiro has no stamina, no builds, no character and weapon stats outside basic damage and posture increase, jump is actually integral to the gameplay, complete shift of focus from dodge to deflect. The only seemingly visible mechanic is losing half your experience and money on death like losing souls in the DS games. Outside that, they’re very different games.

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Respawn is definitely EA’s golden goose, that I can agree with. Theyve been really good this gen.

Though I raise you, IO interactive and Playground Games, and Insomniac as close competitors.

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I would agree about Playground (who I think is MS best studio bar none), and Insomniac. Look at the Sony launch window and tell me that 229M for Insomniac wasn’t bordering on highway robbery. Their quality and quantity of output is amazing

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I can’t say they are the model to strive for, they’ve certainly done well but to me their strength still lies in FPS. Fallen Order was good but there many in the industry that could do better. On the Fps front though i would say they might be the best. Titanfall 2 is probably the best fps I’ve played this gen. Always wished Microsoft had bought them and given them the HALO franchise cos i think they could have brought it back to form. That said i think OBSIDIAN has done quite well for Xbox and i hope the other studios do like wise.

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Sure but this was also their first game in the genre. You have to look at the circumstances plus they had to rush it out in 2019 because of Rise of Skywalker.

Look at the Coalition/Splash Damage. No one is going to flak them because Gears Tactics had a lot of bloat, people are praising Gears Tactics for being a quality game and because TC/SD did great for a first attempt into the genre, think about how much better the sequel will be. Same with the next Respawn Star Wars game.

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I have a lot more development studios ahead of Respawn for this generation overall but Respawn is excellent and im sure that we all can agree that Respawn is easily EA’s MVP and Gold Standard because well, who else would it be? LOL.

Joking aside, Respawn is excellent. Jedi Fallen Order was excellent and the Titanfall 2 single player campaign was great. Looking forward to hopefully Titanfall 3 and Jedi Fallen Order 2 on next gen hardware.