Will Titanfall 2 Stand a Chance This Holiday Season?

Titanfall 2 is a brilliant game, but luck really hasn’t been on its side. The original Titanfall was loaded with hype. At the time, everyone was excited to see the brainchild from the geniuses who brought the games industry the legendary Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Then came the final product, an Xbox exclusive, multiplayer-only experience that proved solid for a time, but didn’t hold lasting appeal. Titanfall 2 tried to make things better. The game took loads of lessons learned from its original. This time around it was free of console exclusivity, featuring a built-in campaign, plus loads of new features and modes in the multiplayer. The campaign was a rare gem, showing a budding story of a new pilot and his killer robot. With clever level design and fast action, it was fun to run through, especially considering Titanfall 2’s campaign could’ve easily been a lazy version of the multiplayer experience. [caption id="attachment_90686" align="alignnone" width="800"] Look at this lovable guy![/caption] But as great as Titanfall 2 is, it will not survive the holiday season. During EA’s earning call, the news rolled in showing solid revenue on all fronts, except one game. EA only mentioned high review scores for Titanfall 2, but avoided talking specific sales numbers. Earlier than this, analysts lowers the sales expectations for Titanfall 2 from 9 million to 6 million units, making the acclaimed (but expensive) game an overall commercial failure. A series that is still finding its footing ultimately left in the shadows of the holiday season. And what could’ve caused its unfortunate loss? Titanfall 2’s release date. Unfortunately for Titanfall 2, it released between two heavy hitters, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and EA’s own Battlefield 1. Not only is Titanfall 2 competing with these, but also big AAA games like Civilization 6 and Dishonored 2. Despite the release date, it seems insane for the new entry to dive right into the busy fall season. Not every gamer has the money to buy every single new game that hits the market. Now what if we remove all of the other non-multiplayer shooters and just had Titanfall 2 compete with Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1? The results would remain the same. Battlefield 1 released a week earlier, with several high marks from reviewers. When this happened, many just went out and bought that, leaving Titanfall 2 out of the budget for the release next week, no matter what reviews said. Removing Battlefield 1 from the equation leaves Titanfall 2 competing with Infinite Warfare, which rakes up plenty of sales yearly. Just throwing in a remastered Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sweetened the deal for loyal fans. Around this time of the year, Call of Duty and Battlefield fans have their money ready to spend on the latest entry, leaving Titanfall in the dust. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ISYN1AshZY There are only so many hours in the day to spend on multiplayer shooters. In the end, it doesn’t matter if one’s in the past or futuristic. They’re similar enough where players are only going to have time and money for one to commit to. It sucks, especially since Titanfall 2 has done nothing wrong other than have a terrible release date. Its release window left it destined to be ignored by the masses. Titanfall 2 is incredible and it deserves to be in the top tier of shooters. It’s a multiplayer shooter about fighting giant robots! What could be better than that?! Despite Titanfall 2’s concept and selling point, it seems to be up to reviewers, writers, and the press to do EA’s job by trying to convince people to buy this game over other AAA releases. I don’t care if EA's making money, I just want my readers to play a game I think is rad. Hopefully, Titanfall 2 is able to build off this early buzz and become a high seller. The game is free of season pass and will be producing free DLC, maps, and weapons for its lifespan. This is almost unheard of in the current market. Players who want to stop having pricey content packs pushed in their faces, this is the sort of game that needs support. A game like this becoming a big hit will encourage publishers to follow in their model. [caption id="attachment_90687" align="alignnone" width="800"] Isn't it nice to not see any link to purchase new DLC?[/caption] I’m usually rather passionate if a game turns out disappointing me, now I find myself going crazy over a game failing to catch on. All I can really say is Titanfall 2 is worth your money. More so than Battlefield 1, and far more than Infinite Warfare. Encouraging consumer-friendly policies is always great, and this makes Titanfall 2 the type of sequel that deserves your trust, loyalty, and time.