Respawn Entertainment, the developer of hit games Titanfall and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is NOT working on Titanfall 3 at the moment... as much as they and their fans wish they were. The Titanfall franchise, the series that put Respawn on the map, combined the fast-paced FPS gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with the giant stompy robots of games like the Mechwarrior series, plus a hefty amount of wall-running. The success of Respawn's Battle Royale title, Apex Legends, has led them to put the development of Titanfall 3 on hold but when they do resume work on their iconic franchise, it'll owe a lot to the character designed and gameplay innovations tested out in Apex Legends.
Titanfall 1 released in 2014 and took the classic science fiction FPS formula and spiced it up with advanced wall-running mechanics and Titans, giant mechanized chassis that descended to the battlefield in dramatic airdrops called 'Titanfalls'. Titanfall 2, released in 2016, built on this strong multiplayer formula with a selection of specialized Titan models and a thrilling single player narrative about the bond between a rookie pilot and their self-aware Titan. Titanfall 2's campaign was filled with innovative mechanics – time travel, hostile death factories, environmental hacking – and a gang of mercenary antagonists, the "Apex Predators", with the insanity and bombast of professional wrestlers. In hindsight, this was probably where Respawn got the idea for Apex Legends...
Apex Legends, released out of the blue in February 2019, was Respawn Entertainment's attempt at melding the "Battle Royale" genre made popular by titles such as Fortnite with the personalized 'Hero' characters of multiplayer shooters like Overwatch. Set 30 years after the events of Titanfall 2, the once-antagonistic mercenary Kuben Blisk now the hosts and commentates for an interplanetary death match where mercenaries fight each other to the death on a map with a slowly contracting forcefield barrier.
The signature wall-running and robot gameplay of the Titanfall games are excluded in favor of bloody-minded competitors with colorful outfits and unique powers, ranging from the cheerfully robotic Pathfinder to the suspiciously ninja-like Wraith. Apex Legends' season packages have added new characters, hostile alien lifeforms, and hazards like lava and ice to the base Apex Legends. And while the developers of this title are deliberately eschewing giant robot action, many of the unique features in Apex Legends could easily be applied to a Titanfall threequel.
What To Expect From Titanfall 3 After Apex Legends
The colorful competitors in the Apex Legends tournament – war veterans, thrill-seekers, crazed killers, abandoned super-soldiers – suggest a powerful narrative for Titanfall 3: a story about weary veterans, Pilots and Sentient Titans alike, who were forged in battle and now struggle to adapt to a time of peace. The unique powers and cosmetics of Apex Legends characters could be adapted to the Titans of Titanfall 3, letting players customize their war machines with unique features while still giving each Titan model its own special flair.
The hostile alien lifeforms introduced in Apex Legends suggests another exciting addition: Titan-sized alien lifeforms that players could interact with and battle in epic, Godzilla-style brawls. A fourth, exciting, possibility: Apex Legends' large number of robotic or synthetic protagonists may be laying the groundwork for a Titanfall 3 where the Titan, not their Pilot, is the viewpoint for characters, letting players look at the world from an inhumanely human perspective.
Titanfall 3 at present is no more than a concept, a glimmer in the eyes of developers and fans alike (as far as we know). Respawn Entertainment however, has gone on record saying that Titanfall 3 will happen in the future. Whatever form Titanfall 3 does take on its far-future release, it's sure to introduce a swathe of new features inspired by Apex Legends while retaining the formula of wall-running and mechanized warfare iconic to the Titanfall franchise, much to the delight of players who enjoy stomping grunts with their giant robot's foot.