"I would not be surprised if we look back on Titanfall 2 as one of the best shooters of its time," says Chris of Titanfall 2 in his review. That's hardly faint praise—a cursory glance at aggregate site Metacritic suggests others share his point of view—yet its UK physical sales have been less than flattering, despite marketing, a multiplatform release, and its decision to sidestep season passes.
The fact that it's landed squarely between FPS juggernauts Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare may point to its faltering physical sales and, as Andy pointed out yesterday, a swathe of commenters on our review remark specifically about being torn between Titanfall 2 and its competition from a financial stance. Throw games like Dishonored 2 (out next week) and Watch Dogs 2 (two weeks from today) into the mix this side of Christmas and that picture gets complicated further still.
The big question, then, is: why launch Titanfall 2 now? It seems ludicrous that it's being compared to this year's war-torn instalments given their vast differences, therefore could it perhaps have slipped into next year? Apparently not, so says the game's producer.
Speaking to PlayStation Lifestyle, Respawn's Drew McCoy said that although he wasn't sure who came up with the prescribed launch date, there was no room for maneuver and that he doesn't tend to think about other games around release.
"I actually don’t know where the decision came from. I just know it was locked in a long time ago and there was no changing it," he says. "I’m not really worried about it. We tried not to [worry] really…When you care about what other games are doing, when they’re releasing [, you worry]. At the end of the day, we’re releasing a game that we’re happy with, and we enjoy playing, that we’re proud of.
"As long as we’re doing that, I think we’re gonna find an audience. It doesn’t really matter when it comes out. A good game gets noticed."
But when it comes down to affordability, it's not always that simple. While clearly impressed with Titanfall 2, Chris also worries we'll "remember it as an underground favourite rather than the hit it deserves to be." Time will tell whether or not this proves to be the case.
