4 Bad Moves EA Made With Titanfall 2

Release Window

There’s no two ways about it, Titanfall 2’s release date was almost sending the game out to die as much as Rise of the Tomb Raider’s was last year. Though it’s fair to say that both Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 occupy different audiences, there’s still a small amount of overlap that will come as part of players not necessarily being able to afford or have the time for multiple FPS title. Unfortunately for Titanfall 2, it didn’t just have to compete with its fellow EA title.

Only one week after Titanfall 2 releases, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare hits the market. Even though it hasn’t had the best reception from fans for its futuristic setting, it’s a Call of Duty title, meaning it’s still going to sell a ton. Sandwiching Titanfall 2 between the juggernauts of Battlefield 1 and Infinite Warfare was a bad move. Especially when it occupies the same sort of space as the Activision title.

Beta’s Killing Hype

The original Titanfall had gathered quite a following among Xbox One fans as a fun multiplayer title. However, it seems that players were expecting something at least a little bit more substantial than that which they got in the beta tests. During the two weekends that Titanfall 2 had open betas, there was a general consensus among fans that it just wasn’t quite what they were expecting.

Though the full multiplayer experience is certainly something to be interested in if you were a fan of the original’s gameplay, Titanfall 2’s low pickup rate could be attributed to the underwhelming experience had in the betas. With plenty of multiplayer alternatives in the weeks surrounding and Battlefield 1’s beta reception being very positive, this further compounded the problem.

Lack of Marketing

Partially tied into the fact that it released a mere week after its juggernaut WWI counterpart, Titanfall 2 certainly didn’t seem like it had as much of a presence on TV commercials, YouTube ads, or in general. There was less of a buzz being made about the release of Respawn’s shooter than there was DICE’s. Not only did Battlefield 1 still seem to be the dominant game advertised prior to its release, but it continued to do so up until the game released.

Of course, advertising costs money and EA couldn’t afford huge expenditure on both titles. With that in mind, EA decided to turn their focus to what has the potential to be the Call of Duty killer judging by fan reception to their announcements. While this is entirely understandable from a business perspective, it also feels like something of a wasted opportunity. Had Titanfall 2 been released a little earlier or pushed into the beginning of next year, it would have had a much larger advertising budget and a stronger chance of dragging players from its competitors.

Server Issues

Once Titanfall 2 finally released to the public, its servers didn’t have the most stable of first days. Players were swamped with server errors and generally being unable to get into an online game. Though these players had already got it, the last thing a predominantly multiplayer title needs to be associated with its launch weekend is word of server issues.

Those who had yet to pick up the title would again have had the option between that and the ever-stable Battlefield multiplayer. Though this is something that would come down to the developers, EA’s contribution into server support possibly played some part in the disappointing multiplayer launch.