Titanfall Fans Mourn as Extraction Shooter Gets Canceled: Is This the End for Titanfall 3?

Fans of *Titanfall* are grappling with the latest wave of disappointment following reports that EA has canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment, while also laying off several team members across its incubation, Apex Legends, Star Wars: Jedi, and EA Experience teams.

Bloomberg revealed that the now-canceled title, internally known as R7, was an extraction shooter set in the *Titanfall* universe. While this isn’t the long-awaited *Titanfall 3* sequel many fans have been hoping for since 2016, the news still stings—especially considering how long it’s been since *Titanfall 2* launched nearly a decade ago.

"I just fell to my knees at Walmart," said one player emotionally reacting to the news, while another simply wrote: "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE."

"How many more times will this happen before they finally give it up and leave us to our sorrow?" lamented another devastated fan.

However, not all reactions were negative. Some fans believe that canceling a *Titanfall*-branded extraction shooter might actually be better for the franchise in the long run.

"Best thing that could've happened as far as the continued existence of this franchise is concerned," one Redditor posited. "A Titanfall extraction shooter would probably flop and the c-suite executives would say 'see, the people just don't like Titanfall anymore,' instead of the obvious reason being nobody asked for a Titanfall XTS."

"I’m fine with this one being canceled," another user added, followed by: "Extraction shooter lmao. Good riddance."

"So sick and tired of 'extraction shooters'. They're so formulaic and boring. I don't want to loot a bunch of useless shit and camp in an attic or sit in a bush for 20 minutes or risk getting shot moving through big open fields. Give me quick matches, wallrunning, and titans blastin'," expressed a frustrated fan.

"Got sad. Read extraction shooter. Was literally okay," summarized someone else succinctly.

Approximately 100 roles were affected at Respawn, including development, publishing, and QA staff working on *Apex Legends*, along with smaller groups from the *Jedi* team and two canceled incubation projects—one of which was previously reported back in March, and the other believed to be the now-cancelled *Titanfall* extraction game.

These layoffs continue a troubling trend at EA over the past few years. Earlier this year, BioWare underwent restructuring, moving developers to other projects and letting go of others. In 2023, EA cut 50 jobs at BioWare, and an unknown number at Codemasters. Then in 2024, a broader company-wide reorganization led to 670 employees laid off, including around two dozen workers at Respawn.

Do You Want Respawn to Develop Titanfall 3?

Yes, Titanfall needs a proper sequelNo, Titanfall's time is overIt depends (let us know why in the comments)

AnswerSee ResultsIn 2023, it came to light that Respawn had actively worked on *Titanfall 3* for about 10 months before ultimately shelving it in favor of focusing on *Apex Legends*.

Mohammad Alavi, who served as narrative lead designer on *Titanfall 3* before its cancellation, shared insights into the project during a conversation with The Burnettwork. He explained that significant progress had already been made before the decision to pivot.

“After *Titanfall 2* launched, we said, ‘Okay, we’re gonna make *Titanfall 3*,’ and we worked on it for about 10 months—in earnest. We had new tech, multiple missions in development, and even a first playable build that was shaping up to be just as good, if not better than what we’d done before. But not revolutionary—that was the key difference.

We felt decent about the direction, but it didn’t spark the same level of excitement as *Titanfall 2* did when we knew we were making something truly groundbreaking.”

So what caused the shift? According to Alavi, the multiplayer team struggled to create a mode that wouldn’t burn players out quickly, especially in the wake of PUBG’s explosive success in 2017.

“The multiplayer team was having a hell of a time trying to fix the multiplayer experience. While hardcore fans love it, most players find *Titanfall 2*’s multiplayer too intense—it’s cranked up to 11—and they tend to burn out after a short while.

We were trying to fix that between *Titanfall 1* and *2*, and again between *Titanfall 2* and *3*. The team was really struggling.

Then PUBG came out.”

Developers found themselves more excited playing a Battle Royale map using *Titanfall 3* classes than engaging with the traditional multiplayer modes they were building. That realization led to a bold decision: abandon *Titanfall 3* and fully commit to creating a Battle Royale experience that could capture a wider audience.

“At the time, I had just become the narrative lead designer on *Titanfall 3*. I had pitched the full story and game concept with Manny Hagopian. We gave a big presentation, then went on break. When we came back, we realized we needed to pivot—we needed to make something else instead.

We canceled *Titanfall 3* ourselves because we saw an opportunity to create something clearly amazing. Don’t get me wrong—I’ll always miss getting to make another *Titanfall* game. It’s a huge part of my career. But looking back, it was the right call.

In fact, EA didn’t even know about the change for six months until we had a working prototype ready to show them!”