Fans of Titanfall were left in shock and disappointment upon learning that EA has canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment, alongside laying off numerous employees across its incubation, Apex Legends, Star Wars: Jedi, and EA Experience teams. The project, codenamed R7, was revealed by Bloomberg to be an extraction shooter set within the Titanfall universe. Although not the Titanfall 3 sequel that fans have eagerly awaited, the cancellation has reignited the longing for a follow-up to the beloved Titanfall 2, which remains without a sequel nearly a decade later.

"I just fell to my knees at Walmart," said one devastated player, while another expressed their frustration with a simple wrote: "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE."

However, not all reactions were negative. Some fans believe that canceling an extraction shooter might have saved the franchise from a potentially disastrous release. "Best thing that could've happened as far as the continued existence of this franchise is concerned," posited a user on Reddit. They argued that a Titanfall extraction shooter might have flopped, leading executives to wrongly conclude that the fanbase had moved on from the series. "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," they explained.

Others echoed this sentiment, with one saying, "I’m fine with this one being canceled," responded someone else, followed by: "Extraction shooter lmao. Good riddance." Another fan expressed their frustration with the genre, stating, "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 blasting," suggested this passionate fan.

"Got sad. Read extraction shooter. Was literally okay," summarized another, indicating a mixed reaction to the news.

The layoffs at Respawn affected approximately 100 jobs, impacting developers, publishers, and QA workers on Apex Legends, as well as smaller teams working on the Star Wars: Jedi series and two canceled incubation projects, including the extraction shooter. This follows a series of layoffs at EA over recent years, including restructuring at BioWare, which saw developers moved to other projects and others laid off. In 2023, EA eliminated 50 jobs at BioWare and an unknown number more at Codemasters. In 2024, a larger restructuring led to 670 workers being laid off company-wide, including around two dozen workers at Respawn.

In 2023, it was revealed that Respawn Entertainment had been working on Titanfall 3 "in earnest" for 10 months before shifting focus to Apex Legends. Mohammad Alavi, who became the narrative lead designer on Titanfall 3 before its cancellation, shared insights with The Burnettwork about the development process. "Titanfall 2 came out, did what it did, and we were like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna make Titanfall 3,’ and we worked on Titanfall 3 for about 10 months, right? In earnest, right?" Alavi explained.

He noted that significant progress had been made, including new technology and multiple missions. "We had new tech for it, we had multiple missions going, we had a first playable, which was on par to be just as good if not better than whatever we had before, right? But I’ll make this clear: incrementally better, it wasn’t revolutionary. And that’s the key thing, right?" Alavi emphasized the team's satisfaction with the project but acknowledged it didn't feel as groundbreaking as Titanfall 2.

The decision to pivot from Titanfall 3 was influenced by challenges in the multiplayer component and the rise of the Battle Royale genre, particularly with the success of PUBG in 2017. "The multiplayer team was having a hell of a time trying to fix the multiplayer, because a lot of people love the multiplayer. People love Titanfall 2 multiplayer," Alavi said. However, he pointed out that the appeal was limited to a niche audience, and the intensity of the gameplay led to quick burnout among players.

The shift to Apex Legends was driven by the team's enthusiasm for experimenting with a Battle Royale format using Titanfall 3 classes. "And then PUBG came out," Alavi recalled, noting the impact of the new genre on their decision-making process. The team ultimately chose to cancel Titanfall 3 in favor of creating what would become Apex Legends, a decision that Alavi described as difficult but necessary. "We literally canceled Titanfall 3 ourselves ’cause we were like, ‘We can make this game, and it’s going to be Titanfall 2 plus a little bit better, or we can make this thing, which is clearly amazing.’"

Alavi expressed a personal attachment to the Titanfall series, saying, "And don’t get me wrong, I will always miss having another Titanfall. I love that game. Titanfall 2 is my most crowning achievement, but it was the right call. That is a crazy cut. Such a crazy cut that EA didn’t even know about it for another six months until we had a prototype up and running that we could show them!"