The first-person shooter market has been dominated by the same names for a good few decades now.Halo,Call of Duty, andBattlefieldare among the first games that spring to mind when gamers think of the first-person shooter genre, but that hasn’t stopped other developers from trying to make a name for themselves in the same market. While countless developers fail to gain recognition,Respawn Entertainmenthas managed to stand out from the crowd, and grow exponentially.
Founded byex-Infinity Ward devsthat played a large role in creatingCall of Duty, Respawn Entertainment may be a fairly new game development studio, but it’s had skin in the game for quite some time. It’s rare that a studio’s first game hits the mainstream, butTitanfallmanaged to do exactly that, and then some. Today, after aTitanfallsequel, a battle royale, andStar Warsgame, Respawn Entertainment is getting poised to take over the industry like never before, with at least four games currently in development.
RELATED:Respawn Entertainment Harassment Explained
Respawn’s In-Progress Star Wars Projects
2019 was a pretty massive year for Respawn Entertainment. At the beginning of the year, Respawn released itsTitanfallbattle royale spinoff,Apex Legends, a game that managed to do the impossible by givingFortnitea run for its money. Then, towards the end of the year, Respawn released its long-awaitedStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a third-person action game heavily inspired byFromSoftware’sDarkSoulsseries, taking place five years afterRevenge of the Sith.
Despite some lackluster marketing,Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderbecame a critical and commercial hit, with audiences praising the game’s higher level of difficulty, the game’s complex and rewarding combat mechanics, and its overall plot and performances. This year,Respawn Entertainmentfinally confirmed that it’s currently working on a direct sequel titledStar Wars Jedi: Survivor.
While a sequel was heavily rumored for quite some time, Respawn’s official confirmation came in January of this year, with a title reveal and first trailer debuting in May. Though the trailer doesn’t reveal too much, it does give fans their first look at an older Cal Kestis as he fights off a red lightsaber-wielding foe, and stares at a Bacta Tank occupied by an unknown character. Virtually no details aboutJedi: Survivorhave been released yet, only that it’sset five years after the events ofStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Presumably, the sequel will retain most of the gameplay mechanics seen in its predecessor, albeit with some new features thrown in, with a possible feature being the use of a blaster, teased by the Hasbro Cal Kestis figure.
Along withStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, Respawn Entertainment is also working on another twoStar Warstitles for Lucasfilm Games. Also announced back in January of this year, Respawn is working on a brand new first-person shooter set in theStar Warsuniverse. No details have been given yet, but the game seems to be in safe hands, with Peter Hirschmann at the helm. A LucasArts veteran, Hirschmann worked onthe originalStar Wars: Battlefrontgames, andThe Force Unleashed, along with other popular FPS franchises likeMedal of Honor. Hirschmann’s expertise in both the FPS genre and theStar Warslicense make him the perfect choice to lead this project.
Respawn Entertainment is also currently assisting with anotherStar Warstitle, this time a strategy game. While Bit Reactor is taking the lead developer role in this project, Respawn is apparently helping on the title, and it’ll eventually be the studio that publishes the game. While thisStar Warsstrategy gameis Bit Reactor’s first title, fans shouldn’t be too worried, as the studio is made up of old Firaxis developers, who have previously worked onXCOMandCivilization. With Respawn’s seal of quality, thisStar Warsstrategy title could end up filling a pretty sizable niche in the current gaming market.
RELATED:Releasing Star Wars Games Every Six Months May Not be A Good Idea
Every Other Respawn Project Currently In Development
As a fairly large developer with several studios across North America, Respawn Entertainment also has plenty of other projects on the go that don’t come from a galaxy far, far away. One of the developer’s biggest projects is stillApex Legends, its ongoing live-service battle royale. Though it released in 2019,Apex Legends' development is never done, as is the case with any successful live-service title. Respawn is still hard at work on adding new maps, weapons, Legends, game modes, and cosmetics, with its entire Vancouver studio focused solely onApex Legends' continual development.
Back in July of this year, Respawn also indirectly announced that it was working on a brand new single-player game set inApex Legends' universe. Discovered via some job listings, this new project is described as an “Apexuniverse FPS incubation title,” with express mentions that the project will be single-player focused. Despite being the origin ofApex Legendsand being the same universe, it’s unlikely that this single-player project isa long sought-afterTitanfallsequel, since the studio has reportedly left that part of the franchise behind for now.
Just a few months before those job listings surfaced, a report from Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb suggested that Respawn was working on a brand new single-player title, set in a “unique universe.” It’s currently unclear whether thisApexsingle-player spinoffis the same single-player project, or whether that’s an altogether new IP thatRespawn Entertainmentjust hasn’t announced yet.
