Another One Bites the Dust: EA Acquires ReSpawn for $455m (Titanfall Developer)

[Madmick]

Electronic Arts buys Respawn for more than $400 million, new Titanfall in the works

Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment is now an EA studio: Electronic Arts announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire the company for $315 million, plus "additional variable cash consideration that is contingent upon achievement of certain performance milestones, relating to the development of future titles, through the end of calendar 2022," that could add up to another $140 million.

"Our longtime partnership is grounded in a shared desire to push the boundaries and deliver extraordinary and innovative new experiences for players around the world," EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement. "Together, we’ve brought this to life in the Titanfall franchise, and now with the Respawn team joining EA, we have exciting plans to accomplish even more amazing things in the future."

"We felt that now was the time to join an industry leader that brings the resources and support we need for long term success, while still keeping our culture and creative freedom. EA has been a great partner over the years with Titanfall and Titanfall 2, and we’re excited to combine our strengths. This is a great next step for Respawn, EA, and our players," Respawn CEO Vince Zampella said.

Zampella told VentureBeat that Respawn has "worked together [with EA] a long time from the inception of the studio," and that talk of an acquisition has come up previously. "The question was, where we are in the industry, how do we take the next step in making bigger, better games," he said. "We see the need for bigger resources to make bigger games."

Respawn was founded in 2010 by Zampella and Jason West, also the co-founders of Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward, and has released two games thus far, both of them Titanfall. Titanfall 2 fell short of expectations despite a strongly positive critical response, and there appeared to be uncertainty about the future of the series. But it appears to have bounced back from its slow start, and EA's announcement confirms that Respawn is working on "a new title in the Titanfall universe."

The announcement also confirms that Respawn is still working on its Star Wars game, which was announced in May 2016. This news comes just a few weeks after EA canceled Visceral Games's Star Wars project, codename "Ragtag," and shuttered the studio.

I'm kicking myself for purchasing Mass Effect: Andromeda. I feel guilty that I've contributed to this as recently as in the past 18 months.

I'm probably not going to purchase Battlefront 2 because of this (be strong, Madmick, be strong). It has to stop. Someone has to stop them. They just keep getting away with it!

 

[Lone Coyote]

FTC allows this kinds of M&A?

 

[JAEGERX]

Titanfall 2 was such an awesome game, great all around, lets just hope Titanfall 3 doesnt end up being a disaster because of EA

 

[Bob Gray]

For some reason I thought they already owned Respawn.

 

[erhnamdjinn]

For some reason I thought they already owned Respawn.

same here I thought they where like Dice a subsidary of EA

 

[PEB]

Not surprising given how much it cost to launch a new title. Most new game developers are going into mobile gaming an staying clear of the 50 million dollar or more budget mega game projects.

You take the money an spend 5 million of it producing a decent mobile game. Leave the mega game projects an risks that come with it to EA. EA will bleed it dry with 9 slightly different versions anyways.

 

[GhostZ06]

Titanfall 2 is awesome, but ill no longer be buying another game.

 

[fatlas]

Titanfall 2 was such an awesome game, great all around, lets just hope Titanfall 3 doesnt end up being a disaster because of EA

If Visceral Games and Dead Space 3 is anything to go by I'm sure everything will turn out fine in the en... Aaww I made myself sad again.

 

[SeefourDC]

^^^^ Representative gif of the situation.

 

[TuBB]

Build it up and sell high. RIP Respawn EA will kill that shit eventually.

 

[Madmick]

For some reason I thought they already owned Respawn.

Because they already published the Titanfall games.

That's what I liked. I understand all of the more mundane business challenges, and nobody is going to be better at that stuff (licensing, promotion, IP protection, accounting, corporate handshakes with platformers like Sony/Microsoft/Valve, etc.) than big, experienced, professional-culture companies like EA. But that's where I want it to end. It pretty much always works better with that model. Leave the game-making decisions to the game-makers, not the suits.

Build it up and sell high. RIP Respawn EA will kill that shit eventually.

Yeah, it's always a prelude to the annexed developer eventually being "absorbed" into the larger company (i.e. expiring and disappearing into the mob).

 

[Lovestorm]

 

[Hyperglide]

RIP. Too soon? Not when EA is involved.

Bullfrog, Maxis, BioWare, Visceral and now soon to be Respawn.

 

[PEB]

I bet the developers do like Lavin did at Irrational Games an focus on mobile games an smaller titles.

"When Irrational first closed in 2014, Levine explained that the decision was made so he could focus on something smaller in scope. “I'll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavour at Take-Two," he said at the time."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...k-studio-irrational-games-renamed-ghost-story

 

[Orgasmo]

EA is like the fucking Walmart of video games, swallowing up everything then churns out garbage.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Someone should update this and change Bioware to Respawn, and add a Bioware corpse to the pile.

 

[Shoemaker]

Because they already published the Titanfall games.

That's what I liked. I understand all of the more mundane business challenges, and nobody is going to be better at that stuff (licensing, promotion, IP protection, accounting, corporate handshakes with platformers like Sony/Microsoft/Valve, etc.) than big, experienced, professional-culture companies like EA. But that's where I want it to end. It pretty much always works better with that model. Leave the game-making decisions to the game-makers, not the suits.

What he said.

 

[cmw43]

RIP. Too soon? Not when EA is involved.

Bullfrog, Maxis, BioWare, Visceral and now soon to be Respawn.

That list of former great studios is sad.

 

[Rod1]

RIP. Too soon? Not when EA is involved.

Bullfrog, Maxis, BioWare, Visceral and now soon to be Respawn.

Dragon Age 3 was such a great game, and while people hated on 2 i liked the storyline, i just think the issue was that it was called a sequel when it was more like a spinoff.

 

[bdreason]

I just watched a video on the BF2 P2W model. Apparently completing every achievement in the game will unlock like 1% of the content. To unlock the rest requires grinding over 10m credits or spending over $4,000. If you grind to unlock every hero and card, it will take something like 600 hours, if you're lucky.

I love Star Wars, but I won't support a game with that business model.