Respawn’s New Project Is An Original IP, Hiring Dev Team Now

Respawn Entertainment has grown considerably since its early day working on the first Titanfall game, with multiple franchises and releases under its belt. Its next game, or at least one of its next games, will be an original IP–its first since Titanfall launched back in 2014.

Though details on the project are scarce and it looks to be very early in development, several Respawn developers confirmed the game will be a new IP. The official job listing also uses this wording and mentions a “compact incubation team,” and the studio means it. Programmer Steven Kah Hien Wong added that only five people are on the project at the moment.

Respawn certainly has a lot on its plate with the continued development of Apex Legends as well as an expected Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sequel, and it also branched into VR with Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond last year.

The listing also explicitly states there will be no crunch or overtime work and that Respawn will support the candidate in “nurturing [their] life-work balance.” It doesn’t sound like Respawn expects dedicated producers to be working full-time on the project, with one responsibility being “self-as-producer” activity including tracking time spent on various tasks, but this could just be for its early stages.

The development team will “pioneer new ways to enable adventuring until the heat death of the universe,” whatever that means, and the team will still emphasize good-feeling gameplay. Respawn has primarily worked in first-person shooters thus far with the exception of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and the Titanfall games in particular are certainly known for buttery-smooth controls.

Though it has been more than four years since Titanfall 2 released and underperformed commercially, it doesn’t appear that has completely killed the chances of a sequel. According to Respawn’s parent company Electronic Arts, that choice rests with Respawn itself. Given the acclaim the second game received–both for its multiplayer and groundbreaking campaign–there’s still certainly a vocal fanbase waiting to play Titanfall 3.