‘Titanfall’ might have an esports future

If you’re a fan of big, pilotable robots and first-person shooters but don’t know about upcoming sci-fi first-person shooter Titanfall, you’re missing out.

Last weekend, the Internet fell head over heels over the Respawn Entertainment’s new multiplayer title and its parkour-friendly world. Given the dizzying amount of hype orbiting the game, it should come as no surprise that Respawn Entertainment is potentially looking into making Titanfall an esport.

Just not yet.

For the time being, the team’s focus is just building a “really solid foundation.” In an interview with XBox’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, Respawn Entertainment explained:

“A lot of the games that have developed good esports features and the competitive community are ones that multiple iterations to get that done and to build in those things. So while that couldn’t be a priority for us here, we’re definitely listening to all of the feedback. We’re interested in what competitive players think when the game ships, and it’s definitely something we’ll look into, but not something that’s been our primary focus.”

The idea of Titanfall evolving into an esports juggernaut certainly isn’t far-fetched. The game allows for unprecedented stunts. like rappelling into a pilotable mech, that don’t appear in your run-of-the-mill shooter. But Titanfall still bears a surprising amount of resemblance to another hugely popular competitive shooter: Activision’s Call of Duty. It’s presumptuous to assume that’s been the intent all along. But certainly the sense of familiarity players will have with Titanfall may come in use when Respawn Entertainment opens it up to esports.