Respawn Entertainment just launched Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, but what’s on tap for the studio next? The team is continuing to support Apex Legends, developing a Star Wars FPS, and assisting with a Star Wars strategy game. Beyond that, there is “something new” brewing.
Titanfall director Steve Fukuda is developing a new project inside Respawn, according to co-founder Vince Zampella. He told Axios that Fukuda is in charge of a “very small” team, described as a “skunkworks” team, inside Respawn that is pushing ahead on… something.
“The mission is to find the fun in something new,” Zampella said. He said it’s not a new Titanfall game, though the company would love to make Titanfall 3 someday.
It’s not uncommon in game development for studios to form smaller teams inside the larger structure to tinker and experiment with ideas before devoting more time and resources. It seems that is what Fukuda’s team is up to right now.
Beyond his responsibilities at Respawn, Zampella is leading the charge on the Battlefield series alongside former Call of Duty executive Byron Beede. Zampella reportedly told Axios that people should not think about Battlefield and Call of Duty as competitors.
Battlefield has “specialness around the squad play” and what he described as “only-in-Battlefield moments” that help set the franchise apart from Call of Duty, Zampella said.
EA has big, bold plans for the future of Battlefield, but Zampella wasn’t willing to get into specifics at this point. “I can’t really say too much, just because we’re not really talking about it yet, but there’s a lot that we can do there,” Zampella said.
Respawn’s latest, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, is getting rave reviews from critics. However, the PC edition has been bogged down by bugs and other issues that Respawn continues to address.
