Remember when Titanfall first released, and everyone was onboard the hype train? Anyone who had seen it was infatuated with the idea of the game; titans, parkour, fast paced battles, and all that with the fluidity of a Call of Duty game? The game went from millions of people searching for matches, to now, where there is like 900 people online world-wide. It’s safe to say that the hype has died down, and that any other form of excitement in the game has gone down with it.
Nobody plays Titanfall anymore. The maps which use to hold these large-scale battles between soldiers and gigantic robotic tanks have now nearly turned into ghost towns. Looking for a game in the matchmaking lobby takes forever, and a majority of those who have purchased the game are feeling a bit of a thing called buyer’s remorse.
It’s tough to exactly pinpoint what the cause of this drop off was. For example, it’s not exactly a very buggy game. In fact, it is a pretty well polished game even with all the maps and parkour you can pull off in its gameplay. Critique for the game was also pretty high when it first came out, but for anyone who has played it, knows it’s just not that fun, especially after a while. Well maybe it was a good time when you first got your hands on it, but after you worked out all those jitters it wasn’t fun.
Titanfall is missing something, and with EA still trying to support the game, it’s time to bring in some changes. If Titanfall stays the way it is, no one is going to play it no matter how big of a sale it goes on. Here are a couple of things they could do.
Boring Game… Bring in the Modding Community
At least on PC, this would be a huge way to draw players back. The modding community could do amazing things for Titanfall, as they would be able to add in new game modes, and really take advantage of the parkour elements in its gameplay. Also with the low variety of weapons found in the customization menus, modders could at least add in new guns, and Titan weaponry to give the players more choices.
Look at that old dinosaur of a game called Call of Duty 4. If anyone has that game for the PC, it’s still a hell of a good time to play, and that is because of the modding community. There are hide and seek game modes, along with parkour maps, races, and even a soccer mod where you play soccer on a giant field. The modding community spices things up in CoD 4, and because of that people still play it, along with major Youtubers and streamers who still base some of their content off of CoD 4 mods.
Crazy maps found in CoD 4 Mods
Think of some of those CoD 4 mods and put them into Titanfall. A hardcore parkour map in Titanfall where you can do all those crazy double jumps and wall runs? A survival map where you can unlock perks such as calling down a titan to survive hordes of monsters? A soccer match with huge Titans trying to kick the ball into the goal?
All those crazy game modes would bring the game back. Youtubers and streamers would hop on, showing themselves having fun on all these wonderful mods, and inspiring their viewers to buy the game. Older players would hear the news and jump back on to try all the new stuff that was not there once before, and some will also help create content since they know best of what the game needs.
Free to Play
This idea is a bit more of a drastic move, especially from such a large publisher like EA. Turning Titanfall into a free to play game would draw in millions of new players. The effects of this would also cause the older players to comeback once they realize there is traffic in the matchmaking lobbies once again. It would be a bold move, but it wouldn’t fail to bring any attention into the game.
What EA needs right now is a reason for players to play again, and it being free would be a huge one for players who don’t already own Titanfall. “Why not give it a try? It’s free” would be the attitude towards it, and with it already being a pretty well polished game, players would stay for the epic wall run kills and slight learning curve that is involved with it.
With the normal game being free, EA could still charge for DLC, and everything else that is incorporated with the game. They could even make different skins for Titans, and charge players for those as long as the skins are creative enough. There are plenty of different ways for EA to still try to make money with Titanfall, but they certainly won’t be able to with nobody caring about it.
It’s Not Over for Titanfall… At Least Not Yet
Titanfall isn’t that old yet, but the general attitude towards the game is already “Hey… remember Titanfall? Lol…”, and that isn’t ideal for something that’s only been out for a year. In fact old outdated sports games still get more recognition than Titanfall for example, it’s not good when I can usually find an online match quicker in FIFA 14 than I can in the game that was suppose to be a blockbuster hit.
Titanfall isn’t dead in the ground yet, at least it shouldn’t be. It just needs something to rekindle that spark between it and its players. There needs to be something that motivates us to want to play the game again, and that something needs to not be the leveling system it already has.
When EA made Battlefield 3 free for a couple of days, it might have worked because I have a much easier time finding a game on Battlefield 3, keeping in mind that the game is almost 4 years old. But seriously EA, when your game gets boring… there is only one place to call, the giant modding community.
Published: Jul 18, 2015 12:08 pm