A tipster with a fairly solid track record has suggested that Titanfall is up and running on PlayStation 4 and is about to go multiplatform.
The exact nature of EA’s deal with Microsoft is somewhat of a mystery and even took Respawn by surprise, they found out about the deal late into production. I would expect that Respawn had at least started on a PS4 version before the exclusivity deal was in place so there is no reason why they could not continue development on that build.
However, Microsoft paid for exclusivity, and no doubt paid a very large amount of money for it, so how could the game come to PlayStation 4? I doubt they would got for a timed exclusive with a game this big so what other option could there be?
EA want to make money, that is a fact, and they would only agree to an exclusivity deal if the lump sum from Microsoft plus sales of the game on the Xbox consoles would at least equal the sums of cash generated if the game was multiplatform. Xbox One is now trailing behind PlayStation 4 by roughly two million units and sales of Titanfall have been great, but not fantastic.
Now this is pure speculation on my part, but if I were EA I would have had a clause built in to exclusivity contract which states that at least X amount of units must be sold on the Xbox formats to guarantee a profit on the game. If that number is not reached, EA would be able to activate the clause which allows them to release the game six months later on PlayStation, perhaps at the expense of paying back some of the Microsoft money.
That way if the Xbox sales don’t add up, EA can still make a profit, it’s a win-win situation for the company. Microsoft would have a hard time disagreeing to such a clause because they want to appear to be the best selling console. If they did not agree to the clause then it would have suggested they were uncertain about the sales of Xbox One and EA would have chucked the deal in the bin.
As I said, that is complete speculation on my part but if I were broking the deal, that’s what I would have done.
“Sony also used it’s own metrics in a meeting with EA last week and showed them what they would have sold on the PS3 and PS4,” said another noted tipster last month. “The money EA took from MS doesn’t even begin to cover it. The EA guys went over the math and agreed.”
Titanfall is almost certainly up and running on PlayStation 4, whether or not it gets released will be a matter for the lawyers and accountants.
MrYd
All I’m saying is if a PS4 version of a certain other very popular game ever gets announced, a PS4 version of Titanfall suddenly becomes a lot more likely. Because, er, reasons. Something from a couple of months back that nobody seems to have made any big deal out of.
It went from “very unlikely” to “a vague possibility” a couple of months back, and might just become “just as likely as not” should something else be announced, possibly at e3 next month.
Could Sony announce it then? Everyone seems to agree they completely “won” e3 last year. This year is going to be all the interesting games (and presumably a bit about ridiculous headgear to make you look like a Twat From the Future). A good handful of big games announced, and a “By the way. Titanfall” would pretty much win it again for them.
double-o-dave
Maybe they’ve found some kind of loophole. I think I remember not long ago mentioning how I think it’s weird as a while back there was news of it coming to the Mac. That tells me it’s not ‘exclusive’ as Apple & Microsoft (Xbox & PC) will have the game so it’s more like Microsoft tried to directly block Sony from having the game which I’d deem as anticompetitive. Admittingly, I have no idea what I’m talking about here & probably wrong. It’s also worded badly, but I know what I mean :)
hazelam
if it was a story based game, like say Mass Effect, i could see a PS4 version down the road a bit, once again, like Mass Effect.
but apparently the story in this is kinda flimsy, little more than quick briefings before half dozen or so story mission.
so i can’t see the first one getting a PS4 release in future.
but i don’t think it’ll be long before they announce a sequel.
even if they don’t intend to annualise it from the start.
Tuffcub
There is actually one other bit of evidence that strongly suggests to me the game may make it to PS4. I’m not going to to say what it is, as it’s more of “what it isnt”. But it isnt, in very obvious places.
double-o-dave
“I’m not going to to say what it is, as it’s more of “what it isnt”. But it isnt, in very obvious places.”
You’ve just made me feel like I’ve read one of those riddles they used to have on the back of match boxes. Even more puzzling, is I think I understand what you mean.
Tuffcub
OK.. pure theoretical specualtion but..
Big sites go to previews, sign NDAs which prevent them talking about the game. Small ones dont get invited, no NDA.
Small sites reporting this rumour, loads of em. Big ones – IGN, VG247, CVG etc.. are not.
And VG247 wil print any old rubbish so there’s a reason they are avoiding this one.
double-o-dave
You have a point. Although it’s a rumour, it’s potentially a ‘big’ rumour.
You mind you don’t get followed home from work!
Andrewww
I’m still not too excited about the game. But, even the rumour is hurting MS quite badly, I would expect.
double-o-dave
Me neither. Just finding the story curious.
Andrewww
So do I. Thanks for your sensible comment. :o)
To be honest, I expected the usual ‘and why do you read and comment here?’ by someone who got difficulties accepting there’s people in the world who don’t share their views…
Nate
That’s the beauty of TSA, trolls are quickly rounded up and sent to “Education Centres”.
Yorozuya
It would be a different story if Thesixthaxis had more members. The reason why you see so much crap on Ign, Eurogamer, Gametrailers and Destructoid just shows.
Foxhound_Solid
Even if it drops on PS4, I still won’t buy it. My bro is also a playstationist but also has a high end PC. Having seen it running, without a solid campaign with coop. It bores. Fast!
Starman
So the consensus on here is it would be a huge coup but hardly anyone would buy it. I think there will be a GoTy edition on PS4 once all the dlc has been released. Maybe a exclusivity deal like Bethesda had with skyrim dlc.
justerthought
Excellent article. MS pay to deny. Sony pay to create. But as stated here, devs need to make a profit. It all depends how much of a hit MS is prepared to take in order to try and get back some market share. Even if Titanfall does not have the opt out clause due to EA believing the MS hype before the consoles were released, you can bet all games from now on will because devs can see the huge PS4 market share due to its gaming superiority. It makes no sense to lock down your game to a small user base on a console that cannot run it properly and show off your work to generate more sales.
To be honest, any dev that takes the corrupt MS bribe is blacklisted for me, because they are damaging the game industry by hurting gamers with a situation where you have to accept second best in order to play a game. Such behaviour causes apathy among gamers, killing the console gaming industry. Hopefully the devs have good accountants and lawyers to steer them them away from MS ‘pay to deny’ corruption. Sony’s version of exclusivity is morally sound because they ‘pay to create’. They own the 1st party studios and play the wages to fund game development. The games would not get made without Sony funding.
JesseDeya
I played the PC beta and tired of the gameplay fairly quickly, but I’d probably buy it on PS4 just to prove a point :)