The long-awaited first game from Respawn Entertainment—the studio helmed by the creators of Call of Duty—will be exclusive to the next-gen Xbox, according to two unrelated sources familiar with the game. One of our sources indicates that there will also be an Xbox 360 version, but no versions for rival PlayStation and Nintendo consoles.
Oh, you didn't think the console wars were over, did you?
The new game from Respawn is a futuristic multiplayer-centric online shooter, one of our sources says. The source describes the game as a battle of Davids and Goliaths. The Davids are heavily-armed foot soldiers. The Goliaths are the giant exosekeltons—Titans—that these soldiers can pilot. These Titans are big mech-style walkers that move with an agility not seen in games like Mechwarrior or Steel Battalions.
While the details of the game came to us from one source—a source who is in a good position to know what the deal is with Respawn's game—their assertion that the game is destined only for Microsoft console hardware was consistent with information another source gave us earlier this month. That other source had also told us that Respawn's game would only be for the Xbox brand. It is possible that the game could be a timed exclusive, but neither source indicated that was the case.
An Xbox-only Respawn game would be a coup for Microsoft and a fascinating twist to a number of significant sagas. It has implications for publisher EA's rivalry with Call of Duty publisher Activision; for Microsoft's competition with Sony and, less directly with Nintendo; as well as for the ongoing debate about always-online gaming. Two sources have told us that this new game is, in fact, always-online.
I wonder how Activision feels about all this, they're precious COD no longer the Apple of MS' eye. lol