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Titanfall 2 On Steam More Popular Than Every Battlefield Game Combined
Thanks to a sudden re-release on Steam, Respawn's cult sci-fi shooter, Titanfall 2, has experienced a surge in popularity, even going so far as to surpass the entire Battlefield series combined on Valve's ubiquitous platform. When Titanfall 2 first released in October 2016, it was devoured by the competition. What made this particularly distressing was that the competition for the EA-published title came from another EA game, Battlefield 1, which released just one week earlier. Titanfall 2 innovated with its intelligent and unique single player story mode, as well as its unique and chaotic version of multiplayer madness.
In the years since Titanfall 2's unceremonious launch, the title has achieved a cult status thanks to its creative single player campaign, entertaining multiplayer, and tight controls that catered to hardcore purists of the FPS genre. The 2019 launch of the battle royale spin-off, Apex Legends, also boosted awareness and interest of Titanfall 2, with which Apex shares many gameplay tenets. Meanwhile, DICE's Battlefield series has stagnated. After a somewhat strong showing from Battlefield 1, WWII follow-up Battlefield V failed to impress and was riddled with bugs and glitches that hampered the experience, as well as a tacked-on battle royale mode that couldn't live up to its peers in the crowded genre.
This interesting dichotomy at the publisher came to a head when Titanfall 2 was suddenly released on Steam. Previously only available for PC on EA's Origin service, the re-release of the mech-based first person shooter proved extremely popular. In fact, based on information from Steam Database gathered on Reddit, Titanfall 2 is currently so popular, it's exceeded the concurrent player counts of every Battlefield game on the service combined.
It's been nearly four years since the initial launch of Titanfall 2, but the game feels like it's only grown in popularity. Meanwhile, the Battlefield series, despite receiving sequels and substantial DLC expansions, has only waned in the eyes of multiplayer-minded video game enthusiasts. Thanks to the re-release on Steam, Titanfall 2 has experienced an influx of new players who are taking a chance on the game's excellent multiplayer suite and experiencing the mesmerizing, story-driven campaign for the first time.
In an unlikely trajectory, Titanfall 2 is arguably more popular in 2020 than it was back in 2016. This is a testament to the tight shooting controls and strong technical foundation on which the game was built. Titanfall 2 didn't get the attention it deserved back in the day, but thanks to Apex Legends, continued support by developer Respawn, and now a surprise release on Steam, the game is finally being allowed to shine. EA is finally righting their past wrongs. With a little luck, this late success will allow EA to invest in a proper Titanfall 3 for next-gen consoles.
