EA's subscription-based services EA Access on Xbox and Origin Access on PC usually grant a trial and discounts for EA games to those who subscribe. However, Titanfall 2 won't be joining the program.
In a statement obtained by GameReactor, Respawn Entertainment confirmed that Titanfall 2 will not receive any form of discount, early access or trial on PC or Xbox One via EA's subscription services.
Respawn apparently offered no explanation for this, save to say that it "might" join EA and Origin Access at a later date, but not for the remainder of 2016 at least.
The publishing deal Respawn Entertainment has struck for Titanfall is a little out of the ordinary for EA, who usually develop their major titles entirely in-house. For EA, Respawn Entertainment is an independent second party studio, not unlike Remedy Entertainment who worked with Microsoft on Quantum Break.
From my perspective, it seems likely that EA and Respawn were unable to reach a compromise on how the discounts and early access would impact Respawn's bottom line for sales of the game. It seems unlikely that there's no policy in place to compensate second party developers through EA Access, given that Titanfall 1 and the remarkable puzzle game Unravel, from Coldwood Interactive, are both part of the program. Why was Respawn Entertainment happy to put Titanfall 1 through EA Access, but not Titanfall 2?
I feel that something should have been done between EA and Respawn to ensure EA and Origin Access subscribers didn't get short-changed, particularly when you acknowledge Titanfall 2 was, until today, issuing discounts for Access members. With reactions to Titanfall 2's recent tech test being mixed at best, this news could only serve to derail the hype train even further, at least with 'Access subscribers, many of whom likely supported the original game.
How do you feel about Titanfall 2 not hitting EA and Origin Access? Will it affect your decision to purchase Titanfall 2 if you're a subscriber? Let us know in the comments.
Titanfall 2 launches on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on October 28th.
