EA buys Respawn, developer of 'Titanfall' and new 'Star Wars' game
There is some movement in the video game development world that is about to get big.
EA (Electronic Arts) recently made the announcement that it plans to purchase Respawn Entertainment for $151 million in cash and an additional $164 million in long-term assets. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with Respawn taking over the spot of Visceral Games in EA's Worldwide Studios.
What is interesting to note is the timing of deal. It would be remembered that EA shut down Visceral Games. The video game studio was developing a "Star Wars" video game but following the shutdown, the game is currently being reworked from action-adventure game to something similar to the dynamics of another video game called "Battlefront," with a multiplayer feature and microtransactions for the game's profitability.
Nexon, a South Korean video game company, also offered to buy Respawn, but since the studio had initial funding through EA's Partners Program, it gave the right of first refusal which they used and outmatched the bid sent by Nexon.
Respawn was the brainchild of Jason West and Vince Zampella. Both came from another video game studio called Infinity Ward and created the video game "Call of Duty."
Respawn shot to fame with their game "Titanfall," which was a big hit, racking up sales of over four million copies on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It was a big milestone for Respawn, considering it was their first project as new video game studio as well as the title being one of the first ones to be carried by Microsoft's Xbox series.
Banking on the success of "Titanfall," Respawn quickly started working on its sequel, "Titanfall 2," which came out in October 2016 on Xbox, PlayStation 4 and PC. The second installment has been praised as a big improvement from its original iteration.
