Titanfall creator explains lack of single player

Titanfall is a multiplayer-only experience. Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella told GamesIndustry International that keeping the focus on multiplayer battles was a deliberate response to player habits and studio size.

Respawn comprises about 60 developers, and devoting months of their work to single-player missions most players blow through in minutes just doesn't make sense, Zampella said.

"And how many people finish the single-player game? It's a small percentage. It's like, everyone plays through the first level, but 5 percent of people finish the game," he said. "Really, you split the team. They're two different games. They're balanced differently, they're scoped differently. But people spend hundreds of hours in the multiplayer experience versus as little time as possible rushing to the end [in single-player]. So why do all the resources go there? To us it made sense to put it here. Now everybody sees all those resources, and multiplayer is better. For us it made sense."

The franchise that Zampella helped create at Infinity Ward looks ready to continue with both a cinematic, expensive campaign and expansive multiplayer in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Zampella doesn't see his new game as a direct competitor.

"Honestly, we're not shipping the same time as them," Zampella said. "We're going for something different. We're not gunning for Call of Duty. We're doing our thing. The important thing is to make sure what we're doing is fun. I'm OK with Call of Duty being big. I helped create it, so I'm proud to see it's something so big that it goes beyond me."

Here's that E3 debut video, in case you missed it.