My first few thoughts are

• this is probably good for Titanfall in the future as EA probably won't launch it against Battlefield again
• Probably good for Respawn employees as TF 2 didn't sell super well, so I assume this saves their jobs. Sounds like employees may get stock, so there's a payday too.
• Part of me wonders if EA purposely hamstrung TF 2's launch to put Respawn in a weak position so they'd be forced to sell. Betheseda is alleged to have done this to Arkane and Human Head
• I wonder if EA is going to roll out their own version of the Call of Duty rotation. But instead of having multiple teams release their own CoD games every two years, they'll do it with shooter IPs. I.e. Battlefield, Titanfall, Battlefield, Tianfall etc.

as for Titanfall 3 the press release strongly hints it

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171109006677/en/EA-Acquire-Respawn-Entertainment

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) announced today an agreement to acquire Respawn Entertainment, LLC, a leading independent game development studio and creators of AAA shooter and action games including the critically-acclaimed Titanfall™ franchise. Respawn brings to EA the proven leadership and studio talent behind Titanfall and Titanfall 2, two of the most highly-rated shooter titles in the last five years. The acquisition builds on a successful publishing partnership between Respawn and EA, with multiple projects currently in development – a new title in the Titanfall franchise, a game set in the Star Wars™universe and a VR gaming experience.

EDIT: hat tip @cmblasko

Schreier's Implication being that Visceral's closure might have been deemed necessary by EA's bean counters in order to be able to afford keeping the Titanfall IP under the EA umbrella.

EDIT: Vince Zampella on the decision to sell

http://www.respawn.com/combine

...While it wasn’t necessary, going with EA made a lot of sense. With Titanfall and Star Wars, EA has been a great development partner that supports us and doesn’t interfere with our process for making games or studio culture. EA will provide us with more resources, access to new technologies, and expertise that we can tap into to that will help us make better games, and Respawn will retain the same creative freedom and culture we’ve always had. We’ve been talking closely with the leadership at EA and we share their values and vision for the future of being a developer-focused company that puts the players first...

Sweet well now we can go ahead put their date of death 5 years from now. I'll let the engraver know so they can get the tombstone ready.

Oh, I didn't realize it was just a publishing deal relationship before. Thought they already owned them.

Still shitty that they'd release Titanfall 2 so close to another popular multiplayer FPS that they're also publishing. Though, yeah, like you said, coulda been a calculated decision. That's a damn cynical thought, but just because it's cynical dudn't mean they couldn't have actually been self-serving assholes in that case. Hadn't heard about that accusation of Bethesda with Arkane/Human Head. Yeesh.

Also wow, either didn't know or didn't remember that Respawn was also making a Star Wars game. Well good luck to em I guess. It is EA after all.

It's going to be a Titanfall MOBA.

Countdown til studio closure begins today!

After T2 I'd be happy to pick up pretty much whatever these people put out.

Wonder if Microsoft was courting them and forced EA to make a move.

I figured this would happen eventually. Whatever, at least those folks get another few years of employment until the studio is closed and at least we will probably get another Titanfall game.

So Titanfall 3 will have microtransactions and paid DLC and Respawn will be a memory ten years from now. That sucks.

I hope they dont put the game out to die this time and keep it free of loot boxes.

It seemed inevitable, but I can't help but think the closure of Visceral is linked to this in some way.

From the outset its upsetting but we'll see.

@werupenstein: @dinosaurcanada:

EA has a solid track record of purchasing studios and allowing them to flourish. I'm not concerned at all. Only good things can come from this and no reason for anyone to be surprised in 5 years time.

@cmblasko: hunh, that's interesting. I'll update the OP.

@rorie: Titan Fall 3 is going to be an open-world, class-based hero shooter CCG.

Prediction: Titanfall 3 either does well or EA gives em' the Old Yeller treatment.

Shout out to all of the developers and staff at Respawn who will eventually lose their jobs.

It sounds like Visceral was in a lot of trouble, but the timing on both of these events is interesting.

Right up my alley!

@cmblasko: Quite telling

If they can continue expanding on that franchise that would be great. I played the multiplayer for a while after launch since they kept coming out with new tweaks and a map here and there, but ultimately there was never a solid end goal. Despite playing for a ton of hours I seemingly didn't put a dent in those pages and pages of really awful skins.

Then again, after reading the story about Viscerals closing, I'm not that positive about Respawn getting a lot of help in making Titanfall bigger and better.

This just reminds me that I should probably play Titanfall 2. I hear the campaign is pretty good?

I guess this at least means EA will put the full brunt of their resources behind the next one or two Respawn games before sales don't meet expectations, the studio is downsized to tech support for Battlefield, and they're eventually closed and thrown into a grave right next to Visceral.

But uh, after Titanfall 2 I'm more than willing to play whatever these guys put out, hopefully without an abundance of shitty loot crates.

@ichthy: absolutely. I was not a fan of TiF1, but TiF2 left a very positive impression, both single player as well as multiplayer. I wouldn’t recommend it for full price for the campaign alone, but it is well worth your time. And it might get you into the multiplayer, even if you don’t expect to like it.

tl;dr it is a very good game and you would probably have good time with it.

RIP titanfall 3. It's a shame too, because I was kinda fond of titanfall 2.

rule 1. Never partner with Nexon

rule 2. Never partner with Perfect World.

@ichthy: I didn't play the campaign, but loved the multiplayer. It's the first multiplayer shooter I had gotten into in years.

Well, the game hasn't been at full price forever now. Just checked the price and it's going to $20 Canadian on PC at Best Buy, which seems pretty crazy. Definitely gonna pick it up.

It's kinda funny, West and Zampella jumping ship from EA to Activision, then the huge Activision CoD lawsuit, then they start their own studio, and now EA buys Respawn.

How long before Zampella is back at Activision?

It's all been a huge misdirect. He's working on the next Modern Warfare as we speak (type)!

Titanfall 2 was great. EA's track record continues to make me nervous for the few franchises they have that I like. Though I guess we know the minds behind Respawn can overcome being forced to start fresh.

Don't fuck this up EA.

Huh, I genuinely thought they already owned them. I guess we can expect a ton of DLC and microtransactions in Titanfall 3.

Fingers crossed that this all works out.

Damn, well titanfall 3 and then RIP Respawn i guess.

Casting my cynical vote. Titanfall or Respawn will meet certain doom sooner than later. Vince claiming creative freedom up til now.. but why does that somehow negate the idea that EA will just say.. "We own you now. Do what we say or we'll cut the budget or you're fired" or something. They can do whatever they want.

My best guess is that Titanfall 3 will take some weird design directions, either EA or Respawns idea, the title will not meet their projected sale forecasts and then it's all downhill from there. The IP will be locked away or they'll just let Respawn slowly whither and die over the next few years after release.

This is EA. We've seen it time and time again. And I don't think Titanfall 2 did poorly because of Battlefield. I liked the campaign (made #7 on my 2016 GotY list) but overall I'd say the game was rather underwhelming. Something about the Titanfall games just, visually, looks dull from the outside. It doesn't feel like it differentiates itself from the billions of other shooters and it isn't enough of a true Mech game to pull that audience.

My worthless 2 cents.

Edit: Oh yea, and I saw elsewhere that it's rumored Respawn's Star Wars title was very impressive compared to Visceral's so.. Probably just going to be some other multiplayer focused title. Blaaaah.

(An animator for Naughty Dog)

Countdown to Respawn's inevitable closure.

Ha, yeah. Impressive by the standards laid out in that press release isn't saying much.

I worry that Titanfall will be a loot box cluster fuck. It already has the potential. Imagine instead of gradually charging your Titan, you had to get Titan charges from loot boxes. There may be moments when you can go a whole game with no ability to call one in. Sounds a little ridiculous, but I do not think that it is far fetched.

I dunno, wasn’t Respawn working on some Ea adjacent properties? I wonder if hat has more to do with this than a shooter dev rotation cycle. Is EA trying to gobble up every bit of Star Wars they can?

That combined with a clearly skilled and interesting studio seems like a good indicator for EA.

Pray. For. Respawn.

EA is heavy into short-term success. Since Titanfall is in a crowded shooter genre, I expect EA to do things that will hurt sales on TF3 and then, as others said, it's all downhill from there.

I don't think Titanfall is gonna produce EA-level sales, and Respawn will thus soon be abandoned. However,without this buyout there's a chance we woulden't even see TF3. TF2 sold preeeeeeeeety poorly.

RIP Respawn. It was good while it lasted.

That quote Vince Zampella gave makes it seem a bit more optimistic, and he's never seemed like the kind of guy who'd talk around things or give too much business speak. But we'll see. Fingers crossed.

Man, I just thinking that Respawn would've been a perfect studio for Microsoft to pick up. At least we'll get Titanfall 3, I guess.

I look forward to their work on Need for Speed in the future, as well as whatever they do when inexplicably given the Command and Conquer license.

I can only assume Respawn is next if Titanfall 3 fails to live up to expectations. Joining up with EA just looks like a death sentence for a company at this point, even if they can keep the lights on for some more years initially.

Yes! Titanfall 3!

Oh wait, locked behind the origins wall and in danger of getting a slow death in 3 months. Ugh~

Maybe Titanfall 3 will actually be good now instead of the massive disappointment that was Titanfall 2.

Thoughts:

1. This is great for the creator/owners of Respawn. They possibly got screwed over by Acclaim, though there were some rumors that they were already making aggressive moves outside the company and screwed themselves. Either way, they get their big paycheck.
2. This is horrible news for fans of Titanfall. I can't see EA's direct influence being a good thing, as it has never shown to be positive in the past.
3. This could go either way for the employees of Respawn. It potentially puts them in a more financially secure position, but the studio will likely get closed or downsized at some point, just like every other studio EA buys. However, if Respawn was already in trouble, then it's a lifeline until they find something better. Plus they could find other positions within EA's corporate structure. So a bit of a mixed bag there.

Overall, it's both a good and bad thing, except for fans of Titanfall. It's potentially bad news for them.