While not much is known about the first game from Respawn Entertainment — the game development studio formed by ex-Infinity Ward members West and Zampella — the assumption is that it will be wholly different from Call of Duty, but not in the ways gamers might think. Most figure that, given the brief teaser screen that was released, and various rumblings from the studio, that the project would be a shooter based in a science fiction setting, yet some new information seems to contradict that.

As part of the settlement between Activision and EA over their parts in the West/Zampella case with Activision, it has come to light that Respawn was initially tasked by Electronic Arts with developing a sci-fi shooter meant to compete with Microsoft's Halo franchise. Though Call of Duty trounces Halo in the sales numbers, no title occupies that space better than Bungie and now 343 Industries' franchise.

Unfortunately, for gamers, that responsibility of making a "Halo-killer" was then passed on to EA's Redwood-based studio and Respawn Entertainment was left to their own devices. It's still believed that whatever Respawn is working on could be a sci-fi shooter — analyst Michael Pachter still stands by the claims that their title will be a Halo-killer — but apparently EA's specific answer to Halo is not in development at Respawn.

It may be a much longer wait than gamers are typically used to, but we have to figure that the ongoing litigation between Activision and West/Zampella is playing a part in Respawn Entertainment's lack of information regarding their title. E3 2012 would have been a perfect place for the developer to unveil their answer to Halo, since the event itself will feature a new phase for Master Chief, but that seems highly unlikely.

Regardless of if it's a Halo-killer or a Call of Duty clone, fans are eagerly anticipating whatever Respawn Entertainment has in development, and we only hope they show off something a little more substantial soon.

Do you agree that Respawn Entertainment's first title should be a Halo-killer? Would you have liked to see the developer create something outside of the shooter genre?

Source: AP