It has long been thought that Titanfall 3 is far off, with some even wondering if the third game in the popular franchise will ever arrive. However, at least one retailer is showing signs that there might not have to be that long a wait for Titanfall 3 after all.
Despite Titanfall being quite popular, Respawn just hasn't appeared to be all that excited about resurrecting the series despite the fact that Titanfall 2 was released almost six years ago. Instead of a third game in the franchise, the company released Apex Legends, which is tied into the previous two games' worlds - though there isn't any sort of mech battles available at the moment. There is certainly enough public demand for a third game, but that demand has seemingly fallen on deaf ears. However, if one retailer has it right, it's possible that all the comments about a lack of work on such a game could have been an impressive misdirect.
In recent days, something rather surprising has been popping up in GameStop stores across Germany. Over on Reddit, one user posted a picture of a placeholder box for Titanfall 3. Other users soon chimed in, saying they were given the option to pre-order the game at several GameStops all over the country. Considering that most people have thought that Respawn's work in the Star Wars video game universe meant no Titanfall 3 for quite some time, the ability to preorder the game has certainly surprised some.
The option to preorder seems to be confirmed in the picture, considering that the text directly below the placeholder box translates to "preorder now." It should be pointed out that the other placeholder boxes featured in the picture on Reddit are games that have either been confirmed as coming at some point even if a release date hasn't been announced, as is the case for FIFA 23.
The question that comes to mind at this point is why GameStops in Germany are currently the only stores hinting that Titanfall 3 is coming soon enough that it would be worth preordering. It's of course possible that someone is just wanting to get their foot in the door for if and when the next installment is announced. There's no indication the retailer is telling people when they can expect to actually receive the game, after all.
The move is still a strange one given Respawn's apparent attitude towards the series. While Titanfall and Titanfall 2 are still incredibly popular among a certain sector of the video game community, Respawn seems to be moving in the opposite direction of a new release, as it even took the extra step of removing the original Titanfall from online retail shelves. For now, all fans can do is hope that this box art is a sign of something to come as opposed to a mistake.