Titanfall Avoiding Battlefield 4 Launch Issues

With a name like Titanfall, Electronic Arts really had no other option but to succeed. A titanic franchise falling at the first hurdle would have made easy pickings among the Internet's resident punmeisters, pranksters and putdown artists. Luckily for fans of mech-blasting action, the game's PC and Xbox One releases went as well as any major, server-strangling launch in recent memory.

Aside from a number of initial glitches, the vast majority of players were able to log on, suit up and start shooting from the get-go. Unfortunately, the current-gen crowd wasn't among them. After originally being told that the game would launch alongside its illustrious next-gen counterpart, EA later delayed the title to March 25. The reason given: to implement a series of finishing touches.

It now seems that that extra allotment wasn't quite ample enough. Speaking to the EA blog earlier today, studio exec Patrick Söderlund confirmed that the game would now receive an additional 2 weeks of tweaks and fixes, pushing the final release date back to April 8, 2014. Söderlund explained:

“I’ve been playing the game a lot, and it is fantastic […] but we see a few things that can be made even better, so we’re giving Bluepoint [the port's developer] a little more time to do just that and deliver an epic Titanfall experience for Xbox 360 players."

Titanfall Review - Pilot Movement

The timing of the move does seem a little circumspect, with most games requiring at least a month to go from 'gold' status i.e. totally finished, to finally hitting stores shelves. With precious little time available to make any further changes, it's likely Bluepoint is instead working on strengthening the game's online network.

The move might also be part of a savvy business ploy on the part of EA, following the massive uptick in Xbox One ownership that accompanied Titanfall's initial release. Perhaps by delaying the current-gen port, the company hopes to encourage more gamers to pick up Microsoft's next generation hardware alongside a copy of the game.

In other Titanfall news, one eager fan — going by the handle 'Dissentia' — has put together an unofficial scoring guide, detailing the effectiveness of certain weapons against particular pilots and mechs. The chart, which also lists each weapon's rate of fire, reload time, and magazine sizing is sure to be of help to hardcore and casual fans alike, though it's important to note the figures have yet to be verified by developer Respawn Entertainment.

Will the 360 version of Titanfall live up to its big brother's reputation? Is it worth investing in an Xbox One just to play a glossier version of the game? What do you make of Dissentia's damage chart? Let us know in the comments below!

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Titanfall is now available for Xbox One and PC. The game's Xbox 360 port will arrive on April 8, 2014 throughout North America, and 3 days later in Europe.

You can follow Sam on Twitter @GamingGoo.

Source: MP1st (via VG247) & EA Blog