Titanfall, the best selling game for March, was once called Titan Wars and a PS Vita version might have happened.
The information was revealed in Geoff Keighley's Final Hours of Titanfall app/book hybrid. Around the time studio co-founder Jason West left the company in early 2013, Titanfall changed dramatically. Originally, the game was inspired by Super Mario Brothers and had players start inside a titan; after taking enough damage, the player would then eject as a pilot from the "doomed titan". However, Respawn had a "lack of confidence" in that mode and so the developers altered how the game worked.
Keighley commented:
"Now the formula reversed. Players began as a pilot and then called in their titan from the sky during the game (hence the game's new name, Titanfall). Starting players on foot would be more familiar, Respawn argued. It also added another layer of strategy. How quickly a player could summon their titan was determined by their early success in each game mission."
Respawn approached both Sony and Microsoft in the early days of Titanfall's development and while Microsoft was willing to discuss the tech specs of its then unannounced Xbox One, Sony wouldn't reveal details of its PS4 designs. The Japanese platform holder was however in a position to discuss bringing Titanfall to PS Vita.
Programmer Jon Shiring met with a Sony contact for dinner when it became clear that a Vita version wasn't viable. Shiring said:
"I can't emphasize enough, decisions are being made here about our game, and we really need to know about the next PlayStation."
Sony wouldn't budge and so Respawn had a "top secret briefing from Microsoft in late January…"
Final Hours of Titanfall also discusses how the game came to be an Xbox console exclusive. Respawn learned in summer 2013 that publisher EA had signed the contract with Microsoft. Keighley wrote:
"The deal was a complicated one as Respawn wasn't dealing directly with Xbox. Instead, terms were negotiated through EA, which signed a larger, overarching partnership deal with Microsoft for the Xbox One. In order to make the economics work and keep Titanfall alive, EA needed a first-party publisher to invest. Xbox was willing to step up and save the project, which turned out to be a wise bet."
Respawn had originally inteneded to release Titanfall as a timed exclusive on Xbox and PC, it would eventually come to PS4 after 13 months but EA and Microsoft's deal means this won't happen, even if future installments could be released on PlayStation.
