| Titanfall 2 Open Multiplayer Technical Test Dates Announced Today, Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts announced that the Titanfall 2 Open Multiplayer Technical Test will be available across two weekends in August for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Fans will be able to get their hands on the fast, fluid, Pilot and Titan gameplay that is at the core of the Titanfall experience while helping the team at Respawn test the Titanfall 2 servers and backend systems prior to the games release on October 28th worldwide. It all starts the weekend of Friday, August 19th, where fans will be able to play two exciting new Titanfall 2 multiplayer modes across two maps:
MODES • Bounty Hunt (5v5): A brand new mode that pits Pilots and their teammates against an opposing team as well as the Remnant Fleet. Earn bonuses by killing grunts and enemies, but make sure and deposit all your points at the bank between waves without getting killed. • Pilots vs. Pilots (8v8): Players can be the best Pilot on the Frontier and put their combat and mobility skills to the ultimate test in this classic 8 vs 8 Pilots only mode. MAPS • Boomtown: A secret underground IMC facility where the latest in R&D is put to the test. In this facility Pilots can use the many peaked roofs to use as cover against combatants below. With tight lanes through the middle, Titans can also be easily ambushed. • Homestead: The IMC have claimed Imminent Domain on a small commune’s plot of land. With a series of raised, rocky plateaus and a river running down the middle, Pilots are mostly safe from Titans among the rocks and trees but they also can duck into the caves and building when needed. However, the Titans control the large rolling fields. During the second weekend of the Titanfall 2 open multiplayer technical test, all the content from the previous weekend will still be available, plus a brand new mode and map for players to enjoy: MODE • Amped Hardpoint (6v6): A new twist on Hardpoint Domination from the original game; now defending a Hardpoint will let you amp it, giving your team double score. Team work is the key to securing victory. MAP • Forward Base Kodai: Militia forces have taken over an IMC substation and set up a forward operating base. Pilots can find safety from Titans in the hallways and chambers of the main building, while Titans can walk over the roof to get a better view of the action. During the open multiplayer technical test, fans will have access to two all-new Titans: Ion and Scorch, as well as a range of Pilot tactical abilities including Grapple, Holo Point, and Pulse Blade. Fans will also have access to a variety of weapons including a deadly horizontal spread shotgun known as the Masttiff and the Alternator, a dual-barrel SMG. In addition, players are encouraged to try out Networks, a brand new feature in Titanfall 2 that makes finding and playing with friends fast and easy. To learn more about the Titanfall 2 Open Multiplayer Technical Test, head over to titanfall.com for all the details. To see the first live multiplayer gameplay from Titanfall 2 be sure to tune into the Titanfall 2 Factions livestream starting at 8pm CET/11am PT on August 16 at twitch.tv/titanfall. The Titanfall 2 Factions livestream will see some of the biggest names in the Titanfall community facing off for bragging rights on the Frontier. |
| A word about PC and the Titanfall 2 Open Multiplayer Tech Test The multiplayer tech test is around the corner, and nothing really helps us more than when millions of people play together, stress our systems and try out things we never would have thought of and try out new things in ways we wouldn’t otherwise imagine. The main reason we are doing a MP tech test is to satisfy an engineering goal – to stress test our servers and prove that they can scale. Since our server backend is per-platform, it means we only actually need a single platform to test this. More platforms can be a good sanity check, but we don’t need to test them all to make sure we are on a good path for launch. With this challenge in mind we’ve decided to make the multiplayer tech test available on Playstation 4 and Xbox One. So why not PC? Two big issues from a development standpoint: hardware variety & “min spec” optimization. We’re still making a lot of tweaks and changes to the renderer, the game, and effects so we haven’t run the game through the hardware compatibility lab yet to detect and handle a large variety of hardware – video cards, CPUs etc. Quite frankly, we aren’t ready to deal with that yet, we are still making the game better. We also haven’t done enough work to fully support our ‘Min Spec’ on PC yet. So, currently the PC game isn’t as easy to throw out for testing as the console is, because of the additional variables and configurations that we need to support. Also, because the single player story has some wonderful secrets that we really want to preserve for launch, we also have to worry about leaks. Our wonderfully curious PC players have proven in the past that they will dig out anything they can, and there’s a risk that they could spoil some of our single player. We realize this is a big disappointment for our PC fans, but we feel this allows us to concentrate on the real purpose of the tech test and focus on the server stability and scalability. Rest assured we’re confident in our ability to deliver a great PC experience for launch. We appreciate your understanding, and we look forward to seeing everyone on The Frontier this October.
Vince Zampella – Founder and CEO, Respawn Entertainment titanfall.com |
