Respawn has had a lot of press recently, covering the upcoming release and beta of its first game, Titanfall. It's gotten so much press in-fact, with so much hype, that it made us wonder whether it could ever live up to it.
But while we questioned if the game itself could be worthy of all the praise that was being heaped on it, others took it a step further and accused Respawn of actively buying positive press. That sort of accusation not only throws Respawn in a potentially negative light, but the game itself and the very journalists who's careers rest on their opinions being honest.
It got to the point where producer on the game, Drew McCoy went to NeoGAF to respond about how insulting the idea was:
"Anyone who thinks we weren’t living in the shadow of decade+ old established franchises at our reveal at E3 are as crazy as their conspiracy theories of anyone getting paid off. We’ve had to fight tooth and nail to have a game that anyone would even know existed, let alone be excited for and want to create coverage of. I get it that its not for everyone, but to say we’re paying anyone off is downright insanity. Not to mention the height of insulting."
While you could argue that a pedigree like the one Respawn (and Infinity Ward) founders Vince Zampella and Jason West have, means that their uphill struggle for notification wasn't going to be anywhere near to that of your average indie developer, it's fair to say that this game hasn't had much in the way of preferential treatment, it's just the usual super-hype surrounding a franchise that snowballs when there isn't much to go on.
The press is fuelled by hype and speculation, so when a game that's exciting takes a long time for people to get their hands on it but maintains its popularity, it's going to be talked about in the press. It fuels discussion, fuels ad views and clicks and yes, it keeps the game in the public eye. But that's not Respawn's fault, that's the industry.