Titanfall 2 Players Rise By 750% On Steam After Apex Legends Tie-In And Steep Discount

Respawn Entertainment's 2016 shooter Titanfall 2 has seen a big increase in concurrent users lately on Steam. Having recently been discounted by 75%, player numbers surged upwards by more than 750%, with the game breaking its all-time record player count according to SteamDB. At 16,974 players recorded at its peak so far, Titanfall 2 has smashed its previous record of 13,603 concurrent players since it first arrived on Steam last summer.

The increase in players could also be partly attributed to the upcoming ninth season of Apex Legends, which includes more direct references to the Titanfall universe and its story. As seen in the latest trailer, Kairi "Valkyrie" Imahara is the newest playable character and is the daughter of Viper, one of the Apex Predator Pilots that players faced off against in Titanfall 2.

Viper piloted an aerial combat Northstar Titan frame in that game, and thanks to some tinkering from Rampart, Valkyrie can use the flight core of her father's old Titan as a jetpack.

Ever since the launch of Apex Legends, Respawn has confirmed that plans for a new Titanfall game have been put on the back burner so that the studio can focus on growing its successful battle royale title. Titanfall 2 was also infamously sandwiched between Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1 when it launched in 2016, leading to poor sales at the time.

Respawn hasn't written the franchise off entirely, but between Apex Legends, starting a second studio in Vancouver, and hiring for a new original game it has in development, it'll likely be a while before Titanfall 3 ever sees the light of day.