We live in a world of massive scaled multiplayer warfare, with games like Arma II and Battlefield 4. The latter of those two even has the capacity to host 64-player skirmishes on both PC and console. But amidst all the epic contention, there are still some developers that prefer a downsized struggle. Respawn, the creative minds behind the upcoming Xbox One exclusive (possibly PC one day, we all hope) Titanfall, has revealed via Twitter that the anticipated shooter will feature a max player-count of six versus six for competitive game modes.
The news came with a decent amount of backlash, with many gamers angered by the small-scale player count. Although, from a personal standpoint, I'm not really sure where all the hostility is coming from. Maximum player count has never really mattered before, and the quality of a game's multiplayer is what really matters. Take a look at series like Counter Strike and Gears of War, where 5v5 multiplayer is a common thing. Both of those series have spawned some great titles with some very enjoyable multiplayer experiences.
The slew of grumpy gamers was still enough to gain to a response from Respawn, and the developer took to NeoGAF in an attempt to quiet the storm.
"Lots of armchair game designing going on in here. I'd suggest playing before judging a something as insignificant as a number in a vacuum," said DKO5 on the NeoGAF forums. "Vince is right - we tried a huge amount of playercounts (all the way down to 1v1 and up quite high) and designed the maps, gameplay mechanics, and entire experience around which played best. If anyone wants to chase the numbers game, perhaps we're not the experience they're after? I dunno."
The post when on to speak about what gamers can really expect from a match, touting that things won't be as calm as everyone assumes.
"And FYI, for amount of stuff happening at once in a map you'll be hard pressed to find a game that keeps the action higher. I literally have to stop playing every few rounds because my heart just can't take it some times. Remember, you can get out of your Titan and let it roam on AI mode - meaning there can be 12 Pilots wallrunning around, 12 Titans stomping below, and dozens of AI doing their thing. Oh, and I keep seeing people thinking we've got "bots" when we talk about AI. Thats not how they are. The AI in Titanfall are not replacements for human players. Our playercount is not 6v6 because of AI - AI play their own role in the game and are a different class of character in the game."
One thing is for sure, this definitely has people talking about the impending release, which we expect to see on March 11th.