You Can’t Say You Want Titanfall 3 and Then Pitch a Battle Royale – What Are We Doing?

Let’s be honest: the FPS genre is in a weird place. We’ve got legacy franchises milking the same formula (Call of Duty), once-great series fading into silence (Halo), and surprise hits like Apex Legends dominating because they found the perfect monetization loop. And in the middle of all this, Splitgate 2 is trying to carve out a lane – but its marketing message? Confusing at best, tone-deaf at worst.
At Summer Game Fest, Splitgate creator Ian Proulx took the stage wearing a hat that read “Make FPS Great Again.” And if that wasn’t

loaded enough, he followed it up by saying:

“I’m tired of playing the same Call of Duty every year, and I wish we could have Titanfall 3.”

Okay, fair. A lot of us feel that way.

But then the trailer dropped… and it teased a Battle Royale mode.

Wait. What?

You Can’t Have It Both Ways

Let’s unpack this. You don’t get to stand on stage, invoke the spirit of Titanfall and old-school Halo, and then immediately pitch the very trend (Battle Royale) that helped kill those games. The reason Titanfall 3 doesn’t exist is because Apex Legends exists – and makes Respawn massive money without the risk of a $60 boxed product.

This isn’t just confusing – it feels pandering. You’re waving the nostalgia flag to attract disillusioned FPS veterans, but then turning around and offering the same recycled formula we’ve seen in a dozen other games.

It’s like saying you miss punk rock and then dropping a trap beat.

The Hat Wasn’t Helping

https://x.com/DETONATEDcom/status/1931124640631447562

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the hat. “Make FPS Great Again” is clever in theory – a rallying cry for classic shooters. But paired with a tone-deaf announcement and half-baked messaging, it came off as performative rather than passionate. And unfortunately, that hat may now be remembered more for the backlash than the sentiment it was meant to evoke.

We wanted to believe this was the moment someone would finally push FPS back toward movement shooters, arena combat, and innovation beyond skin packs. Instead, it looked like a bad impersonation of something real.

What The Community Actually Wants

The community doesn’t want another Battle Royale. We’ve got Fortnite, Warzone, Apex, and PUBG still hanging on. What we’re starving for is something like Titanfall 2 – fast, kinetic, and full of personality. Something like Halo 3 – tight gunplay, meaningful maps, custom games, and social fun.

We’re not asking for a nostalgia trip. We’re asking for vision. Identity. Something that doesn’t apologize for being different.

A Message to Ian Proulx and the Splitgate Team

To be clear: we wanted to root for you. Splitgate was onto something. It brought portal mechanics into a shooter in a way that felt fresh, fun, and competitive. It scratched an itch. But now? The message is scrambled. You’re trying to court everyone – and risk losing everyone in the process.

Look, we get that publishers want to chase the big pie chart – the “live service + cosmetics + battle pass” model. But if you’re going to go up on that stage and say you’re tired of Call of Duty, then deliver something that doesn’t feel like Call of Duty Lite: Arena Edition With Portals and a Battle Royale Coming Soon.

Final Thoughts Wears ‘Make FPS Great Again’ Hat

FPS is at a crossroads. Players are desperate for a new movement shooter, something bold and unapologetic. You had the opportunity – the platform, the history, and even the hat – to be that game. Instead, you nuked the landing with mixed messaging, corporate-safe gameplay promises, and a trailer that could’ve been from any other shooter in 2023.