Impact: Peter Moore is one of the most optimistic of game industry executives around. That is why we sit up and take note when he is openly cautious about a new iteration of a major franchise. Granted, Titanfall is just not as big as Call of Duty, but name recognition is high in Asia thanks to the recent current-generation console introductions in China. If this were a question of a Chinese release alone, DFC would be endorsing such caution since there are plenty of regulatory and market hurdles to conquer to sell inside the Middle Kingdom. China will be a huge component of any Asian launch, yet we think Titanfall’s game mechanic is a good sell across a region where intense shooters are well received. SmileGate’s Crossfire, for example, has been a huge hit in Asia for years. Plus, Call of Duty Online finally entered open beta in China last January, which helps prime interest in the Western FPS category. Despite any worries of too many Western shooters too fast in Asia, Moore’s caution may have to do with the fact that EA has a different financial equation with a third-party title versus a homegrown franchise like FIFA. Titanfall is a royalty-bearing franchise, which means whatever gross revenue EA receives on the F2P version for Asia will be dampened by payments to Respawn. Another factor is that FIFA Online 3 was developed at EA’s Seoul studio, but was published in Asia by others such as Nexon and Tencent. In the case of Titanfall F2P, Nexon is the lead on development, which suggests the company is taking on more risk, with EA less reward. If those assumptions prove correct we can easily see how Moore would characterize the agreement as an experiment despite the relative success of Titanfall as a franchise so far.