Recent hacks of developer Respawn’s Apex Legends and Titanfall game servers may be part of an elaborate scheme to revive a Titanfall spinoff project. According to a report by Eurogamer, hackers during July hit Apex Legends on PC, brandishing a message calling on players to “Save Titanfall.” A link to SaveTitanfall.com appears on the message as well, which leads to a site detailing the problems with both Titanfall and Titanfall 2. While previous waves of attacks on Respawn’s titles are thought to be committed by a figure known as “Jeanue,” the latest is unknown at the time of writing.
However, a 40-page pdf titled “Operation RedTape” from SaveTitanfall.com claims that the attacks are from one of two remaining major groups in the Titanfall community, the TF Remnant Fleet. The PDF specifically names community founder “RedShield” and other members for the attacks as an attempt to seize control of the game servers. “RedShield” denies the accusations on themselves but confirms that some in the Remnant Fleet may have been responsible for the malicious attacks. In an interview with Eurogamer, before the recent hacks, “RedShield” spoke about wanting Respawn to give access to the source files of Titanfall and Titanfall 2 to fix the long-standing problems with the game’s servers. Those words were used against “RedShield” in the PDF as “evidence” of their malicious intent along with the hacks.
Players affected by the hack are unable to queue for any other game mode.
The website accuses EA of "fraud" for selling Titanfall while it's "unplayable."
(Clip via @YungLucianOG) pic.twitter.com/4MqZi2UBh9
— Apex Legends News (@alphaINTEL) July 4, 2021
The PDF also says that the goal of the hacks was to bring attention and momentum into reviving Titanfall Online. Serving as a spin-off of the Titanfall game series, the game was developed for Asia gaming markets but never got off the ground to reach the West. Hacking the servers was meant to goad Respawn into relinquishing control of the files for the game to the community to do as it pleased. “RedShield,” said that one of their dreams for the community is a modded server, which Respawn has thought about in the past. However, how that would be implemented is yet to be discussed as the hacks continue to plague the game servers.
With all of the chaos surrounding the servers and the few players left in Titanfall 1 and 2, it could be a matter of time before Respawn decides to cut its losses. Both games have been neglected by Respawn for some time to allow for these hacks to continue. Nothing is saying that the developers wouldn’t want to eliminate the headache, shutting down the servers and any hope of support for Titanfall for the foreseeable future. What does all this mean with Apex Legends and how it was hacked along with the other titles?
Source: Eurogamer, SaveTitanfall.com