'Titanfall' Release Date Nears: Beta Attracted 2 Million Players, Xbox One Bundle To Launch March 11

The beta for upcoming first-person shooter “Titanfall” opened mid-February. The beta test was originally restricted to a small number of developers and bloggers, but Respawn opened the beta to all Xbox One users on Feb. 15. The developer later granted access to all PC gamers.

When the beta closed on Feb. 19, 2 million people had participated in the testing for “Titanfall,” according to Respawn community manager Abbie Heppe. “The designers spent a lot of time watching videos and streams of people playing to try and look and see how they were abusing things or not understanding things,” Heppe told Polygon on Feb. 21. She added that “we had around 2 million unique users playing during the beta.” Microsoft's servers actually crashed on Feb. 14 for several hours due to heavy usage.

EA and Respawn hoped the beta would eliminate any potential bugs and glitches "Titanfall" may contain. Respawn cofounder Vince Zampella admitted earlier this month he was actually a bit nervous about the first-person shooter's upcoming release.

When a fan asked Zampella on Twitter Feb. 2 if he was excited about the game's March 11 launch, and the cofounder responded with “yes, but mixed with a bit of fear. We want the launch to be as smooth as possible. Beta should help.”

“People are expecting the game to have problems, and I want to make sure that it doesn't,” said “Titanfall” engineer Jon Shiring in an interview with Polygon. “I want to do everything I can to make sure that it launches well. The Xbox Live compute platform is all brand new.”

Zampella confirmed the beta version of “Titanfall” for the Xbox One and PC on Jan. 27 via Twitter. "#supersecret announcement time. I'm sure no one has been able to guess from the leaks. PC and XboxOne Beta! Details in the coming days,” tweeted Zampella. He also revealed that “Titanfall” on Xbox 360 will be developed by Bluepoint Games, the Austin, Texas-based developer of 2002’s “Metroid Prime,” a remastered version of 2011’s “The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection,” and 2009’s remastered “God of War Collection” for the PS3.

In mid-January, invites to test “Titanfall” reportedly were being sent out to EA Origin account holders, asking them to opt in for the title’s alpha. On Jan. 21, alpha footage of “Titanfall” was leaked on various video sites. Though testers were explicitly forbidden to publicize videos or photos of the game, a number of clips showcasing “Titanfall” made it online only four days after the rumored alpha appeared. Some of the videos were promptly taken down by EA, but a small number remained, displaying the much-anticipated gameplay of the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC title.

Microsoft recently announced a limited edition “Titanfall” Xbox One bundle will be available on March 11. The bundle will come with a standard Xbox One, wireless controller, wired headset, “Titanfall” download code and a one-month Xbox Live Gold subscription.

“In many ways, the launch of ‘Titanfall’ will enable us to deliver the first truly next generation multiplayer game -- one that will take advantage of the new party and chat improvements we’re delivering, build on the power of the cloud in a way only Microsoft can and connect fans on Xbox Live, home of the best multiplayer and service in gaming,” Corporate Vice President Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post on Feb. 24. “With Xbox One, we invested in features like multiplayer alerts so you never miss a match while watching TV and so much more.”

Are you excited for “Titanfall?” Leave a comment below or Tweet me!