Respawn reveals new Titanfall 2 "Live Fire" mode and upcoming UI changes

Respawn Entertainment has announced plans to add a "lightning fast" new team-based mode to Titanfall 2 called Live Fire. The new mode will pit teams of six pilots—no Titans—against one another in best-of-five contests with no respawns, and a time limit of just one minute per round. Live Fire rounds can be won by either killing everyone on the opposing team, or holding a neutral flag when the time limit hits zero. 

"It’s fast, frantic, and sure to help hone those teamwork and mobility skills," the studio wrote. "We’re also introducing two brand new maps designed specifically for Live Fire: Stacks and Meadow. Playable only in the Live Fire playlist, these two maps are tight, enclosed death boxes designed specifically for the fast-paced, intense nature of the mode." 

Also in the works is a new Coliseum map called Columns, a new Pilot execution move, and new Commander intros for each faction. The playlist interface is also being given a facelift: Respawn said that having game modes split between two separate screens is "not an ideal user experience," and so it's prepping an entirely new interface for the next content drop on consoles, and possibly a little ahead of that on PC for testing. 

"Our goal is to allow players to create their own ‘mixtapes’ and choose which modes they want to be matched in. Would you like to match in just Attrition, Amped Hardpoint, and Last Titan Standing? Simply select the modes you want and hit play," Respawn wrote. 

No dates are attached, but the next content drop is "coming soon," as is an announcement of Respawn's "roadmap" for the next couple of months, which will feature new weapons, modes, and maps—including more remasters of maps from the original Titanfall.

You can read about why we gave Titanfall 2 the Best Shooter of 2016 award right here.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.