Respawn Entertainment, creators of the massively popular Titanfall series, have officially been aquired by EA. The announcement came via an EA press release and was accompanied shortly after by an official statement from Respawn.

According to EA, “The acquisition builds on a successful publishing partnership between Respawn and EA, with multiple projects currently in development – a new title in the Titanfall franchise, a game set in the Star War universe and a VR gaming experience.”

Respawn will join an impressive list of studios that operate under EA’s direction. DICE, Criterion, BioWare and more all operate under the EA flag.

Of course, those are the lucky studios. EA has also acquired and shut down some of the most beloved studios in gaming. The latest shut down came just a month ago when EA closed the doors to Visceral. Prior to Visceral, Westwood Studios, Origin Systems, Bullfrog Productions, Westwood Studios, Maxis, Pandemic and more were all shut down by EA. In fact, Pandemic was closed just a year after being acquired.

Respawn obviously sees something more in EA than their turbulent past. In a statement posted to the companies website,  CEO Vince Zampella said that

“While it wasn’t necessary, going with EA made a lot of sense. With Titanfall and Star Wars, EA has been a great development partner that supports us and doesn’t interfere with our process for making games or studio culture. EA will provide us with more resources, access to new technologies, and expertise that we can tap into to that will help us make better games, and Respawn will retain the same creative freedom and culture we’ve always had.”

It seems that all that’s left to do is hope for the best for Respawn. Hope that their impending titles live up to the high standards set by the Titanfall series and hope that a year from now we aren’t preparing another grave in the EA graveyard.