Why Titanfall studio Respawn sold to EA

Electronic Arts announced it will acquire Titanfall maker Respawn Entertainment for as much as $455 million on Thursday, in its biggest deal since it acquired PopCap Games for $750 million in 2011. The deal brings Respawn’s Titanfall property into EA’s fold of first-person shooter franchises.

The reaction of fans was mixed, as some worried that EA might eventually shut down Respawn, as it recently did with the 70-person Visceral Studios in Redwood City, California. But EA paid $2.2 million per employee to get the 205 employees of Respawn, and shutting it down so soon would be silly.