Titan Was Alone: Titanfall Finally Adds Private Matches

"Privacy? Privacy is dead!" say the cynicism-sick portions of the peanut gallery referring to the modern state of surveillance and not really shooty shooty bang bang games about giant robots at all. But if, for the sake of argument, they were upset about the multiplayer-only Titanfall's bizarre lack of multiplayer options, they'd now have one less thing to complain about. Titanfall's latest patch adds in the oft-requested option to break off from the rest of the world and host matches with friends, neighbors, fellow Illuminati members, etc. Take that, everyone else.

Here's how private matches (currently still in beta) function:

This is the first public test of our new Private Match mode. This gives you a way to organize matches with and against your friends, for casual or tournament play. Some features are unfinished or not yet implemented, and we welcome your feedback. A few highlights:

• Private Match supports 2 to 12 players, with 1 to 6 players on each team.
• You can start a new Private Match lobby by choosing it on the main selection screen (alongside Campaign, MP, and Training). Invite your friends in or have them join you at any time.
• Choose any of the game's maps or modes (CTF, Pilot Hunter, etc.) to play in.
• Choose which team you're on.
• There is no XP gain, challenge progress, or achievement unlocking while in a Private Match. For this beta, the Last Game Summary screen will display what you would have earned in normal play outside of Private Match, but be aware that this progress will not be recorded to your lifetime total.
• For this beta, there is no concept of a "lobby leader"; any player can change game options in the lobby or start/stop the match countdown.
• All Private Match games are still played on dedicated servers via Xbox Live Cloud Compute, just like normal matches.
• New options like round time, score limits, and much more will come in future updates.

The new patch also introduces a number of balance changes focused around improving the Titan quad rocket, encouraging point captures in Hardpoint Domination mode, making flag captures more satisfying in CTF, and other miscellaneous odds and ends.

It's good to see that Respawn's focusing on giving players more control over matches, though I must admit, I've gotten tired of Titanfall sooner than I was expecting to. The maps and modes are, technically speaking, diverse enough, but similar strategies work for each in experience. The whole thing just kinda blurs together. It's great fun and it feels incredible, but my trigger finger's itching for a change of pace. And so is my two-ton stomping foot.