Apex Legends: everything you need to know about the Titanfall battle royale

Apex Legends continues to hold its players’ attention even after several years on the market, and next week, the battle royale shooter will bring things back to where they started with a new season that revisits the game’s original map. This year, the game already added two new characters (plus two more in the new mobile version), brought upgrades for next-gen consoles, rotated in a well-received Control game mode, and, according to EA’s earnings call this week, notched double-digit income growth again for the last quarter. On the other hand, player complaints over glitches, ranked mode scoring, matchmaking, and practically any other small detail continue to mount.

The last season was particularly troubled, with problems that affected one of the game’s best features — its responsive controls — and enough bugginess that it even popped up during a professional Apex Legends tournament last month.

Update July 5th, 2:30PM ET: On Tuesday afternoon Respawn and EA released a new patch saying it should address the issue, and after playing a bit I can confirm it has fixed input lag with all the controllers I used on Xbox Series X.

Last week, EA’s battle royale shooter Apex Legends launched a “collection event,” which is shorthand for a limited-time setup that is mostly about players buying a bunch of cosmetic items from the in-game store. The only problem is that this time, the massive update has made the game nearly unplayable for many people on consoles.

Over the last few seasons, the developers of Apex Legends have worked on opening up the game, both with a massive new map and adding a temporary game mode that swaps out battle royale action for a more traditional team deathmatch. On May 10th, they’re introducing another new legend to the arena with Newcastle and making changes that might help players focus on teamwork.

Season 13 of Apex Legends carries the title Saviors, which matches Newcastle’s kit of abilities that are about keeping his teammates alive longer to help them win fights. While a slew of leaks in the past few months spoiled some of the surprises, seeing him in action is an entirely different thing. He has a passive ability that is unlike any character we’ve seen before, with the ability to not only shield downed teammates while reviving them, but he can also drag them to safety. The shield’s power level increases if Newcastle is carrying a higher-tier knockdown shield, which adds another tweak to an often overlooked item.

Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that Apex Legends upgrades for the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S consoles will launch tomorrow with the new Warriors collection event. Until now, the battle royale shooter has shared versions across the console generations. But when the update is released — usually around 1PM ET — console players will finally be able to join those on PC with support for natively rendered 4K (except on the Series S), HDR, better shadow maps, and greater level of detail distances.

All versions on consoles are still limited to 60Hz, with 120Hz gameplay listed as an upgrade coming in the future (however, once the PS5 supports 120Hz output, it will be able to force it even on games that don’t have support built-in if you want to give it a try). When I talked to the developers before the launch of the current season, Defiance, they said that we would see new next-gen features roll out throughout the year with the new seasons. Other features confirmed in the works are adaptive trigger and haptic support for the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.

In 2019, Respawn Entertainment surprised gamers by following up its Titanfall games with something slightly different, instead opting for a take on the (then) new and growing free-to-play battle royale genre with Apex Legends.

You know what happened next. After a healthy dose of promoted live streams, the game quickly carved out a unique space and grew rapidly in popularity, racking up 25 million registered players in one week and crossing the 100 million mark in time for its second birthday. Now, Apex Legends is turning three, and in a conversation with The Verge, game director Steven Ferreira said that this year, players should expect to see the title do things that are completely unlike what we’ve seen so far while still keeping the battle royale as the core of the game.

In the years since Respawn and EA launched Apex Legends, the shooter has carved out its place among a crowded field of contenders. Other games have tried to enter the market and failed to make much impact alongside the other battle royale titans like Call of Duty: Warzone, PUBG, and Fortnite. Still, despite a healthy player base and competitive scene, a new update, dubbed Escape, arrives following one of the roughest seasons since the debut, and it might be exactly what the game needs.

Last season’s new character, Seer, drew criticism from many players until Respawn nerfed his special abilities. Then that change led to its own controversy, as players accused the developers of intentionally releasing heroes with overpowered abilities to coax more money out of participants in this “free” game.

Apex Legends is one week into its second season, which features a drastically changed map, a new character to master, and a pleasantly revamped battle pass with much-needed new rewards. But the most pivotal addition to the battle royale game is its ranked mode. Split into six tiers, this new mode will likely be the lifeblood of Apex Legends going forward, keeping it engaging for competitive players and carving out a community of top-tier streamers and aspiring pros who can form the backbone of a future e-sports scene. 

The good news is that Apex Legends’ ranked mode is wonderfully designed. It fixes almost every big complaint I’ve had about such modes in other games, giving me a rewarding way to spend my time in a way that never feels like a second job, as so many games-as-a-service titles like Bungie’s Destiny 2 can feel. I’ve only just started playing, but can already see myself spending dozens to hundreds of hours here, so long as Respawn keeps it from growing stale and finds ways to combat the inherent toxicity ranked modes are infamous for. 

Today EA released its quarterly earnings, and unsurprisingly Apex Legends was a big hit. According to EA, the Respawn-developed battle royale game is “easily the fastest-growing franchise we’ve ever had.” What might be surprising, though, is that EA said it’s looking to bring the game from PC and console to mobile platforms. “We are in advanced negotiations to bring Apex Legends to China and to mobile,” the company said during today’s call.

Unfortunately, that’s all the information we have right now. But clearly EA is looking to keep pace with Apex’s biggest competitors, Fortnite and PUBG. Both of those games are available on mobile, though they utilize different strategies. Fortnite is essentially the exact same experience across all platforms, including mobile, while PUBG has a separate version called PUBG Mobile. Both games are massive hits; as of last December, the mobile version of PUBG had as many players as all of Fortnite, at around 200 million.

Apex Legends was a massive hit out of the gate, but since then, many players have complained about a lack of content updates, especially compared to the constantly changing Fortnite. Today, in a surprising reveal, executive producer Drew McCoy explained that this won’t necessarily be changing any time soon.

“Our long-term goal is to ensure Apex Legends always feels alive and thriving, with a focus on quality of content over novelty or speed of release,” McCoy wrote in a blog post. “At the same time, we want to maintain our culture as a development team and avoid crunch that can quickly lead to burnout or worse.”

Respawn Entertainment’s fast-growing battle royale hit Apex Legends is launching its much-anticipated first season tomorrow, the developer announced this morning. The first season, dubbed Wild Frontier, will come with a Fortnite-style battle pass costing $9.50 for three months alongside the game’s newest character, the legend Octane.

Fans of Apex Legends have been anxiously awaiting the battle pass launch since the game first released at the beginning of February. As pioneered first by Fortnite creator Epic Games, a battle pass system lets players pay a small fee, typically around $10, for three months of ongoing in-game rewards and special events.

When Electronic Arts’ battle royale shooter Apex Legends surprise-launched early last month, it seemed like the entire gaming community started paying attention at once. Part of the reason for the immediate surge in interest was that EA paid top Twitch streamers to promote the game. And, in fact, one of those streamers, Fortnite extraordinaire Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, may have earned as much as $1 million for doing so, according to Reuters.

Ninja’s live-streaming and social media promotions helped Apex Legends gain traction among his 13.6 million-plus Twitch followers, as well as his Twitter following of over 4 million and Instagram audience of over 13.2 million. Now, an anonymous source tells Reuters that his efforts were reportedly worth the seven-figure sum.

Apex Legends is the hottest game of the moment, skyrocketing to 50 million registered players in its first month of existence. Its combination of lightning-quick action and squad-focused gameplay has made it not only a popular game to play, but an exciting one to watch as well. Apex regularly dominates the Twitch charts, often topping mainstay Fortnite. So it’s no surprise that Apex Legends is primed to become the next big e-sport.

Over the last few weeks, established e-sports teams have been slowly assembling Apex Legends squads. The last week, in particular, has been a flurry of announcements. TSM, 100 Thieves, Gen.G, and NRG all added either entire Apex teams or individual players over the last few days. One of the more surprising moves saw venerated e-sports organization Team Liquid move its Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 “blackout” team over to Apex.

For the past few nights, most of my time has been spent exploring the fantastical sci-fi realm of Anthem, fighting off countless alien bad guys and putting far too much energy into making sure my armor is just the right color. During that same period, I’ve been getting in regular matches of Apex Legends, Respawn’s new team-based battle royale that’s perfect for people who don’t like to talk while they shoot. Meanwhile, I’ve also been preparing myself for the impending eighth season of Fornite, wrapping up a final few quests and tracking the earthquake-induced cracks in the landscape.

I’ve also realized that I don’t have time for all of this.

Even though I’ve been playing Fortnite for the better part of a year, I still get surprised by the butterflies. There I am, running along the edge of a giant crater or sneaking through a dense forest, and some blue, fluttering wings catch my eye. I don’t exactly stop and stare — that’s too dangerous in a battle royale where everyone is out to kill you — but it’s enough to capture my attention for a brief second, before I move on to explore other parts of the island.

There’s nothing similar to those charming butterflies in Apex Legends. Respawn’s Titanfall-themed shooter stormed out of the gates when it launched two weeks ago, racking up 25 million players in seven days and regularly dominating the Twitch charts. Apex isn’t the first battle royale game to challenge Fortnite, but none of its contemporaries have had this kind of momentum. Even neon-haired Fortnite star Ninja is playing Respawn’s game, winning the game’s first major tournament last week in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Respawn’s Apex Legends is a huge hit. The free-to-play battle royale shooter is closing out its second week since release, and it’s still retaining its top spot on the Twitch leaderboards following its successful first e-sports event. Top streamers like Ninja and Shroud continue to play the game on a daily basis, and it’s looking like it could have a healthy life as a top-tier competitive game if Respawn puts the resources into building out a proper tournament structure.

But one element of the game that may affect its long-term popularity is its business model, with many players worried that Apex’s in-game prices are too expensive.

Apex Legends, the free-to-play battle royale game from the creators of Titanfall, has just passed 25 million registered players after just one week since its release, developer Respawn Entertainment announced this afternoon. The milestone shows just how explosively popular the game has become in such a short time; just three days after release, Apex Legends passed 10 million players. Additionally, the game recorded “well over” 2 million concurrent players this past weekend, Respawn CEO Vince Zampella noted on Twitter.

Now, of course, the game is free and available on consoles and PC, which makes these milestones not easily comparable to standard video game sales. But, compared with its biggest competitor Fortnite, Apex Legends would appear to be growing much faster, at least in this early stretch. Epic Games, the developers behind Fortnite, gave out the very first metrics for its battle royale hit in January 2018, when Fortnite had 45 million registered players across console and PC after roughly four months on the market.

It’s a good time to be a fan of competitive gaming. This week is going to be absolutely packed with things to watch, with a range of competitions spread out across some of the hottest games in the world. In fact, it’s likely one of the busiest e-sports weeks of the year, despite the fact that we’re still only in February. The major events include the debut of the Overwatch League’s second season, a secretive Fortnite tournament that could provide a glimpse at the game’s upcoming World Cup, and the very first Apex Legends competition.

It’s a lot to keep track of. Here’s what’s coming up and how to follow it all.

Developer Respawn believed that it was “putting a lot on the line” with the surprise launch of Apex Legends, but it looks like the decision was the right one: just three days after launch, the game has reached 10 million players. Fortnite, in comparison, took two weeks to hit the same milestone.

“We knew it would be risky to take the franchise in this direction, to go free to play, and do a surprise launch,” Respawn CEO Vince Zampella wrote in a blog post. “But we fell in love with Apex Legends and wanted, needed, other people to play it, too.” In addition to the overall player count, the developer also says that Apex has already reached 1 million concurrent players.

I had very mixed feelings when Apex Legends was announced. On one hand, Titanfall and its sequel are two of my favorite shooters, offering an incredibly fast, almost balletic sense of movement that made otherwise standard skirmishes feel fresh and alive. The idea of developer Respawn taking that to the battle royale genre and throwing in charming Overwatch-style characters was incredibly exciting. But there was one very particular aspect of the game that made me wary: you can only play it in teams. As someone who spends hours in Fortnite solo and hates the idea of voice chat with strangers, this was an instant turn-off.

But thanks to a handful of incredibly clever design decisions, Apex Legends is the rare team-based shooter where voice chat isn’t a necessity. You can be antisocial and still have a lot of fun.

Titanfall creator Respawn Entertainment became the latest developer to take on Fortnite, with today’s announcement and surprise launch of Apex Legends. It’s a new free-to-play shooter set in the Titanfall universe, and it’s a bold attempt at venturing into the increasingly crowded battle royale space. Perhaps even more interesting than the game itself, though, is Respawn’s release strategy, which amounts to a radical rethinking of how big-budget game studios put out new products.

As a subsidiary of gigantic game publisher Electronic Arts, Respawn had to dramatically alter how it develops, launches, and then supports a new game going forward. Even harder was convincing a company as conservative and slow-moving as EA that the studio could pull this off, and that it could earn back its budget and even turn a profit on an unproven, free-to-play game.