With Respawn’s battle royale now over four years old, some fans have wondered whether it’ll get a sequel like its rival, Warzone 2.0. However, Apex Legends’ devs have explained why that will never happen.
Apex Legends is now over four years old, with its original launch date of February 4, 2019.
Since then, it’s spawned sixteen seasons of post-launch content and been played by over 130 million players.
Its age has led some to the conclusion that it’ll soon be usurped by a sequel, in much the way the first Warzone was phased out in favor of a sequel by Activision.
However, that appears to be a non-starter for Apex Legends, with Respawn explaining their exact thinking ahead of Season 16’s release.
Respawn explain why there’ll never be Apex Legends 2
Specifically, Senior Design Director Evan Nikolich said that they’re keen to stick with Apex Legends and that the game will evolve, but not be replaced.
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“We’re committed to the philosophy of evolving the game,” he commented, “and we’ll keep building on the core game. There’s never going to be a sequel, [it] will always be Apex Legends. We react to the community and evolve, and continue to pivot in future seasons, adding new content, new legends too.”
Season 16, for the first time in Apex Legends’ history, does not bring a new Legend to the fray.
Respawn explained their emphasis has been on overhauling the meta and making the game more enjoyable for newer players and veterans.
That looks to be the plan for the long haul, with the devs clearly favoring major updates over a move to a new game altogether. It’s certainly worked for other long-form live service titles, like Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege, which is approaching eight years old.
Here’s hoping we see Apex still getting love from Respawn and EA in 2027.