Apex will soon celebrate its second birthday. For developer Respawn Entertainment, this is a real milestone. – Season 8 “Chaos” starts on February 2 and heralds the third year for Apex Legends. We got the chance to talk to the developers about the past, present and future of Apex Legends.
We meet with Team Respawn about the now veteran zoom interface. The team exudes passion and confidence in equal parts and the atmosphere is comfortable and relaxed. After the usual preliminary banter, “Hello, my name is so-and-so…” we get right into medias res: Apex Legends – Season 8 “Chaos”.
We start with a note about – Season 8, which brings the game’s second year to an end with a bang. Two years – this is a great achievement for developer Respawn Entertainment, as they have been actively behind the game since 2019.
“- Season 8 with its chaos theme is more like a party, so thematically it’s also a bit of a celebration… Chaos, that’s the thread that runs through everything else – Season 8 will bring.”
– Season 8 comes out, at the time of publication, today, bringing with it several new features. These include: A completely revamped version of King’s Canyon and the new Legend Fuse.
“There will be a lot of surprises, and some will be triggered by Fuse’s introduction to the game and the conflicts it creates.”
Fuse, of course, I immediately took to my heart. He’s the first Australian apex character (that I can think of) and if you ask me, Australians are damn good party people. Sounds a bit arrogant – something that can’t be said about Respawn’s plans for the future though.
With the start of Covid-19 early last year, Respawn also had to head to the home office. Still, making the quality and passion felt in Apex was one of the biggest challenges, according to the developers.
“We don’t want to rest on our laurels, we want to continue to innovate… The challenge is you never know how fans will react.”
We talk about the nature of a live game like Apex Legends. In doing so, it becomes clear that Respawn Entertainment has a clear idea of what they want to achieve with – Season 8 and its Chaos theme. Namely, growth. Not only growth in terms of player numbers, but also in terms of the ways in which the community can interact with the game. The game should become more unique and constantly evolving.
One of the best examples of this is how Respawn has used the events in King’s Canyon (trailer below) to bring back the map while responding to criticism and feedback. This kind of “live” game design is very modern and to use Respawn’s words “innovative”.
Finally, we talk about the new-player experience for players who decide to play the game because of – Season 8. Especially in the beginning, many people have a hard time warming up to Apex and we wanted to ask Respawn what they would say to those interested. The unanimous answer was, “There’s no better time than now.” With so much change on the way, we can’t wait until – Season 8 finally arrives.
“There will be so many changes that new players will be at less of a disadvantage to veterans than usual. Just start and try it out…”
What is actually… “Apex Legends?
Within 24 hours, “Apex Legends” became the most-watched game on Twitch – after one week, over 25 million people were already playing it. What is the battle royale shooter about?
What is “Apex Legends” about?
Scenario: In a distant future, bandits, adventurers, and outlaws settle their disputes in a sporting contest to the death. The setting is a fertile, industrially developed valley on the edge of the galaxy.
- Genre: Battle Royale shooter
- Game modes: survival battle between a maximum of 20 teams of three.
At its core, “Apex Legends” is a classic battle-royale shooter: up to 60 players land simultaneously in teams of three on the game map called “Kings Canyon” – a densely built-up, fertile valley with many accessible houses, bunkers and towers. Once on the ground, unarmed players must search their surroundings for equipment and ammunition. The goal of the game is to stay alive until the end.
To prevent players from hiding all over the map and waiting to automatically be the last one left, the game area shrinks every few minutes. The longer a round lasts, the smaller the area where survivors can move and hide.
Apex Legends refreshes this now classic game formula with some ideas that are unique to the genre: For example, before starting a round, players select one of eight heroes, each of which has two special abilities and facilitates certain play styles.
Bangalore, for example, is the classic soldier who can conceal her position with smoke grenades and call in an artillery strike in an emergency. The heroine Lifeline, on the other hand, can summon a drone to heal teammates – or directly order the delivery of high-value weapons and equipment via aerial drone. This way, all players can find the right hero for their preferred course of action.
How can I play Apex Legends?
Platform: “Apex Legends” is available for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4.
Price: The battle royale shooter is a “Free to Play” title and can basically be played for free on all platforms.
In-game purchases: “Apex Legends” allows the purchase of cosmetic items and new heroes either by means of in-game currency, which can be earned for free in every round, or with real money. The real-money currency “Apex Coins” can be purchased in five different amounts: The smallest possible amount is 1000 Apex Points for around 9.99 euros, while the largest pack with 10,000 Apex Points content costs 99.99 euros.
The developer emphasizes that it is not possible to buy game advantages with the help of real money: You can only use it to customize the appearance of the heroes, it says, or purchase new heroes.
Age rating: “Apex Legends” does not have a youth rating (USK 18).
Which technical terms should you know?
Respawn Beacon: If a player is shot down, the team members who are still alive have the opportunity to bring the fallen comrade back into the game: Each eliminated player leaves behind a so-called Respawn Banner, which can be collected by the players of the own team and handed in at one of 28 Respawn Beacons, certain locations on the map. If this succeeds, the fallen player returns to the game.
Jumpmaster: At the beginning of the game, one of the maximum three players of a team always takes on the role of the jumpmaster. He decides when and where his team enters the game area.
Ping: Using the middle mouse button, players can alert their teammates to interesting locations in the game world or enemies. These pings are a valuable tool for communicating quickly and efficiently within the team.
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