Respawn Entertainment has high hopes for the future of Apex Legends, saying it hopes the game will last as long as classic PC shooter Counter-Strike.
In an interview with IGN, Apex Legends design director Evan Nikolich said the game could one day be relinquished by Respawn but kept going by fans out of pure love for it.
"Where we want to get to is that Apex is going to last for 20 years like Counterstrike. It has to be able to be self-sufficient and stand on its own. The systems have to be strong and interesting and good for players to play season over season, even if we're not adding new bespoke content. But there'll always be some attending there in terms of creating interesting choice, creating interesting challenge and shifting the rule set that builds the healthiest game," Nikolich says.
Nikolich likens Apex Legends to traditional sports, explaining that games like basketball have evolved over the years as well.
"So if you look at some of the most established sports in the world, they've been around for 100 plus years, but those first few years, the games are... Basketball is my favorite game, has evolved a lot in just 100 years," he explains. "And so we're in that early first five years of basketball where there's no shot clock, no three-point line, all that stuff. And we're slowly moving away to what we know in the NBA game today. And that will take time and plenty of time to add new stuff, new content."
Having launched in February 2019, Apex Legends has just entered its fifth year on the market and its 16th competitive season, meaning its already a quarter of the way towards that two decade goal. Apex Legends Season 16, which adds the first new weapon in a while in the Nemesis energy assault rifle, launches today.
In our 9/10 review that was updated in 2021, IGN said: "Apex Legends' mix of exciting characters, excellent gunplay, and unmatched FPS movement keep it a consistently fresh thrill."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
fireflyry on February 15th, 2023 at 00:13 UTC »
It’s good to dream big, but CS’s success was very much time and place, much akin to every MMORPG wanting to be the WOW killer in the mid 2000’s.
It like a newish and pretty good band hoping for the success and longevity of the Rolling Stones, you have to also be a realist.
CS also had no initial comparative or competition, it was entirely unique in an environment where you either played CS or an arena shooter, while social media was in its infancy so talking and teaming up with other players and friends in game was a HUGE deal, now it’s a common place expectation.
Times, and the market, have changed and tbf they are very different games mechanically, a three person shield and loot heavy BR, a team vs team round based tactical twitch shooter.
Apples, oranges.
Fortnite would be a way more accurate comparison.
literalproblemsolver on February 14th, 2023 at 19:47 UTC »
Being owned by EA might be their biggest obstacle here
fastspinecho on February 14th, 2023 at 19:12 UTC »
Not 20 weeks, like Apex Legends Mobile.