Summary
Apex Legendshas one of the healthiest ecosystems in the live-service sphere, maintaining a dedicated playerbase and a booming esports scene over five years after release. As can be observed by the release ofCounter-Strike 2andOverwatch 2, a few live-service publishers are opting to release full sequels to try and grow or regrow their playerbases. According to EA’s chief executive officer, Andrew Wilson, that’s not the approach EA will take (thanks,IGN).
At a recent earnings call with investors, Wilson fielded questions about Apex Legends and EA’s live-service models. He recognises that live-service games need “meaningful systematic innovation that fundamentally change the way the games play,” which does sound a lot like a complete rebuild, but that’s not what he has in mind.
Reboots Aren’t Necessary
A follow-up question to Wilson explicitly asked if the team was working on a “systematic rethink of Apex,” and the executive clarified that “Apex 2.0” is not in the company’s current plans.
“Typically, what we have seen in the context of live service-driven games at scale is the ‘version two’ thing has almost never been as successful as the ‘version one’ thing,” Wilson began. “So actually the objective right now is to ensure that we are continuing to support the global playerbase that we have, and deliver them new, innovative, creative content on a season-by-season basis, as well as build these other things, but build them in a way that players do not have to give up the progress that they’ve made or the investment that they’ve put into the existing ecosystem. Anytime we cause a global player community to have to choose between the investments they’ve made to date and future innovation and creativity, that’s never a good place to put our community in.”
Wilson’s reference to players having to choose between accumulated investment and future innovation is a salient one as we’ve seen live-service sequels struggle with this transition.Smitedeveloper Hi-Rez Studios is unable to port existing cosmetics into Smite 2, which is an ongoing controversy within the community.
“Our objective will be to continue to innovate in the core experience…and then build additional opportunities for engagement in different modalities of play beyond what the current core mechanic delivers. And we think we can do those two things together, and we don’t believe we have to separate the experience to do so,” Wilson finished.
So, while there may be systemic changes coming to Apex Legends in the near future, the team at EA and Respawn don’t seem interested in pursuing a sequel at this time. Apex Legends is currently in the midst of a Halloween-themed event, Techno Terror.
Apex Legends
WHERE TO PLAY
Blending the genres of battle royale and hero shooter, Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends has become a staple of the competitive gaming scene. Set in the same universe as the hit Titanfall series, players must come together in cross-platform play to be the last team standing.
