In a blogpost Respawn Entertainment and EA announce that Apex Legends is receiving cross-play support soon. Additionally, the battle royale shooter will release on the Nintendo Switch and will be available through Steam. Well, kind of, as you’ll still need EA Origin to play it. Lastly, a new limited-time event is coming to the game very soon and the new skins look amazing.
Apex Legends cross-play
Fans of the popular shooter won’t have to worry about which platform their friends play on soon. In the announcement Respawn Entertainment reveals that all versions of the game get cross-play support this fall. So regardless of if you’re playing on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch, or on PC via Origin and/or Steam, you can play with friends that use a different platform. The developer has been hinting at cross-play for quite a while now.
EA moves to Steam.. kind of
Along with cross-play, EA is launching Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch and Steam. No concrete release date has been given; ‘Fall 2020’ does suggest it should be releasing before the end of November. The transition to Steam – also slated for this Fall – is a bit sketchy though.
Coming Fall 2020 pic.twitter.com/nac6dtXTkK
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) June 18, 2020
Yes, as of now Steam purists can purchase games like The Sims 4, Need for Speed Payback, and Battlefield V (which recently got ‘cancelled’) through Valve’s virtual gaming hub. But as PC Gamer discovered, it still launches the PC versions of said games through Origin. In other words, launching an EA game on Steam launches another launcher… It’s not not on Steam, but it isn’t really wholly on there either.
Apex Legends Lost Treasures Collection Event
Lastly today, in a separate blogpost Respawn Entertainment announced the Apex Legends Lost Treasures Collection Event. This limited time event introduces a Crypto-related location on Kings Canyon. Additionally, the game introduces Armed and Dangerous Evolved. The limited time gamemode is mostly just a ‘snipers and shotguns’ gamemode, but with only EVO armor and no Respawn Beacons available.
That last twist ties into another new mechanic: the Mobile Respawn Beacon. This self-explanatory item can be looted in the game world and lets you call in a Mobile Respawn Beacon drop. It works similar to Lifeline’s ultimate.
Of course, no Apex Legends event is complete without a bunch of new cosmetics and items. For starters, players get access to the Lost Treasures ‘battle pass’. By completing challenges, you unlock event-specific cosmetics. These include (among others) Legendary weapon skins for the G7 Scout, Spitfire, a cyberpunk-style Crypto skin, a Mirage Heirloom, and a spectacular Revenant Inca-like skin.
The Apex Legends Lost Treasures Collection Event will run from June 23 – July 7.