Titanfall Devs Release Apex Legends Free-To-Play Battle Royale
Respawn Entertainment is the latest company to jump aboard the battle royale bandwagon, today announcing and releasing a new free-to-play title called Apex Legends. The game is set in the Titanfall universe, which Respawn is also the creator of, but unfortunately, it looks like you aren't able to call down Titans as you play. Instead, Respawn has made some tweaks to the tried-and-true battle royale formula for Apex Legends, like introducing a class system that's built around squad play.
There are eight classes, dubbed "Legends," in all, and in its announcement today, Respawn detailed two of them: the Lifeline and Bloodhound. Lifeline, as the name suggests, is responsible for patching up teammates after a firefight and can even deploy a shield in battle. The Bloodhound, on the other hand, is a hunter who can see recent activity from other players on the map.
Some of the other features Respawn has implemented include the "Jumpmaster system," which puts one squad member in charge of where the entire squad drops at the beginning of a match. Players will also encounter Respawn Beacons on the map as they play, which are one-time use and allow squads to revive one of their fallen teammates.
As far as monetization is concerned, it sounds like EA and Respawn will rely on a Battle Pass system like the one we see in Fortnite. That means gameplay will be split up into seasons, and at the start of each new one, players will have the option to pay for a Battle Pass, which in turn allows them to unlock new cosmetics as they play. Respawn and EA say that the first season for Apex Legends will kick off in March, but at the moment, there aren't any additional details.
So there you have it: the world gained a new free-to-play battle royale game today. Time will tell if it can compete with the likes of Fortnite and PUBG, but for now, you can check it out on Xbox One, PS4, and PC through Origin and decide for yourself how Apex Legends measures up to the giants of the genre.