Apex Legends turned out to be both a pleasant surprise and powerful contender to battle royale behemoths Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. The free-to-play multiplayer shooter brings Titanfall 2's level of polish and design to the battle royale formula, making it one of our favorite games of the last year.
However, Apex Legends' popularity has waned some since its launch, partially because the early honeymoon period in which the game attracted tons of attention (and streamers) is over. Another culprit: The game's first three-month season was lackluster in terms of content. Apex introduced a new character and a new weapon with Season 1, but little else that makes the game dynamic as a live-service title. Earning its first season's rewards also came through as a lot of grind for little payoff among some players.
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Now Playing: E3 2019: What We Expect To See At The Event
The first content season of Apex is set to wrap up this month, though--right around E3. We're expecting to learn a lot more during the event. Before that, a special in-game event is set to kick off known as the Legendary Hunt. This was scheduled to kick off on June 4, coinciding with the release of an update, but at the time of this writing, that has not yet happened. Respawn says there was a "hiccup" with the rollout of the patch and that's it working to get it out ASAP.
As for Season 2, we should be finding out more this weekend no matter what. Here's what we know about the upcoming season, as well as what we want.
As for exactly what content is coming in Season 2, the specifics are anybody's guess. At least one new character, known as Wattson, is expected to join the game based on past leaks. Trailers have also suggested a new weapon coming to the game to go with Wattson, as well. But nobody knows for sure at this point what Season 2 will entail, or how broad its changes to Apex Legends will be.
"For Season 2 you can expect a Battle Pass with more meaningful content, the introduction of a new Legend, the debut of a new weapon... and you didn't expect Kings Canyon to stay the same forever, did you?" Respawn wrote in a post on the EA blog.
You can watch EA Play live here on GameSpot. Saturday, June 8 will see the company host a lengthy livestream divided up into game-specific segments. Following Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, Apex will get the spotlight at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST (3 AM AET on June 10).
Respawn has also suggested that Apex would see its game map evolving and changing over time, and if we can't get lots of new weapons and characters in Season 2, we'd love to see the terrain become altered and more dynamic. The alien worlds of the Titanfall universe allow for a lot of possibilities, and speculation based on leaks has already suggested that the huge, deadly creatures who inhabit the world of Kings Canyon could get in on the action in Apex. New dangers and obstacles, as well as new places to fight and develop strategies, would be welcome additions to the base Apex Legends formula.
Apex could also stand to improve in adding more for players to do while they're playing. Taking a page from Fortnite in this respect is probably a good idea. With each new season, developer Epic Games adds a mess of challenges to the game that help players earn experience and rewards faster. Some are simple, requiring little more than getting into fights with specific weapons, but others require exploring the map and finding strange Easter eggs that give players hints at the overall shifting nature of the game. There's always something weird to discover in Fortnite, it seems.
Challenges would grow the replayability factor for Apex, especially if they helped give players more to strive for in earning cosmetic and customization rewards. But apart from just new skins for guns and characters, Apex could use challenges and Easter eggs to expand on the lore and story that surrounds the game, giving players cool secrets to discover that enhance their understanding of Apex's characters and world. Respawn has hinted at the more in-depth story surrounding Apex--we know it's part of the Titanfall universe, after all, which has quite a bit of lore of its own. At E3, we'd love to see Respawn start to push the boundaries of Apex Legends in a way that's similar to what Blizzard does with Overwatch, telling more stories about its characters and giving players a broader look at its world.
And of course, it'd be great to see Respawn enhance the battle pass of Apex Legends to give players more cool stuff to hunt. Fun as the game is itself, solid battle passes (as well as things like challenges and other content) help hold interest in games like Apex, which keeps players returning. In fact, it'd be nice to see Respawn experiment with the battle pass formula the way it has the battle royale formula, to further set the game apart from contenders like Fornite. We're not sure what form those experiments might take, but we're willing to give them a shot based on how much we've enjoyed what Respawn has created so far.
Oh, and while it's known that Respawn is actively trying to stamp out cheating in the game, a longer-term solution to the problem of hacks that ruin the game would make an excellent E3 bonus. Dealing with all cheaters might be wishful thinking, but if one thing would enhance the fun of Apex immediately, it's that.