Respawn Will Stick to Seasonal Updates for Apex Legends

Though Fortnite has made battle royale players accustomed to weekly updates, that’s not always the norm when it comes to live service games. For Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment specifically, weekly updates were never part of the plan. Despite Apex Legends’ meteoric rise in popularity, Respawn is sticking to that original plan. So expect the developer to focus on quality, rather than quantity, when it comes to updates, as they’ll come season-by-season.

The plan was reiterated by Respawn CEO Vince Zampella during the GamesBeat Summit. We already had an idea of Respawn’s plan for Apex Legends when it detailed the first update the battle royale game received. The benefits from the slower pace of the updates is twofold. Respawn previously said that this allows players to get better used to the game and its mechanics. If the developers constantly change how its characters and weapons operate, it will be harder for players to feel comfortable with it.

However, there’s a second, more frank reason for this, as well. While the team did toy with the idea of more regular updates, it ultimately came down to “quality of life for the team.”

“We don’t want to overwork the team,” Zampella stated. The statements come in light of allegations of dangerous levels of crunch over at Fortnite developer Epic Games. Fortnite has become synonymous with its weekly updates, though it appears to be at the cost of the well-being of its team. To see Respawn prioritize the health of its team over constantly tweaking its hugely popular game is admirable, to say the least.

Conversely, some may wonder if this move will hurt Apex Legends’ momentum in the long run. The first season and battle pass came with a whimper for many fans, and at this point, it’s not clear when we will see the next season. However, even though Respawn won’t be giving weekly updates, the developer is still looking forward to supporting its game, as well as the team making it.

[Source: Gamasutra]