Respawn next game revealed | Rock Paper Shotgun

Titanfall but battle royale but without the mechs: that’s the word on the street about what we can expect from Apex Legends, the next game from Respawn Entertainment. The Titanfall & Titanfall 2 studio, which these days is but one limb on the EA millipede, has confirmed they’ll be revealing the game today, and that Apex Legends is indeed its name.

Meanwhile, rumour swirls that it’s free-to-play and will even be released this week, in “surprise! We put Bono on your iPhone” fashion. Only, dear God in heaven please, without any tax-dodging rock-lizards, presumably.

Wait, wait – Titanfall without the Mechs?

The grand reveal’s due on the new Apex Legends Twitch channel at 8am PST/ 3PM UK time today, and there’s an Apex Legends Twitter account to keep tabs on too. Which has already been useful, as it’s retweeted an “um, actually” statement from Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella, advising that you’ll be sitting through a full four hours of Titan-teasing if you turn up at 8/3 – the real feature presentation doesn’t begin until 12pm PST/7pm UK.

Ahead of this, Jason Schreier on Kotaku – who is generally a very reliable industry bloodhound – has gone live with assorted alleged details about Apex Legends. In brief:

– It is set within the Titanfall fiction
– It is a free-to-play battle royale game, like wot all the kids are playing
– PC / Xbox One / PS4
– No mechs, but soldiers with MOBA-y powers, fighting either solo or in three-gunperson teams

And there’s more rumour from veteran esports analyst and reporter Rod Breslau, mostly notably this humdinger:

Sources who have played and have knowledge of the game confirm to me that Respawn is set to announce and release Apex Legends on Monday Feb 4, a free to play Titanfall Hero Battle Royale game for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) February 2, 2019

I.e. the big surprise in the reveal is an Oprah moment – that the bally game is released into the world at the culmination of it. We shall see, later today.

Breslau also claims to have heard that Apex Legends will support up to 60 players, that it’ll use a modified version of Valve’s Source engine – as did both Titanfalls – and that we can expect Overwatch-style loot boxes and microtransactions. Well, this is an EA-published game, after all.

If that doesn’t float your boat, Kotaku reckon that Respawn’s upcoming Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is still on the cards for later this year.

More on Apex Legends as we have it, naturally.