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'Apex Legends' Iron Crown event goes live with solo mode
Apex Legends fans have two weeks to take part in new challenges, including venturing out to King's Canyon on their own. The Iron Collection Crown event and temporary Solos mode has gone live, with this trial run set to end on August 27th.
EA's largest 'Apex Legends' tournament yet starts September 13th
EA and Respawn are stepping up their esports ambitions for Apex Legends. They've announced a Preseason Invitational that will represent the largest volume of talent amassed for a competitive Apex Legends event, with 80 teams of three (that's 240 people) competing for a $500,000 prize pool. The event takes place in Krakow, Poland between September 13th and September 15th and will use a double elimination format where teams have a shot at redemption until the final 20 teams strive for the top prize.
'Apex Legends' will pit cheaters against each other
Respawn may have a particularly poetic way to exact justice on Apex Legends cheaters: give them a taste of their own medicine. The studio has revealed that its anti-cheating efforts will include matchmaking between detected cheaters and spam accounts. Their aim bots and hacks won't be much fun if they're playing against similarly dirty competitors.
Respawn will share more about its 'AAA' VR shooter later this year
Back in 2017, Facebook and Respawn Entertainment revealed the developer was working on a virtual reality AAA shooter. While things have been fairly secretive since (so much so that it might have fallen off your radar), we'll hear more about it at this year's Oculus Connect, which is scheduled for September 25th to 26th in San Jose.
‘Apex Legends’ is making its worst guns more powerful
Apex Legends' second season debuts July 2nd, and we already knew it would include plenty of exciting changes -- like Wattson, an engineer character who thrives on defensive play. Today, Respawn shed more light on what we can expect to see in terms of weaponry. While we knew this season would bring back L-STAR, the high-power rifle from Titanfall 2, Respawn says it will also give some of the game's weaker weapons a boost with new hop ups.
Razer’s 'mental performance' drink probably won't quench its thirst
Razer wants to tackle another part of the gaming experience -- namely, the drinks you need to keep your momentum going. It's introducing Respawn (no connection to that Respawn), a "mental performance" drink mix that's meant to keep your focus sharp for long periods. No, it's not a direct knock-off of its most conspicuous rival, G Fuel. You'll find a few familiar ingredients like choline and Vitamin B, and it's equally sugar-free, but there's none of the taurine and less caffeine (95mg versus 150mg). The Razer-owned brand doesn't want to risk the crash you get with energy drinks -- this is meant for those hours-long sessions where you don't want to slip.
Watch EA's Play 2019 event in 19 minutes
E3 effectively began on June 8th with the start of EA's Play event, but we won't blame you if you missed out. With roughly three hours of game previews, that could have taken a large bite out of your weekend. Thankfully, you don't have to watch the whole thing to get a feel for what was new. We've compiled all the best bits of the Play presentation into an easier-to-digest 19-minute clip. And there's a lot to digest. Between Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order gameplay, Apex Legends' second season, the reveal of FIFA 20 and updates on Battlefield V, Madden NFL 20 and The Sims 4, you'll know tons about EA's 2019 plans by the time everything is said and done.
Wattson is just what 'Apex Legends' needs
I don't remember the last time a video game had me as hooked as Apex Legends does. And when I say "hooked," I mean that I'm staying up until 4 or 5AM playing on weekdays, which probably isn't the best idea for someone with a full-time job who has no aspirations to be a professional Twitch streamer. But, as much as I love Apex, my one complaint is that developer Respawn Entertainment doesn't keep the game feeling fresh. The last time we got a new character, for instance, was back in March with that speedy dude Octane. Thankfully, at E3 2019, Respawn revealed a new Legend named Natalie "Wattson" Paquette, who is part of the Season 2 Battle Pass that will launch on July 2nd.
'Apex Legends' second season debuts July 2nd with an engineer character
There's finally some concrete details about the second season of Apex Legends, and it's heartening news if you're either a defensive player or particularly competitive. The next phase of the game will add Wattson, an engineer character who thrives on defensive play. She can set up energy fences to guard must-have territory, and unleash an ultimate ability that shoots down airborne projectiles like bombardments and arc stars.
Watch 14 minutes of 'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order' gameplay
Respawn and EA have finally shown what it's like to play Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and it's what you'd expect -- with a few twists. They've posted a 14-minute gameplay clip showing hero Cal Kestis as he supports early rebels tries to survive both the Empire and a hostile environment. Respawn's experience with Titanfall is on full display here with wall running, double-jumps ("Force flips") and similar acrobatics, but it's also clear the company is embracing and expanding the Star Wars mythos. Even in his rough state, Cal is skilled with a lightsaber and can wield Force powers to knock enemies down, toss his saber and even slow down environmental hazards or blaster fire.
'Apex Legends' will keep players busy with daily and weekly challenges
Respawn has a straightforward way to keep its hordes of Apex Legends players coming back: it's borrowing a page from other battle royale shooters. The studio has teased Season 2 Battle Pass plans that will include daily and weekly challenges to speed up your progression. While there aren't specifics of what they'll entail, Respawn is trying to avoid "wacky" challenges that force you to play in odd ways. And don't panic if you have to skip Apex while on vacation -- you can finish earlier weekly challenges when you get back.
Next 'Apex Legends' update addresses audio issues
Since the explosive launch of Apex Legends and its deliberately quieter evolution over the last few months, the game is still dealing with some annoying issues. According to the team at Respawn, an update coming to all platforms next week will target some audio problems that caused sound to drop out, or repeat when it shouldn't, and also increases the volume of close enemy footsteps so that maybe you can avoid getting third partied for once. Other audio tweaks include a reduction of Wraith's kunai knife sound that was annoying for some people, while sounds from character select through dropping in have seen their volume drop, and the music that plays for winners is getting louder to let all your neighbors know they're in the presence of a champion. Respawn is also still tweaking some hitbox issues, and dealt with a very specific crash bug that could occur on Intel-powered PCs. You can check out their post for the full changelog, however any word on exactly when it will arrive is still TBA, and news about what players can expect in season two will have to wait for the EA Play event in June.
Respawn will ban 'Apex Legends' players who mooch on their teams
Ever dealt with a teammate in an online game who was clearly there just to leech on your success? You might not have to in Apex Legends. As part of a broader update on its plans, Respawn has warned that it will issue temporary bans to players who piggyback -- that is, mooch off the success of their teammates without participating in matches. The policy won't take effect right away, but it could result in permanent bans in "extreme cases."
'Apex Legends' is coming to mobile devices
How will Respawn and EA keep Apex Legends' momentum going? Do what Epic did, apparently -- bring the game to phones and tablets. As part of a call discussing its latest quarterly earnings, EA said it would release versions of the Titanfall-based battle royale title for mobile devices. There weren't specifics about platforms or release dates, but it's safe to say Android and iOS have made the short list.
‘Apex Legends’ bans 770,000 cheats
Just over a week ago Respawn announced that it's taking a stronger stance against cheating in Apex Legends. Today, it revealed that it's blocked 770,000 players, 300,000 account creations and 4,000 cheat seller accounts. The company says this is just the beginning of its battle to takedown cheats.
Respawn spaces out 'Apex Legends' content updates to avoid crunch
Now that Respawn has released its first Apex Legends Battle Pass and is otherwise settling in, it's outlining how it will handle Apex updates going forward -- including what it won't do. In the lengthy status post, the company's Drew McCoy stressed that his team would make the battle royale game feel "alive and thriving," but wasn't going to pursue updates so aggressively that it required crunch time that could prompt "burnout or worse." In other words, he'd rather a new feature take longer than jeopardize health or the quality of the output.
'Apex Legends' update makes its big boys harder to kill
Respawn technically addressed the overly large hitboxes of some Apex Legends characters with a recent update, but that didn't work as well as expected. The developer has a simple solution, though: make those beefier characters harder to kill. A version 1.1.1 update to the game has bestowed Gibraltar and Caustic with a "Fortified" perk that reduces incoming damage by 10 percent. Gibraltar's Gun Shield is slightly stronger, too. While neither change is enough to throw caution to the wind, you might be more inclined to play if you can better serve as your team's bullet sponge.
Respawn's 'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order' arrives November 15th
Respawn has pulled back the curtains on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order after months of teases. The single-player game is now due to launch on November 15th and follows Cal Kestis, a Padawan trying to survive Emperor Palpatine's command to execute the Jedi -- including the Inquisitors hunting the last remnants of the once-great order. He starts as a scrapper trying to keep his head down, but he's invariably roped into a larger story and learns to embrace his Force powers instead of keeping them suppressed.
'Apex Legends' fix restores the progression you lost
If you fired up Apex Legends after the 1.1 patch on April 2nd only to panic as all your progression was nowhere to be seen, don't panic -- it's back. Respawn has fixed a mistake on its end that moved players to servers that didn't have their persistence, making it look as if all their progress had been erased. Everything you did up until the moment 1.1 went live should be intact, and any currency will revert back to the pre-fix state.
'Apex Legends' has banned 500,000 accounts for cheating
Apex Legends season 1 is now underway, and beyond the updates previously Respawn had revealed would be included in today's patch (including a new character, balance changes and character hitbox fixes), it revealed 499,937 accounts have been banned for cheating so far. You'll have a better way to report cheating and abuse, which you can do from the spectate view after your character dies or from the Squad tab.
