Ever since it was first released, Apex Legends has been a thoroughly enjoyable twist on the battle royale genre, but those who get into it want to know its history in addition to what the latest season holds.
I remember the launch of Apex Legends well because it came almost out of the blue. Respawn Entertainment is known for the Titanfall series and, thanks to recent releases, the Star Wars Jedi franchise too. But its battle royale game has been a staple for most shooter fans for years now, and I think it’s always nice to know when these games came out so you can get a sense of their rich history from before you started playing.
When did Apex Legends originally come out?
Apex Legends was released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on February 4, 2019. From memory, Respawn Entertainment teased an announcement of something either a few days before the release or on the same day. The announcement livestream was a complete mystery, but once we all tuned in, the developer announced and released Apex Legends at the same moment.
This was pretty unprecedented at the time because most companies would have put a lot of time and money into marketing before releasing games of this scale. The fact that it’s a free-to-play title attracted millions of players instantly, and I can remember servers chugging for the entire week. The game felt great to play, though and still does today.
When did Apex Legends come to Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S?
Apex Legends came to Nintendo Switch on March 9, 2021, and PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 29, 2022. These home consoles could use previous-generation versions before their own dedicated ones were launched. Cross-save progression was implemented in Season 19, meaning you can earn progress and unlock skins on all platforms for a single account.
This was a massive boon for the community because many of us wanted to be able to play at home on a console or PC but pick up the title for a quick session on the Switch now and then. There’s nothing quite like being able to hop into a match as you walk around the house or garden, keeping an eye on the kids and the circle slowly closing around the map.
What happened to Apex Legends Mobile?
Apex Legends Mobile was released on May 17, 2022. However, it was shut down on January 31, 2023, because EA didn’t see it meeting players’ expectations. This was pretty devastating to those who had invested time and money into the game because there were exclusive skins in it that many players covet to this day.
However, Apex Legends Mobile wasn’t developed by Respawn Entertainment. The developer has since continued to press onward with new seasons for the main that improve the core mechanics and add new Legends over time.
