• Industry veteran Vince Zampella has died at the age of 55
• He was involved in a car accident in Los Angeles on December 21
• Zampella was best known as the co-creator of the Call of Duty series and the co-founder of Respawn Entertainment

Vince Zampella, an industry legend best known as the co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Respawn Entertainment, has died at the age of 55.

According to NBC Los Angeles, Zampella was killed in a single-car crash that occurred on December 21. It took place on a road north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains.

"The southbound car veered off the road, hit a concrete barrier and a passenger was ejected," the California Highway Patrol said.

"The driver died at the scene and the passenger died at a hospital, authorities told NBC4 Investigates," the report reads.

It's now been confirmed that he was the driver of a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS, but the passenger has not been identified at this time.

Zampella co-created the massively successful Call of Duty franchise with Jason West in 2003 at their studio Infinity Ward, a series that went on to shape the first-person shooter (FPS) genre in gaming.

Infinity Ward has shared its own statement on X / Twitter following Zampella's passing, writing, "rest in peace Vince. As one of the founders of Infinity Ward and Call of Duty, you will always have a special place in our history.

"Your legacy of creating iconic, lasting entertainment is immeasurable. Our deepest condolences to Vince’s family and loved ones upon this terrible tragedy."

The industry veteran left Infinity Ward in 2010 after a legal dispute with Activision. He and West co-founded Respawn the same year, a studio that developed Titanfall and Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

"We're heartbroken by the passing of our founder and dear friend Vince Zampella," Repawn said on X / Twitter. "Vince was a titan and legend of this industry, a visionary leader and a force who shaped teams and games like Call of Duty, Titanfall, Apex Legends, the Star Wars Jedi series and Battlefield for our community in ways that will be felt for generations.

"His impact reached far beyond any one game or studio. We will remember Vince for how he showed up every day, trusting his teams, encouraging bold ideas, and believing in Respawn and Battlefield. Most importantly, he championed what he believed was right for the people behind those studios and our players because it mattered. We will miss him greatly. Our hearts are with his family, friends, and all who love him."

Before his passing, Zampella acted as the executive vice president at EA, overseeing the Battlefield series. EA also provided a statement to Kotaku.

"This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work, Vince’s influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching," the statement reads.

"A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world. His legacy will continue to shape how games are made and how players connect for generations to come."

Respawn Entertainment has reversed Apex Legends' latest battle pass changes following player backlash.

Earlier this month, the developer revealed that it would be updating the battle royale's season-long battle pass system, by splitting it into two. The first "half season" would roll out at the beginning of Season 22, then the second would be released during the season mid-point, with each featuring 60 levels of rewards, instead of the usual 110.

The changes would have also removed the ability to purchase the battle pass using Apex Coins - a currency earned in the pass itself - and would instead make players pay real-world money for them at $9.99 / £8.99 per "half season". An optional $19.99 / £17.99 Premium+ track was also revealed, which would have replaced the premium bundle.

Players were quick to show their displeasure at the changes, which saw Apex Legends review bombed on Steam with over 81,659 negative reviews as of writing. 

Following the backlash, Respawn has now reversed the changes. 

"You've spoken, and we've listened," Respawn said in a recent X / Twitter post, before confirming that it will be restoring the ability to buy the Premium Battle Pass for 950 Apex Coins with the release of Season 22.

"We recognize that we could have handled the Battle Pass changes better - that's on us," the studio added. "It's our intention to improve the overall value and experience across our Battle Pass offerings."

Respawn then offered a summary of what it intends to change for Season 22. When the new system launches on August 6, the developer will give players the chance to get the Premium Battle Pass, which can be unlocked by "completing a series of simple in-game challenges".

When Split 2 - the second battle pass - releases on September 17, players can get the Premium Battle Passes the same as before: by using 950 Apex Coins.

It also explained that the Battle Pass options will now include better rewards, and with the new challenges, will be faster to complete with only 60 levels.

"Moving forward, we recognize that we need to be more timely, transparent, and consistent in our communications with you," Respawn added. "Your priorities are our priorities: cheaters, game stability, and quality of life updates are top of mind. We need to get better and it's why we're acknowledging them here."

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The Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) North American finals concluded with a bang this weekend—but the twist in the tale was one nobody expected (or wanted). Partway through the regional event, players were targeted by hacks that disrupted the "competitive integrity" of the match, resulting in the final stage of the tournament being postponed.

Shortly after the incident, speculation arose as to the source of the attack, with questions being asked about the Easy Anti-Cheat software. Epic Games has since released a statement claiming that there is no relation between the remote hack and the EAC.

"We are confident THERE IS NO RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited."

Calling the shots 

The tournament was well underway when DarkZero's Noyan Ozkose (AKA Genburten) and TSM's Phillip Dosen (AKA ImperialHall) were struck with RCE hacks which allowed a bad actor to interfere directly with the game.

Ozkose and Dosen's cheats were suddenly and unexpectedly enabled. Oskoze was able to see the position of enemy players through the walls and odd messages ("Apex hacking global series by Destroyer2009 & R4ndom")  scrolled across the screen during the action. Oskoze reacted quickly, taking his hands off his keyboard and alerting his team to the issue.

Similarly, when Dosen aimed at a target, it was with the help of an aimbot—though he hadn't enabled the cheat himself.

Respawn canceled the match in response to the incidents, citing that the competition had been compromised, and postponed the NA finals. More information on the rescheduling is set to follow in due course.

Exploring the anti-cheat exploit 

Naturally, speculation ran rampant on Twitter, with players and spectators wondering how such a prominent tournament could be blown off course by REC hacks. The volunteer group Anti-Cheat Police Department joined the conversation, warning players that their personal information could be at risk unless they took specific measures—like refreshing old passwords and reinstalling their operating systems.

The Anti-Cheat Police Department posited that Easy Anti-Cheat, the security system used by Apex Legends, was a possible cause of the issue. The group believes that the EAC could be co-opted by bad actors and used to inject hacks into streamer PCs or infect them with ransomware.

Epic Games has refuted this claim, however, stating that:

“At this time – we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed.”

A problem to solve 

So, how can similar incidents be prevented? The last thing any pro player wants during a high-stakes tournament is to be targeted by a remote hack—and casual players might wonder if the same threats could impact their games, too.

Gaming VPNs certainly have their uses, especially if you’re looking to put a stop to DDoS attacks, but they can’t guarantee protection from remote exploits. However, VPNs can make it much more difficult for bad actors to target you in the first place.

By masking your original IP address and routing your DNS requests through an intermediary, VPNs provide an extra layer of security when you’re gaming online. A cybercriminal would have to work a lot harder to get hold of your identifiable details.

Still, a VPN isn't a guarantee of total digital protection—particularly if you’re worried about ransomware. NordVPN has its very own security suite, with malware-detection tools, and prevents downloads from occurring on the sly. That’s handy, but VPNs aren’t the best safeguard against more stubborn digital threats: think viruses, ransomware, malware, and other digital nasties.

The best antivirus software can help you out, however, with real-time protection and scans that aren’t just browser-based. 

The best free Steam games are the perfect way to get the most out of your PC gaming setup in 2025. Maybe you've been treated to a brand new PC or just wanted to fill out your library; whatever the reason, there's no point in spending a bucket load of cash when these free games are available to play right now.

Steam is full of fantastic free games, but this brilliant fact can be a double-edged sword, as the sheer volume of titles can be confusing at the best of times, and it can be hard to decipher what is worth your time. Many of the entries on this list are also some of the best multiplayer PC games and best crossplay titles available, so there will definitely be something for you here.

While there's no upfront cost, it is important to note that some of these 'free' games may have in-game purchases in order to finance the project, so if you truly want a game that comes at no extra cost, it's important to keep an eye out for microtransactions. Here are the best free Steam games to play in 2025, including battle royale games, historical strategy RPGs, and more.

Best free Steam games 2025

PUBG: Battlegrounds is the battle royale that popularized the genre, and it's still very much kicking. In fact, it's consistently in the top 10 most played games on Steam, and has changed a fair bit since launch. In many ways however, PUBG has stuck very close to its roots, and it's still a very paired down, no-frills shooter. The tension you feel playing a match is still unrivaled, as you creep around shadowy hallways, through patches of long grass, and pick the right moment to strike.

Whether you've played PUBG before, or not, now is a great time to jump in. It's free to play, and there's new maps and modes to try out. Bring in a squad of pals and you're guaranteed to have a blast. Just watch out for snipers.

Brawlhalla is a hidden gem, one that can be picked up for free on a whole host of platforms. Nowadays, there's a huge roster of characters to choose from, including tie-ins like SpongeBob, Darth Maul and even WWE wrestlers like Xavier Woods and John Cena. With these characters come themed stages to battle around, and an awesome soundtrack to keep things bumping.

There's real care put into each and every fighter in Brawlhalla, and several different play-styles to master. Unlike other platform fighters, Brawlhalla offers a silky smooth online experience, meaning you can easily jump in with up to eight players online. There's casual, ranked and private matches to choose from, and loads of options to cater your experience.

Call of Duty Warzone takes the best parts from its predecessors (the first Warzone, and Blackout), and mashes them together with elements from the current mainline offering to create something that's well worth checking out. After the release of Black Ops 6, there's been some neat changes to Warzone, namely in the movement department. Now, you can jump in and enjoy Omnimovement, which allows you to dive in any direction while shooting. Pair this with the tense firefights and tactical maneuvering present in each match, and you've got a real winner.

Thankfully, Warzone is also free to play on Steam, though be aware that there's a Battle Pass, and a shedload of cosmetics offered up for purchase. You can absolutely ignore these, but it is particularly embedded into the core experience.

Marvel Rivals has risen to the very top of the charts since it launched late 2024. The main reason for this is the fact that it already offers up 39 recognisable Heroes to choose from, each feeling unique, and most importantly, fun to play. Whether you want to shoot enemies, beat them down with your fists, or use magic to send them flying, there's a Hero for you. From iconic characters like Iron-Man and Storm, to relatively unknown picks like Jeff the Land Shark, there really is something for everyone.

Better yet, Marvel Rivals is free to play, meaning you can try the game out for yourself at no extra cost. It's crossplay too, so you can squad up with friends, and climb the ranks together in Competitive mode.

Picking up The Sims 4 in 2024 gives you access to a robust simulation experience. The base game is free, and beyond that, there's years of expansion packs to experiment with. These cost money, so if you'd rather stick with the free version, you'll still have plenty to keep you busy for hundreds of hours. Do you want to build your ideal community? Would you rather act out interesting social experiments instead? Well, that's up to you, as The Sims 4 is a veritable playground that's a blast to experiment in.

Create unique Sims with distinct personality traits, careers and styles to give each of your projects a unique feel. The fun is in the experimentation, as you visit new environments, and see how your Sims interact with each other and the world around them.,

Marvel Snap is a heck of a good time on both mobile and Steam. It's free to jump in, and thanks to the excellent tutorial, you'll be battling players before you know it. As you earn XP, you'll unlock more character cards and start to build out your own bespoke decks. There are a million different strategies to try out, making it very easy to invest hundreds of hours into Marvel Snap. If you're a Marvel fan, there's so many characters to unlock, including card variants showing different outfits and iterations of iconic heroes like Iron Man and Captain America.

If you're planning on playing Marvel Snap on Steam, you'll be happy to know that there's crossplay with mobile players, meaning that finding matches is quick and easy. Matches only last three minutes as well, so even if you lose, you can jump right back in to try out new decks and abilities.

What is Overwatch 2? It changes the game from a 6v6 team shooter to 5v5, it brings new heroes and maps, and other changes you’d expect from a sequel but it also replaces the original Overwatch. It's more of an overhaul than a full on sequel, though it's a welcome update that makes the game even more fun to play. If you liked the first Overwatch, you'll likely have plenty to enjoy here, and with the first game now inaccessible, this is a good chance to jump back in for lapsed players.

Overwatch 2 is also free to play, meaning you can give it a go for no cost at all. While it's certainly gotten a bit more complicated over the years, Overwatch is still a great experience for new players. With such diverse characters to choose from, each with completely different play styles, there's sure to be one that fits your personal style.

Doki Doki Literature Club! certainly isn't as cute as its art style might first suggest. The content warning that appears at the start of the game is a clue towards its true nature, but it really needs to be played to be fully understood. Essentially, this is a visual novel where you join a group of young students as part of a literature club. Beyond this, revealing what comes next would be a huge spoiler, so I'll just say that things take a turn, a dark one indeed.

If you enjoy visual novels, and are looking for a shorter experience than other games on this list, Doki Doki Literature Club! is a seriously memorable time. Though do be sure to heed the content warnings associated with it, as it's easy to be blindsided by some particularly difficult themes that kick in around halfway through.

If you're looking for a new Battle Royale-esque game to fill the time, then you should check out The Finals. This free-to-play combat-centered game show pits various teams of three against each other as they compete for the top spot.

There are plenty of different operators to choose from, as well as an environment that can be changed at your whim. This means that no one fight is the same, and your team can masterfully create a unique playstyle to overcome the odds and eke out a win. Send wrecking balls hurtling toward your enemies, light buildings on fire, or simply turn the entire map to rubble; everything is allowed in this PvP first-person shooter.

There are various objectives in The Finals that you can work towards, such as opening vaults and transporting goods to a cash-out location, many of which take inspiration from Capture the Flag.

After 20 years of expertly crafted first-person shooters, Valve has released a sequel to the renowned Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. CS2 has proven itself to be an interesting update to the well-known FPS title, earning it a spot on our best free Steam games list.

Mechanically speaking, it's been polished and updated brilliantly. Thanks to Valve's new engine, Source 2, the maps look better than ever, and many new physics-based features have been added. The smoke from bombs now can be pierced by bullets.

CS: GO skins have also been ported over, and thanks to the updated graphics, they look better than ever, meaning all the old players can enjoy their well-earned skins in a brand new light.

Unfortunately, for new players, this competitive shooter can still be difficult to grasp. Luckily there are some new assist features that go a long way to helping newcomers get to grips with the difficult FPS game.

EVE Online is a sci-fi MMO with a brilliant community that is one-of-a-kind on our best free Steam games list. Here, you can experience space exploration like never before in fantastic PvP and PvE battles, mining, industry, and a thriving player economy.

There are tons of ways to enjoy EVE Online. You may want to join a corporation, work as an industrialist, infiltrate corporations as a spy, explore new swathes of the universe selling maps to the highest bidder, or simply become a pirate and blast anyone who gets too close to smithereens.

While the learning curve for this MMO can be quite steep, it is free to play and easy to download, so there's no downside to simply giving it a go. For a unique gaming experience, EVE Online is certainly worth a try.

War Thunder is one of the most comprehensive cross-platform MMOs on the market, and the fact that it's free with a shallow learning curve means that there's almost no reason not to give this game a go.

You can collaborate in immersive battles by ground, air, or sea, and with over 2,000 vehicles to choose from, there are tons of options, so you can find the one that suits you best. However, if PvP isn't your style, then there's still some excellent PvE content to enjoy.

You can take part in brilliantly executed historical battles and solo missions. There is even some superb custom content that is shared on War Thunder Live, with the prospect of earning real money through the Revenue Share Partner System.

We’ve all fantasized about what it would be like to roam Europe in the Middle Ages. Well, with Crusader Kings II, you can do exactly that, playing a Christian lord looking to expand and preserve his dynasty while the whole continent is in turmoil. And, it’s not just invaders you have to worry about. Your vassals and courtiers are also busy plotting against you too.

You’ll also introduce laws, make friends with other nobles and defend your religion against the heretics. Whatever decision you make, just remember that this is a game of strategy. So even the smallest ones can affect whether or not your dynasty will survive the Dark Ages.

If you fancy playing with friends, this game has a competitive multiplayer mode. So you can play with up to 32 other players, making it one of the best free Steam games if you want to spend some quality time with loved ones.

Players don't struggle for choice when it comes to hero-shooters nowadays. But even with the countless other games available in the genre, Apex Legends effortlessly makes its way onto our best free Steam games list.

You can experience strategic squad play, with innovative mechanics and abilities, as well as deep and interesting lore behind each character which brilliantly fleshes them out. The Apex Legends universe is rich with storytelling too, and is constantly added to with the arrival of each new season.

This is a great game if you want to hang out with friends or simply relax, sit back, and click heads.

Another example of a great free Steam game is Warframe – an online melee brawler/shooter that’s evolved into one of the most enjoyable games on PC.

Putting you in control of a sword-wielding space ninja (yes, it’s as cool as it sounds), the game feels like a cross between For Honor and Destiny 2, with modes offering PvE and PvP matches to keep you engaged. There’s even a story mode, and it’s actually pretty fun, offering players a great way to get up to speed with the game's ongoing lore.

Developer Digital Extremes is still dedicated to updating Warframe, rolling out regular updates and events that offer new upgrades and expansions. There's literally hundreds of hours to enjoy here, and thanks to an active community, there's plenty of help in learning how to get good at the game.

SCP: Secret Laboratory is a creative and engaging multiplayer survival horror game. This entry on our best free Steam games list has a thriving community which continues to champion the game.

Despite having set roles and missions to complete, no one game is the same thanks to all the possibilities and creative solutions players can come up with to survive the facility.

If you're in the mood for some chaotic antics either with friends or by yourself then SCP: Secret Laboratory is a very good choice indeed. It also has access to the beautifully crafted world of SCP, so there's tons of superb content for it to take inspiration from moving forwards.

While Destiny 2 has changed quite a bit since launch, adding in new expansions regularly, the base game is still a great experience for fans of looting and shooting. Free on Steam, Destiny 2 offers up hundreds of hours of content for new players, spanning raids, PvE and PvP. Of course, this is Bungie we're talking about, so it's no surprise that Destiny 2 features some of the best FPS gameplay you can play right now.

At the beginning of Destiny 2, you'll be able to choose between a Warlock, Hunter or Titan, with each class offering wildly different play styles. As you play through main missions and side-quests, you'll slowly increase your character's power, which will allow you take on progressively more challenging tasks. Starting the game now means you have the benefit of being able to pick and choose which add-on packs you want to try out, from the sprawling new locales of Forsaken, to the challenging boss fights of The Witch Queen.

DOTA 2 is one of the most played titles on Steam, meaning that its place on this best free Steam games list is more than well earned. Millions of players log in to this online co-op game every day and still manage to discover new things.

Despite being hosted on one battlefield, no two matches are alike. This is largely thanks to the diverse group of heroes with varied abilities and powerful items. DOTA 2 has a great reputation for letting players express their own playstyle which is a great benefit to all.

It's also presents a fantastically level playing field for all as everyone has the same access to heroes. Players can also collect cosmetics for heroes and fun add-ons but that's really just the the icing on the cake. Everything you need to enjoy this title is given to you before you even enter a match, so it's well worth giving DOTA 2 a go.

How we made our best free Steam games list

Unsurprisingly, here at TRG we spend a lot of time playing games so finding new ones that cost nothing is always a plus. We're also lucky enough to have a team comprised of writers who all have varied tastes and preferences, meaning that all of us can recommend games to one another.

We're also used to critiquing games in a fair and honest light. We pride ourselves in taking everything into account when evaluating games and the titles on this list are no different.

Best free Steam games 2025 FAQ

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Respawn Entertainment has released the patch notes for Apex Legends season 20 which detail brand-new updates for almost every feature.

Apex Legends is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month with the launch of Season 20: Breakout today (February 13) which Respawn is calling its "biggest anniversary season yet!" It will feature a ton of major quality-of-life improvements and various new additions across the board.

For starters, there's a new feature called Breakout Rewards where for every two weeks for the entire season, a new Legend becomes free-to-play for users, each with their own set of challenges that will permanently unlock them at no extra cost to the player. 

Completing all Breakout Rewards Challenges before the season ends will also unlock even more rewards like too, like the Reactive “Top Tier” Flatline and the Legendary “Runaway Renegade” Wraith skins.

Players can look forward to playing on Olympus, Storm Point, and World's Edge in Trios and Duos this season - the latter of which will feature "an all-new exhibit that honors the history of the Outlands and the origin of the Games" at the Apex Games Museum. What's more, if you're playing on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S, the game now has a brand-new Performance mode option for players with a 120Hz display, which targets 120FPS.

Crafting is getting a complete rework this season too, specifically, Replicators now have a new paint job, are free to use, and no longer require crafting materials. However, players will only be able to craft one item per Replicator.

To balance this change, the number of available Replicators has been increased, and every game will start with 12, with an additional Replicator airdrop at the start of Round 4.

In addition, Respawn has now made it so players will now only need to be level 20 to play Ranked - instead of 50 - and an entry cost of 20RP per Tier (starting at Silver) will return to matches.

Alongside the reintroduction of mid-season splits, player rankings will now be visible to others, Promotional Trials and Matches have been removed, and Ranked Tier RP requirements have seen an increase. 

There have been plenty of changes introduced to every single Legend along with a new Legend Upgrade system for battle royale modes, which Respawn says is "an in-match progression system that deepens the Apex Legends experience by allowing you to tailor your Legend to your playstyle." You can check out the full patch notes here.

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Respawn Entertainment has revealed the launch date and details for the upcoming 20th season of Apex Legends. 

Titled Apex Legends: Breakout, the next season will begin on Tuesday, January 13, which, among plenty of other things, introduces the Legend Upgrade system to the Battle Royale modes. As per the Apex Legends website, this all-new in-match character progression system will allow you to “tailor your Legend [playable character] to your playstyle,” restarting each match to allow you to try out different upgrades and find your favorite. 

“Earning Evo will now Level-Up your Legend over the course of the game, improving your armor tier and unlocking unique upgrade selections at Levels Two and Three. Choose wisely, as your decision can impact your whole squad’s strategy,” the website explains.

Each Legend’s upgrade tree will be revealed in the season’s upcoming patch notes, which are set to be published on February 12, so stay tuned for those. 

Another key change to Battle Royale is the removal of Body Shields from both the ground and pool of loot items. Going forward, Legends will instead have built-in ‘Legend Armor’ which permanently increases in capacity as they level up. 

“Legend Armor is fueled by a Shield Core which contains the current shield HP,” the Apex website reads. “Shield Cores can be swapped or dropped at any time as with previous armor systems, however, fallen enemies will now drop Shield Cores in their Death Boxes.”

Meanwhile, in Mixtape (a permanent playlist of the Control, Gun Run, and Team Deathmatch modes), a new map called Thunderdome will be added. Otherwise, all players can look forward to unlocking six Legends throughout the season via Breakout Rewards. Completing challenges with them will also provide the Reactive Top Tier Flatline, along with a matching set of Wraith cosmetics.

There's plenty more to look forward to in Breakout when it launches, including 120Hz output on supported displays - though only for current-gen consoles. We're sure to get even more details when the patch notes are revealed next week.

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In anticipation of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's release this February, sci-fi battle royale Apex Legends will be getting a special crossover event featuring a new game mode and oodles of Final Fantasy 7-themed cosmetics. 

Starting on January 9 and finishing on January 30, the Apex Legends & Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Event will bring with it the Final Fantasy 7 Takeover which will replace unranked BR mode. As well as giving players access to the iconic buster sword, the mode includes Materia Hop-Ups that'll give you special effects and bonuses.  

The Buster Sword R2R5 not only looks fantastic but acts as a unique weapon during the Takeover, sporting light and heavy attacks, as well as a dash and the ability to block incoming damage. What's more, you'll also be able to build up a Limit Break gauge, allowing you to use one of Final Fantasy 7 protagonist Cloud Strife's signature attacks. 

Outside of the new Takeover mode, you can unlock the Buster Sword R5 melee cosmetic which, while offering no mechanical benefits, lets you use the distinctive Buster Sword design in any mode in place of your heirloom or fists. The R5 won't be in the Mythic Shop, so you'll need to be proactive about unlocking it. 

There are 36 unlockable Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth cosmetic items, all of which are inspired by Final Fantasy 7 and can be acquired through Apex Legends & Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Event packs. These include new Final Fantasy 7-themed weapon and character skins.

The six new Iconic Legend Skins are also available for direct purchase via the store. These include cosmetic allusions to Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, and Barret. Each skin is available in the store for 2,150 Apex Coins, a currency that can usually only be earned via the Battle Pass or bought in exchange for real-life money. For reference, 2150 Apex Coins will set you back $19.99 / £17.99.

The event will also allow you to earn Gil, a unique new currency that can be used to purchase event-limited items. You can also use Gil to earn additional Battle Pass progress.   

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releases on February 29th and could well be one of the best RPGs and best story games of the year.

Respawn Entertainment, the developers behind the first-person shooter Apex Legends, is warning players to hold off unlinking their PlayApex accounts as cross-progression rollouts occur. 

Fans of Apex Legends may be aware of the cross-progression rollouts that are currently underway. As part of the first-person shooter's 19th season, cross-progression was introduced. This update will allow players to access their progression data, currency, and cosmetics via a single EA account over all the platforms they use. 

"We recently resolved several issues related to cross-progression and will continue rolling out more waves over the next few days," Respawn said in a tweet. "As a reminder, please refrain from unlinking your PlayApex accounts, as it will not impact when you receive cross-progression. Thank you for your continued patience here!"

While the cross-progression has been rolled out in waves and is automatic and mandatory, many players have been left in the dark as to when the update will be taking place.

Respawn did note in a blog post that some players may lose cosmetics if they are tied to specific stats and were achieved not on a primary account. "There is also a small subset of content that is tied to stats, such as Achievement Badges from Apex Legend’s earlier seasons. As we are not merging stats from non-primary accounts, access to these badges through the primary account may be unavailable", Respawn said in the blog post. Unfortunately, there's not much to remedy this as there is a strict no-refund policy. 

So, for now, it's best to just hold tight and not try anything funny regarding your PlayApex account while the cross-progression update process is taking place. Otherwise, you may find yourself locked out of your account for the foreseeable future.

For now, be sure to check out all the incredible Black Friday gaming deals as well as these fantastic Black Friday video game deals that are available right now. 

Respawn Entertainment has revealed the next playable character to join Apex Legends ahead of the release of Season 19.

Players won't have long to wait as Season 19: Ignite is scheduled to launch on October 31, but to tease the upcoming update we've received the first look at the battle royale's newest Legend, named Conduit.

Conduit was officially unveiled in a new Apex Legends: Stories animated short which provides fans with her background and origin story, building on the game's already deep lore. 

She's described as a "tiny titan of optimism" and yes, Conduit does have a connection to Respawn's popular Titanfall series. The animated short shows that she was saved by a Monarch Titan who sacrificed itself during a battle that threatened to destroy herself and her home. 

In the story trailer, we see that years later, Conduit returns to where the Monarch Titan died and retrieves the remains of its battery, which gives her special abilities, allowing her to enter the Apex Games and look after her family.

"Inspired by the hero that once saved her life, Conduit trades her own future for the opportunity to become an Apex Legend and provide for her family," the description reads.

Conduit's official character art shows how the abilities have affected her body, with blue veins that look like lightning trailing up her arm. 

We don't have any official game footage just yet, and it hasn't been made clear how her abilities will work in the game and if they'll be similar to those from the Titanfall games. However, with only a week to go before Season 19, we're sure to get more information on Conduit soon enough.

Last month, players came rushing back to Titanfall 2 after Respawn quietly fixed the matchmaking server issues that had been plaguing the game for years. What's more, a recent Apex Legends update made fans believe that the developer was teasing Titanfall 3 after the patch notes included a series of numbers that translated to the release dates of Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Apex Legends.

However, it looks like the latest Conduit reveal could have something to do with the teaser, meaning those waiting on a Titanfall 3 announcement will just have to be patient. 

For more check out our list of the best crossplay games, as well as our picks for the best first-person shooters. 

Apex Legends Season 18 is just around the corner, and with this comes so giant changes to rank. 

The previous season of Apex Legends saw a record number of players climb the ranks to the higher echelon. Many players were dissatisfied with the rank distribution in Season 17 as it was skewed towards the "Master" rank. In an unlikely turn of events, some users were able to gain the top Predator rank without killing anyone. 

In an interview with Dextero Shiv, a content creator for Luminosity Gaming said that "This ranked system is just plain wrong. When hardstuck plastic rank skill level players can literally AFK their way to master. Yeah, I think the ranked system is Dogs**t." 

Thankfully the devs are dead set on changing the ranked system to benefit the players and ensure that the same slip-up from last season doesn't reoccur in Season 18.  

"Rank is definitely at the top of our mind for us this season," design director Evan Nikolaj said. "We are committed to keep improving and evolving the rank experience and appreciate how much our community has been engaged in rank this season". 

Apex Legends Season 18 will have a brand new rank system which will hopefully create tighter competition. "We've worked hard restructuring our rank tuning to prevent the giant spike of players that made it to masters in the first few weeks of season 17", lead progression designer Chris Cluroux said. "This does mean that some players that are in masters in Season 17 won't be able to climb back that easily". 

Luckily there are some benefits coming into Season 18. For example, there'll be a minimum bonus for elimination at all ranks, so you can always count on eliminations to contribute to your success. 

While we wait for Season 18, check out our Apex Legends coverage, as well as all the details for its upcoming mobile beta and our best FPS games list if you're in the market for something different. 

Apex Legends Season 18 is called Resurrection, and its main update involves a complete rework of Revenant. In fact, he's undergone such a change, that he's essentially the new Legend this season.

From what's been revealed so far, Season 18 focuses primarily on changes to Ranked mode. There's also been a rework of the Charge Rifle, which aims to reduce its ability to beam players from all the way across the map. Now that we know what's coming in Apex Legends Resurrection, we can start to prepare for when the new season drops.

Here, we pulling together all the information around the Apex Legends Season 18 release date, as well as some details on what to expect. We'll also provide deep dives on the changes coming to Ranked Mode, how the Charge Rifle is being changed, as well as a look at the new Revenant. It's likely that more details will be given on Resurrection closer to launch so we'll update this page when we hear more.

Apex Legends Season 18 release date

Apex Legends Season 18 is set to launch on August 8, 2023. Generally, these kinds of updates tend to land at around 10 AM PT. Expect to download a large update at around this time, so clearing some storage space in advance might be a sensible idea. If the timings shift, we'll be sure to update this section.

Apex Legends Season 18 trailer

The trailer for Apex Legends Resurrection has dropped. It focuses on the new and improved Revenant Legend, which has a much darker and more villainous style. You can watch it below.

What's being added in Apex Legends Season 18

Here's an overview of what's being added in Apex Legends Season 18:

• Revenant Reborn - Revenant has received a full rework, with new abilities and a new Ultimate.
• Charge Rifle update - The Charge Rifle has been changed significantly. It now has bullet drop and must be charged for each shot to hit.
• Ranked changes - Ranked mode is being updated this season. Rings now encourage more mid-game fights, dive trails have been removed, and Ladder Point rewards have been adjusted
• Broken Moon Mixtape - play Gun Run and Team Deathmatch at select Broken Moon POIs
• Resurrection Battle Pass and a new season of Ranked

Apex Legends Revenant Reborn updates

The main change to Season 18 comes in the form of a complete rework for Revenant. He has a new, much darker design, and several tweaks and updates to his abilities. Wall climb has been improved to give him more horizontal movement and he sticks to walls more from a fall. Revenant can also now see nearby enemies that are low on health, and if he gets low, he’ll mark the enemy position for his team.

Shadow pounce is a new ability that unleashes a powerful leap forward that lets him close the gap between him and his prey. Generally, Revenant has been made more aggressive, and more able to push enemies without falling from walls. 

Forged Shadows Ultimate has been added to, a powerful ability that creates a shroud of shadows around Revenant that protects from direct incoming damage. The shroud increases Revenant's upper hit body box, but absorbs damage before breaking and will slowly start to recharge. If Revenant can knock a player after this, the shadows recharge immediately. 

Apex Legends Charge Rifle update

The Charge Rifle has been an issue in Apex Legends for a while now, so it's being tweaked this season. Respawn has removed hitscan and made it a projectile-based weapon that experiences bullet drop. The firing mechanism no longer releases its projectile when you hit the fire button. You have to actually charge it up by holding it down. If you release this early, the charge will stop. Magazines have been added back onto the Charge Rifle too, and its ammo consumption per shot has been reduced to one. It now deals more damage the farther away the target is, making it easily still the best sniper in the game. 

Apex Legends Season 18 Ranked changes

Finally, let's take a look at the changes to Ranked play. You can check out this blog post for full Ranked changes. Here's the top level updates:

• Overly Generous Ladder Points (LP): Arsenal’s LP tuning was intended to be generous, but not this generous. Its current tuning is causing a series of cascading issues with the rest of the Ranked system. We are tightening the amount of LP awarded and bonuses included for Season 18.
• Bugs: We love to hate them. They are contributing to the tuning problem and we’re feeling confident about our upcoming fixes. 
• Future Changes: Season 18 will focus on refining Ranked tuning and stability. We’re going to take a deep breath and take the time needed to prepare for an even tighter and more competitive Ranked system.
• Dive trails are being removed: Frames will be added for Diamond Masters and Predator
• Ring changes to encourage mid-game skirmishes

That's all you need to know about Apex Legends Season 18 (Resurrection). For more on shooting games, be sure to check out our ranking of the best FPS games that you can play right now.

Snow is settling over the Outlands, which can mean only one thing: Winter has come to Apex Legends, and with it returns its seasonal Wintertide event from December 6 - 27.

Not only is it free to play, but Apex Legends is one of the best battle royale games there is. EA’s massively popular co-op shooter sees you fighting your way through maps, using not only weapons but your character’s unique abilities to take out enemy teams, snag yourself a victory, and earn some juicy cosmetic rewards.

The Wintertide Collection offers a flashy array of 24 new cosmetics and skins that can be bought for either real cash or in-game currency if you’re looking to give your Legends a festive makeover, including a new Prestige skin as an incentive to collect all the other items. Finally, and most importantly, this season features the return of the limited capture-the-flag game mode, Winter Express. 

A frosty welcome 

In EA’s announcement of the event, it says the limited edition items pay homage “to the deadliest winter legends [...] designed to instill fear in whoever your prey may be.”

Fans of Legends Bangalore, Crypto, Newcastle, Valkyrie, Gibraltar, and Bloodhound should get excited, because these cool-as-ice items are yours for the taking. Well, purchasing. They can be purchased through the game for Apex Coins or Crafting Metals, or you can pick up a Wintertide Event Apex Pack instead. The Prestige skin this season is for Wraith, called the Apex Voidshifter, and you’ll only be awarded it for unlocking all other 24 items.

Alternatively, if you’re looking to kit out your other Legends, you can opt for one of the sales packs via the in-game store for some limited-edition cosmetic deals. The Synthetic Huntress pack, for example, will only cost you 2,500 Apex Coins during the first week of Wintertide.

As for the event itself, Winter Express is set to make a grand return. The three-team capture the flag mode will have you chasing down and attempting to board the mysterious train before your opponents do, traversing an icy landscape that glitters all things Christmas as you strive to earn points that all feed into your event progress for the season

The event Reward Tracker will help you keep an eye on your efforts. You can earn up to 1,600 points daily, with the challenges refreshing every morning to keep you on your toes and grinding for success. 

Although there isn’t much variance from past years of Wintertide in terms of the limited Winter Express game mode, all 24 cosmetic items are brand new to Apex Legends. They likely won’t be sticking around for Wintertide 2023, so be sure to load in between December 6 - 27 if you don’t want to miss out.

• Love to game with your buds? Here are the best co-op games to get now.

The Apex Legends update for Season 15 is here, and the changes bring another facelift to the high-octane battle royale title.

Every drop in Apex Legends is a fresh experience. From hunting down every last chest for the best loot to scrambling to beat enemy squads to your favorite spots, Apex Legends has carved out a unique name for itself even amidst the sea of similarly styled games.

This is because unlike other big battle royale hits Fortnite and Warzone, Apex Legends has prioritized its own combination brand that comprises high-speed movement and unique character abilities over more gimmicky approaches.

So, while you do spend some time messing with gun attachments, you won't have anyone turn into a house when you shoot your weapon - have to brawl it out in the gulag to get back into the fight.

With Apex Legends Season 13, we saw some ranked changes (that felt awful for lower ranks), changes to Stormpoint, and the new legend Newcastle. 

Thankfully, Season 15, entitled Eclipse, doesn't disappoint.

Whether you're coming back to Apex Legends or never left, there's a lot to take in with the new update. Here's what to look out for.

Apex Legends update for Season 15: Eclipse

Apex Legends update: Season 15 Eclipse length and how to play

• What is it? Apex Legends Season 15: Eclipse
• When can I play it? November 1st
• What can I play it on? PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC

Apex Legends Season 15: Eclipse went live on November 1 at 12PM CT.

You'll be able to drop into Kings Canyon on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC with full crossplay, as before. 

If you've been holding off and playing on PS5 or Xbox Series X, there is now an Apex Legends next-gen update live as well!

Apex Legends update: Season 15 new map

The new map in Apex Legends Season 15 is Broken Moon. As the name suggests, its location on the surface of a moon makes for interesting terrain, as well as a new way to get about: ziprails, the flashier take on ziplines that can take you directly to new POIs or help you get out of a tight spot.

Speaking of points of interest, let's have a look at each of the new ones you can visit here on Cleo:

• Terraformer
• Stasis Net Array
• Atmostation and Backup Atmo
• Perpetual Core
• Bionomics
• The Divide
• Alpha Base
• Eternal Gardens
• Breaker Wharf
• Production Yard
• The Foundry
• Dry Gulch
• Cultivation
• Promenade

Apex Legends update: Catalyst, the new legend

A new season brings many changes, and in this case another new playable character. Born on Planet Boreas and far more fond of spellcasting than she is of human company, Catalyst is a magic-wielding sorceress and happens to be Respawn's first openly transgender Legend.

She found solace on the moon, Cleo, following the devastating loss of her closest friend prior to the events of Season 15.

• Passive Ability (Barricade): Reinforce and strengthen doors, locking them for enemies
• Tactical Ability (Piercing Spikes): Toss some ferrofluid that crystallizes into spikes, injuring enemies and keeping Catalyst unharmed by their spikes
• Ultimate Ability (Dark Veil): Release a wall of ferrofluid that progressively blinds enemies that walk through it

Apex Legends update: Season 15 battle pass

A new season means a new battle pass, and Eclipse is bringing it for Apex Legends Season 15. Access to the premium version of the pass will run you 950 Apex coins ($10/£8/$AU11.95).

Cosmetics-wise, you can see a few of them shown off in the trailer above.

• Need more to keep your lust for loot sated? Check out the best battle royale games. 

Nvidia has developed numerous features and tech in recent years, from its framerate boosting DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) to useful streaming applications like Nvidia broadcast, and this impressive catalog can often result in some services getting overlooked.

Nvidia Reflex is one of these, a tool that helps to improve gameplay by lowering rendering lag and reducing system latency on GeForce graphics cards. This is the lag between, in a first-person shooter such as Overwatch for example, pressing your mouse button and the gun actually firing on-screen. 

This might only reduce a delay of a few milliseconds, but if you’re skilled enough for that to make a difference, it could give you an additional advantage over your opponents.

I don’t see much chatter about this feature online, and I can only assume that’s because fewer people care about latency than they do pretty graphics or smooth framerates. In fact, a year or so ago I was also snubbing how much of a difference a tool can make to my gameplay compared to an actual hardware upgrade, but while I eventually saw the benefits within competitive gaming or esports, I recently found that my horizons were, once again, expanded.

Does Nvidia Reflex actually make a difference?

I was invited to Reflex demonstration by Nvidia recently where I played 1-on-1 against a professional coach from Excel esports in Fortnite and Valorant, switching between a gaming PC equipped with the latest generation of hardware, and an older machine that had a few years behind it to simulate the kind of equipment that more of us are likely to have at home. 

This older hardware also had its framerates capped and Reflex disabled in order to create a handicap. The intended goal was to see if my skills improved against the coach depending on the equipment I was running, and if they in turn noticed a difference after playing between the two systems.

I’ll be brutally honest…at my skill level in shooting and Battle Royale games, I couldn’t tell you if all those additional frames and low latency made a difference, but that could be a comment on my own gaming skills more than anything. 

This is a feature that will appeal to folks who play a lot of these competitive online titles, and I’ve spoken rather candidly about how I avoid them because getting my ass handed to me by angry 14 years old boys isn’t an enjoyable way to spend my evenings, but the coach (who understandably has a better insight into these things) assured me that the difference it made to their gameplay was like ‘night and day’ so we can assume that in professional hands, Reflex does in fact make a difference to performance.

There is one example where it was easier to notice on another game though: God of War was also on hand, specifically a saved point of the game where you encounter the first Valkyrie Gunnr. This action/adventure title has very little in common with competitive online games but not only did I find this boss fight more enjoyable on the more capable system thanks to better graphics and framerate, I also found it to be easier.

Could this be because Nvidia Reflex was enabled, giving me a split-second advantage against my AI-controlled opponent? It's difficult to say given a plethora of other things could have contributed - a few additional rounds of practice switching between the two to name just one, but if you understandably think I’m too poor of a competitive gamer to make a judgment on Nvidia Reflex, you’re in luck: there’s essentially no downside to enabling it, so you can try it yourself.

There's no alternative to hard work

Having it running shouldn’t impact anything such as your framerate or cause stuttering, so the only issue you’ll likely run into is that this feature has only been rolled out on a relatively modest selection of games so far. The full list can be found on the Nvidia website, but most of the major competitive first-person shooters are featured, such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare and Destiny 2.

As Nvidia Reflex is enabled in-game, the process will vary depending on the title you’re playing, but generally speaking, you can find a way to enable and disable the feature within the ‘Video’ section of your game settings.

While originally introduced with the Nvidia Ampere 30 series GPUs, Reflex has since been made available on older cards from the GeForce GTX 900 series or later, which is great news for ….well, most gamers if the Steam Hardware survey is anything to go by given that GPUs from Nvidias GTX series such as the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti still dominate much of the market.

These older GPUs won’t run Reflex as well as Ampere cards like the RTX 3080, but it’s still a free performance boost for those with the skills to take advantage of reduced latency. Will this make you a better gamer? With time to adjust it certainly provides you with an advantage, though to make a real difference this will need to be paired with well-optimized peripherals like gaming keyboards, as well as a Reflex-supported lightweight gaming mouse and a similarly enabled high-refresh-rate monitor equipped with Nvidia Gsync. 

You can think of this as a recipe. Reflex is a fantastic ingredient when used by the right hands, but it's unlikely to make much of a difference alone or by those who aren't especially skilled chefs…uh, I mean gamers. If you can pair it with additional equipment though, you’ll see a noticeable difference which should give you the edge over any opponent who doesn’t have the same hardware or features enabled.

That does sadly mean you’ll still need plenty of practice to ‘git gud’, but for something with no downsides you should have this feature enabled, especially if you already have compatible hardware or feel your performance is being impacted by high latency. You literally have nothing to lose except for a game.

Playing Apex Legends Mobile 60fps is a sight to behold. The competitive Apex Games have been taking place on more traditional gaming platforms for years now but players can now participate in the battle royale on the move. 

Apex Legends Mobile has reportedly been in testing for a while through various alphas and betas. Translating a fast-paced first-person shooter to touchscreen controls is tough, but it seems Respawn is happy with where the game is at and has released the game for Android and iOS.

However, while many might think Apex Legends Mobile's performance might be seriously hamstrung, you can get smooth 60fps gameplay if your device is powerful enough. In fact, Apex Legends Mobile lets you customize your graphical settings to your heart's desires. 

Obviously higher settings run the risk of eating your battery life or overheating your device, so you will want to be cautious. However, you can customize the game's graphical options to find the settings that work for you.

Apex Legends Mobile 60fps

How to get 60 FPS in Apex Legends Mobile

Getting 60fps in Apex Mobile is easy to enable. Surprisingly, Apex Legends comes with great graphics and performance options, allowing you to customize your experience. You have multiple options around graphic quality and frames per second to choose from. 

To get there, once you have entered the landing page of the game, tap the settings button at the bottom left. Once open, tap the Display Settings tab on the right hand side of the screen.

From here, you'll be able to customize your experience as you want. To get 60 frames per second, you will need to run the Frame Rate Control settings on Ultra. If you have a really powerful device, Extremely High will run the game at 90 FPS.

In order to get the most consistent frame rate, you'll likely want to set the Image Quality Setting to Smooth. You can try to run the graphics at higher settings, but you'll likely face dropped frames and stuttering. 

Why wouldn't you want 60 FPS in Apex Legend Mobile?

Of course, a 60 frames per second experience in a first-person shooter is going to make you perform better and secure more kills. You'll almost certainly have a distinct advantage over a player running lower frames than you are – so why wouldn't you always want more frames? 

Well, unsurprisingly, this'll come down to your device's specifications. If you have the latest iPad Pro, you are going to have more flexibility than if you are using an iPhone 6S. 

You'll need to do a little testing to see what settings work for your device. I'd recommend lowering everything else in favor of a higher frame rate, but it's your experience. Find what works for you. 

To give you a starting point, here are the official minimum specs for both Android and iOS:

Android

• Soc: Snapdragon 435/ Hisilicon Kirin 650/ Mediatek Helio P20/ Exynos 7420
• Android 6.0
• Open GL 3.1 or higher
• 4 GB free space
• At least 2 GB RAM

iOS

• iPhone 6S or later
• OS version: 11.0 or later
• CPU: A9
• 4 GB free space
• At least 2GB RAM

That's everything you need to know about pushing your Apex Legends Mobile experience to its limit. As ever, experiences will differ wildly from device to device, and the circumstances in which you take to the digital battlefield might change the pace of play – there's nothing like trying to rattle through kills as you realise your phone is about to run out of battery. 

So, have a play with the settings, head to the firing range, and figure out what's optimal for you. Your performance on the battlefield will be better for it.

• Read our opinion on Apex Legends Mobile being here too late

The next-gen update for Apex Legends is being rolled out today (March 29), launching the native PS5 and Xbox Series X version of Respawn’s battle royale shooter. While the patch introduces several new features, it’s left many fans disappointed for overlooking several key features of the next-gen hardware.

The update, which goes live on March 29, will let you play Apex Legends at 4K resolutions with HDR at 60 fps. It also adds higher resolution shadows and a greater level of detail to distances, meaning more objects on the screen will be rendered at a higher quality.

However, several features that can only be achieved on next-gen hardware aren’t included in the update, and will be rolled out in future patches, according to an official blog post.

Support for 120 fps will be introduced down the line, which means players who want to take advantage of their 120hz TVs or monitors for buttery smooth gameplay will have to wait. Similarly, support for the DualSense’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback will be coming later.

Unspecified “visual improvements” and the equally vague “audio improvements” will also be introduced in future updates. There’s nothing to suggest when these additional patches will release or how they’ll be staggered.

Xbox Series S users, however, won’t be able to enjoy all the new features. The console’s limited hardware will only support 60 fps and HDR, meaning you’ll need to grab an Xbox Series X to take full advantage of Apex Legends’ new options.

Players have been waiting a long time for the next-gen version of Apex Legends to launch. The meager offerings here, which don’t take full advantage of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s powerful hardware, are likely to leave many fans underwhelmed. Until the full slate of features rolls out, there won’t be a huge difference between playing the game on next-gen consoles compared to the PS4 or Xbox One, which already run at a fairly reliable 60 fps. 

This update launches alongside the Warriors Collection event, a two-week event that reintroduces the 9 vs. 9 game mode Control alongside changes to the Caustic Treatment area on King's Canyon, adds a new Arena map called Drop-Off, and introduces 24 new limited-time cosmetic items. Lots to dig into.

• Best battle royale games: Fortnite, Warzone, and beyond

The Apex Legends next-gen update is nearly here, the game finally moving from its native PS4 and Xbox One apps to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. 

Players on newer consoles have been calling out for an upgrade for a long while now, with the free-to-play game beginning to feel like a bit of an outlier compared to other popular service games that have updated to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. However, that's now at an end, as players will now get to enjoy the benefits of bespoke updated versions of Apex Legends. 

That said, this seems to be a soft launch of sorts with some upgrades players might've been hoping for, such as 120hz gameplay, not coming at release. Instead, that and several other features are being promised for later. 

However, there are still plenty of reasons to download the application. Here’s how to go about that, and what benefits will actually be available to you. 

Apex Legends next-gen

Upgrade to the next-gen versions of Apex Legends

The way to get your hands on the next-gen version of Apex Legends will change depending on which console family you're on. Those on Xbox consoles will have it relatively easily, while those on PlayStation have a couple more steps to go through. 

Xbox Series X|S

According to Respawn Entertainment, this process should be largely automated. Thanks to Smart Delivery, the best version available of the game is automatically delivered and installed for you.

The only thing you might want to do is check for an update on the game. This should queue up the update so it begins downloading right when it releases. Otherwise, you can relax – it should all be done for you. 

PlayStation 5

On the PlayStation side of things, you will have to jump through a couple hoops but it should be relatively easy. 

Once the new update is live and downloaded, go to your Apex Legends hub on your PS5 dashboard. Then cursor down to the ‘...’ button next to 'Play Game'. You then want to go to ‘Select Version’ and choose the PS5 which will begin the installation. Respawn then suggests deleting the PS4 version of the game. 

One thing to do, if you are reading this before the launch of the PS5 version, is go to the game icon on the dashboard, press the start button and then select ‘Check for Updates'. This should queue the update for when it releases. 

What benefits are you getting?

This upgrade will see various improvements across the board, making the game a nicer, better-looking experience. It will output to 4K, have HDR, and longer draw distances. Below is a full list of benefits that are available with Apex Legends on PS5 and Xbox Seris X|S. 

• 4K output - PS5 & Xbox Series X
• Full 60hz gameplay - PS5 & Xbox Series X|S
• HDR - PS5 & Xbox Series X|S
• Higher resolution shadow maps - PS5 & Xbox Series X
• Greater LOD distances - PS5 & Xbox Series X

What features are coming at a later date?

While the Apex Legends upgrade is nice, it seems some key upgrades are being held back for an unspecified ‘future update’. The one that people are most clamoring for is undoubtedly 120hz gameplay. 

There is also some PS5 controller support, as well as unspecified visual and audio improvements. Hopefully, the wait for these features isn’t too far away, but there’s no real roadmap on when to expect these. 

• 120hz gameplay - PS5 & Xbox Series X|S
• Adaptive triggers - PS5
• Haptics - PS5
• Visual Improvements - PS5 & Xbox Series X|S
• Audio Improvements - PS5 & Xbox Series X|S

• Best free-to-play games

The best crossplay games make it easy to play with all of your friends, regardless of where or on what machine they're playing. They also help with picking up your game on a different platform without having to start over, and they show that playing together doesn’t have to be restricted to your setup.

The term crossplay, or cross-platform-play, describes a feature that lets you play a game with someone who owns a different gaming platform from you. This is great new particularly for people who play games like Battle Royales, games that people used to predominantly play on PC but that are now available on every platform imaginable. No need for console wars – as you can play Fortnite with friends on Xbox Series X even if you have a PS5, for example.

Crossplay isn’t easy for developers to implement, but more and more games come with crossplay, especially large multiplayer games. Not all games on this list may offer crossplay across all platforms (yet), but we have picked games that allow crossplay on at least two platforms.

Best crossplay games

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Arc Raiders is a very potent mix of extraction shooter and social experiment. As you go on Raids, either solo or in a squad, you'll encounter other Raiders and have to decide what to do with them. You could avoid them completely, take them out on sight, or negotiate trades and possibly a Team Up. It's this tension that makes Arc Raiders so damned compelling.

The PvE element is just as good, with intelligent and versatile enemies in the ARC. These will detect you from afar, alert others, and move in for the kill. Even the smallest and weakest of ARC enemies can kill you, so deciding when and how to engage is key to survival. Of course, more powerful enemies drop essential loot, so sooner or later you have to gear up and attempt to take them down. It's a wonderful balancing act of risk and reward, and one that makes Arc Raiders very difficult to put down.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

EA Sports FC 26 once again iterates on a winning formula, though this year's changes definitely feel better than many in recent memory. Our FIFA reviewer Alex Metz said in their EA Sports FC 25 review: “it feels like we’ve reached a point where the overall FC experience is so good that it’s hard to chastise EA for making small improvements to an already excellent foundation." pointing to another solid follow up here.

Generally, EA Sports FC 26 has folded in improvements that directly answer some of the common criticisms leveled at the series by fans. Gameplay is better than ever, with reduced bounce-backs, better dribbling, and improved headers. As always, you can play EA Sports FC 26 crossplay with a wide range of players. Be aware that while the game is also available on Switch 2, there's no crossplay.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Borderlands 4 is something of a course correction after the muted reception around Borderlands 3. It pairs back the meme-heavy humor, and dials up the focus on looting and shooting. This decision has turned out to be exactly what the series needed, and Borderlands 4 is the best the series has ever felt. Gunplay is tight, missions are varied, and characters stand out without overstepping. Through crossplay, you can play with friends on any platform, too.

The biggest divergence in Borderlands 4 is its move to an open world. Outside of dedicated instances like vaults and end-of-chapter fortresses, the map is almost entirely seamless - the planet Kairos’s three major biomes connected in circular fashion. It's seriously impressive, and well worth exploring with your friends.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

Street Fighter 6 is now on Switch 2, and it's all crossplay with other consoles and PC. We absolutely love SF6, and still spend countless hours loading in to battle players online. It's possibly the best fighting game released in the last 10 years, and that's really saying something considering just how many great fighting games there have been recently.

There's been a bunch of post-launch updates too, including new fighters to master. If you're more of a solo player, World Tour is surprisingly fun, and has just the right amount of Street Fighter wackiness. One of the things I've enjoyed is being able to fight with friends of all levels. Street Fighter 6 is a very accessible game, meaning even new players can dial in certain settings and level the playing field.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

Split Fiction is a fantastic crossplay game that offers a Friend Pass, allowing a friend ton join you on any platform, without a copy of the game. Much like It Takes Two and A Way Out, Hazelight's Split Fiction is designed as a two-player experience from the ground up. It's the studio's best game yet, blending futuristic sci-fi with fantasy epic-stylings as part of a surprisingly emotional story.

Whether you're playing on console or PC, you can play Split Fiction online with pals. It's a brilliant multiplayer game, and one that offers something quite unique in the genre. This is a fully co-op campaign with each player taking control of a character for the duration. It's a real standout, and completely unlike any other game on this list.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC

Diablo 4 takes a bold step forward for the long-running action RPG series. This time, there's an open world to explore, one that unfolds and changes as you slowly chip away at it. The core Diablo loop remains true, however, and you'll be spending most of your time slaying hordes of enemies to earn skill points and upgrade materials. From there, it's all about specializing your character, with a huge amount of variety on offer.

Now, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is out, a huge expansion that we liked a lot. All of this is available in crossplay between all platforms, meaning you can squad up and dungeon dive alongside your pals.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Monster Hunter Wilds is another huge step forward for the long-running action series. This time around, players can enjoy a wide open-world to explore, comprised of interconnected hub areas. you can now ride out, spot a monster, hunt them and then set out again without having to stop and manage your way through a sea of menus. In many ways, this makes Monster Hunter Wilds the most approachable entry yet.

One big change in Monster Hunter Wilds is the fact that you can now bring in two weapons, and switch between them quickly. This encourages experimentation in a way that's been previously difficult, and is what finally convinced me to try out some new weapons. The campaign is streamlined and slight, but manages to feature hunt after hunt of banger monster fights.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Marvel Rivals has taken over the globe since it launched late last year, proving itself to be much more than just an Overwatch clone. There's 35 heroes to play as, each with their own set of unique abilities and play style. Bec cause of this wide variety of characters, Marvel Rivals is easy to recommend for everyone, whether you want to play as a shooter like The Punisher, or a melee-focused brawler like Iron Fist.

Modes are simple, primarily focusing on push the payload, and domination, but thanks to a selection of vibrant and well-designed maps, there's plenty of fun to be had in Marvel Rivals. As you level up, you'll earn currency that can be spent on skins, sprays and other cosmetics, and each character has its own progression to work through. It's still fairly early days, but Marvel Rivals is looking like a new contender in the multiplayer space, and is a great game to play along with friends.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (PS4 and Xbox One through backwards compatibility)

Black Ops 6 is a real return to form for the long-running shooter series. It's the best it has felt in a while, with a truly balanced suite of weapons ranging from fast-firing SMGs to tactical marksman rifles. The real fun comes courtesy of the new Omnimovement mechanics, which will have you diving around corners, off of rooftops, and down staircases in search of the wildest trickshots.

Multiplayer is crossplay in Black Ops 6, as is Zombies, which means you can squad up with pals regardless of where you're all playing. Zombies is particularly fun, with two maps and main missions to play through. Soon, we'll see Warzone getting some Black Ops 6 integration, so there'll be even more to try out.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, PC and Nintendo Switch

Fall Guys has been out for a while now, but it's still one of the best crossplay games you can play with your pals. Inspired by the likes of Total Wipeout and Takeshi's Castle, Fall Guys is a unique battle royale game where players compete for survival, and ultimately, a shiny crown. You'll jump, dive, and vault your way through courses, pushing your opponents around to get ahead. It's a very fun time

While the game is indeed free to play, you can spend real-world money on costumes and other cosmetic items. Fall Guys can be played on a wide range of consoles too, and thanks to crossplay, you'll be able to squad up with your pals regardless of where they're playing.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (PS4 and Xbox One through backwards compatibility)

Call of Duty: Warzone has taken on a life of its own since it became a standalone battle royale game, giving the likes of Fortnite and PUBG a run for their money – one of the best FPS games turned into one of the best battle royale games.

Warzone's shooting is satisfying, its map rewarding to explore, and it offers more than enough interesting concepts like the Gulag and Contracts to make each match feel wholly unique, wherever you land. With the launch of 6, it's set to add changes to movement, speeding up gameplay and introducing Omnimovement.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, PC and Nintendo Switch

No Man's Sky has come a heck of a long way since it launched nearly eight years ago. In that time, Hello Games has added major update after major update, all for free for those that own the game. Now, it's more of a multiplayer affair, with players able to squad up and explore the universe together.

Whether you want to smuggle illegal goods as a space scoundrel, make alien friends, or study the fauna and flora of distant planets, No Man's Sky will likely have something for you. You'll start off fairly limited, but after upgrading your ship's flight and weapon capacities, you can reach more distant planets, and claim more valuable rewards. If you'd rather start with a bit more in your inventory, No Man's Sky's ongoing Expeditions will lead you through short narratives that guide you from place to place, beginning with different ship and item combinations.

Base building, fleet management and a bounty system are all well worth your time, as is simply jumping from planet to planet to see the sights. The game is now free to play as well, making 2024 a great time to jump in and see what the universe has in store for you.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS5 and PC.

Helldivers 2 is one of the newest games on this list, having arrived in early 2024. It's been a global phenomenon since it came out, and after a shaky launch in terms of server struggles and bugs, it's now one of the most popular games going right now. This is mostly down to its hilariously difficult gameplay, the way it engages its community, and the fact that it can be picked up for around $40.

You'll drop down onto a variety of planets filled with either the Terminds (Bugs) or Automatons (Robots). As you fight to complete objectives you'll need to make use of special weapons, sheer luck and brute force to make it to the extraction zone. Make it out alive and you'll earn currency and XP which is used to unlock bigger and better weapons and Stratagems. Helldivers 2 is great with friends, but does feature a Quickplay function that'll throw you in with other players at the drop of a hat.

Give Helldivers 2 a go if you like your games action packed, with your friends in tow, and full to the brim with heaps of personality. While it can be difficult to get into at first, that's sort of the point, and you'll soon find yourself jumping in over and over again to push the war effort forward, and to see your friends go flying as they're hit by wayward grenades and projectiles.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.

Apex Legends is another contender vying for the battle royale crown. Developed by Respawn Entertainment and set in the Titanfall universe, Apex Legends is a squad-based battle royale shooter where teams of three go up against 57 other players to try to gather loot and be the last person (or squad) standing.

However, unlike Fortnite and PUBG, Apex Legends sees players take on a class, each represented by a unique character (imagine Fortnite mixed with Overwatch 2 and you’ll be on the right track.)

This is the perfect battle royale game for those who enjoy the genre's premise but can't get on board with Call of Duty's slower speed or PUBG's hyper-competitiveness – and it's free-to-play. Plus, different classes, abilities and limited-time events make for a dynamic experience overall.

Apex Legends has crossplay across all platforms, easily earning it a spot among the best crossplay games. Given it's available on pretty much every modern platform, that means you can play with friends (for free) no matter what hardware they own.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5 and PC

Destiny 2 may have released several years ago but Bungie's online-multiplayer shooter is still going strong. This is a shooter that is constantly evolving, thanks to regular (and sometimes quite drastic) updates.

Getting started can be a bit of a pain, but once you get into it (and we strongly advise to play with a group of friends) you'll find yourself hooked – Destiny 2 has a really strong and active community that's a joy to be part of.

Like Apex Legends, Destiny 2 is not only one of the best FPS games, it's one of the best crossplay games right now, allowing players across all platforms to play together that it's available on.

Platforms that support crossplay: PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC

Looking for an online horror to have you and your friends on tenterhooks (and literal hooks)? Then Dead by Daylight may be for you. This asymmetric survival horror has a pretty simple premise: if you're a survivor then you want to repair all the generators and escape the killer, if you're the killer then you want to hunt down all the survivors and sacrifice them all to the Entity by hanging them on hooks.

The variety of killers and survivors on offer, all with different playstyles, makes Dead by Daylight such fun. Additionally you have the option to purchase licensed horror movie characters like Ghostface and Pinhead. The added variety of items, perks, and add-ons ultimately makes Dead by Daylight one of the best horror games out there.

It's also one of the best crossplay games available, with cross-platform play supported on all platforms. Mobile versions of the game on Android and iOS also exist, but these are only compatible for crossplay with each other.

Platforms that support crossplay: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Rocket League, the incomparable physics-based rocket-car soccer game, remains one of the most popular online games – and it's not hard to see why.

Rocket League's basic premise is simple (knock the ball into the goal), making it easy for anyone to pick up, while the ability to crossplay with friends means that youc an team up no matter what platform your friend is playing on.

Matches range from 1-v-1 to 4-v-4, so there’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to gathering your friends to play together. Rocket League is definitely better with friends – trying to coordinate your team between goalkeeping, defending and attacking takes coordination but can also devolve into frantic fun. There’s also a league-based system online, so you get a nice sense of progression as your team grows from a fumbling mess into a well-oiled machine.

Platforms that support crossplay: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices

Fortnite has had a meteoric rise since its release in 2017, and it's not hard to see why. The free-to-play battle royale game offers players an energetic and enjoyable online multiplayer experience, throwing in some building mechanics to set it off from its competitors.

Fortnite is in many ways responsible for the popularity of the battle royale genre, even though it didn't invent it. When it comes to platforms covered, Fortnite takes the top spot on this list of best crossplay games – not only does it support cross-platform play on consoles and PC, but on mobile devices too.

Platforms that support crossplay: Xbox One, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility)

Minecraft released quite a few years ago, but the core experience is as magical as ever. The sandbox survival game allows players to build with blocks in a 3D-generated world, providing a perfect creative outlet for those who enjoy building impressive digital creations.

Even if building castles and secret hideouts isn't your strenth, Minecraft offers you plenty of things to do – explore its world, bring back valuable loot and take on monsters that can lurk anywhere.

While Minecraft Bedrock Edition does support crossplay, the Java Edition does not. So if you and your friends want to play together across platforms, you both need the Bedrock Edition.

Best crossplay games: FAQ

Will GTA 6 have crossplay or be cross-platform?

This is going to be a question on everybody's lips throughout 2026 - as long as GTA 6 continues to have a a 2026 release date that is.

Grand Theft Autro 6 itself will be a single player game so we're not expecting the main meat of it to have any form of crossplay. However, for a hint and a guess we could look to GTA Online as it is now for a clue: and that clue is not good news for crossplay fans as there is currently no crossplay between any platform for GTA Online.

Could Rockstar look to break that mould given the seismic impact of GTA 6 and its partner online facet (that we're assuming is coming)? Maybe - it might be simpler now to implement, and also might be rather lucrative to ensure that GTA Online can be enjoyed by even more people together on even more platforms. We'll have to wait and see though...

Respawn Entertainment has released a new trailer for Apex Legends' latest season, Defiance. It showcases the game's newest character Maggie being dumped into the Apex Games. 

The trailer is a ton of fun and leads directly on from a previous trailer from this week that had Maggie being captured. As part of her capture, she's being forced to participate in the Apex Games against her will. What's more, it's pretty clear the other Legends have an ax to grind. 

The trailer is full of Apex's trademark carnage, as well as some fun character interactions that the series is well known for. You can watch the new trailer here:

Apex Legend's Defiance is going to be the game's 12th season of content, and it's set to go live on February 8, 2022, across all platforms. The game's 20th character, Maggie is the headlining act, but the trailer also seems to hint that Olympus is seeing a major rework. 

In the trailer, the Battle Royale arena is seen plummeting from the sky, and several portals being set off causing disarray around the arena. While not confirmed, it seems like there is plenty of reason to believe Olympus will see a shake-up. This does also probably hint that this season won't bring a new map with it.

Who is Maggie?

Maggie has been floating around the Apex Legends universe for almost exactly a year now. She was introduced alongside Fuse in late January 2021 in Season 8. She played a part in his reveal trailers where it was revealed the two being thick as thieves (well, because they were) when they grew up on a planet called Salvo.

However, as their power grew, they drifted apart, and eventually, Fuse decided to join the Apex Games, which Maggie didn't take too well. This led to a tussle where a grenade was detonated and Fuse lost his arm. 

In retaliation to Fuse joining the games, Maggie ended up attacking the arena celebrations that had civilians present. This resulted in her blowing up a massive ship which ended up crash-landing into King's Canyon. 

Ironically that stunt has gotten her into the Apex Games herself as once she was captured, her punishment was to take part in the bloodsport she hates. 

In terms of what to expect from Maggie in-game, we don't quite know yet. Respawn hasn't yet shown off her kit, so as of now, her abilities, as well as other additions to the game, such as a potential weapon, remain a mystery.   

Whatever the case, it's clear that the other characters in Apex Legends have a grudge against Maggie for crashing the ship into King's Canyon. That is bound to create a ton of fun character interactions in the game. 

• TechRadar's Review of Apex Legends is a strong place to start if you are thinking about joining the Apex Games.

Apex Legends Mobile isn't just a rumored or hoped-for port of the popular Battle Royale game, but a confirmed upcoming mobile game that certain people are already playing.

Right now, Apex Legends Mobile is in closed beta in India and the Philippines, and apparently only a few thousand people are part of the tests. There's even a Google Play Store listing for the phone.

Hopefully, we'll see full availability - or at least an open beta - at some point in the future. There's no promise of that yet though, and that's fine by us. In late 2019, EA initially confirmed that Apex Legends Mobile could be released around the end of 2020, so clearly its release dates aren't set in stone.

Most popular multiplayer games have seen big changes when they've been ported over to mobile. PUBG Mobile has a tweaked map and added AI players compared to the main game, and Call of Duty: Mobile is its own separate entity based on maps, weapons and guns from the popular series. Wild Rift adapted League of Legends to smartphones by shrinking its map and tweaking hero abilities for touchscreen controls.  

Respawn hasn't clarified how Apex Legends will differ from the base game, but we expect them to explain later how it's been adapted to preserve the battle royale shooter gameplay to smartphone screens. We also don't know whether the developers will opt to use the 'standard' controls shooting games use on mobile phones, or possibly try out some new features like Call of Duty: Mobile did with its automatic aim-down-sights.

To help you understand what Apex Legends Mobile is shaping up to be before its release, we've compiled everything you need to know as well as a wish-list of what we'd like to see in Apex Legends mobile.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? A mobile port of the popular battle royale game
• When is it out? Other than the beta, we don't know
• How much will it cost? Likely - and hopefully - nothing

Apex Legends Mobile release date and price

Let's start with the price: Respawn has confirmed that Apex Legends Mobile is free to play, and will have a battle pass and other unlockable cosmetics. 

Apex Legends was a free download on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, with the option to buy cosmetics on the side; it makes sense that's true for Apex Legends Mobile too. We do know that the game will get some cosmetics and extras that are exclusive to the mobile version. It's unclear what kinds of in-game transactions beyond the battle pass you'll find inside Apex Legends Mobile, however.

In addition, most similar mobile ports like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile are free, with micro-transactions instead of an up-front payment.

The Apex Legends Mobile release date is still unclear, but EA originally said it'll coming at some stage after April 1, 2021. 

Weeks after that projected starting point, Respawn announced the first Apex Legends Mobile beta tests would start with limited player groups 'soon' in India and the Philippines, and will come to more players and expand to more regions throughout 2021.

EA reportedly set a new (and very vague) release window for Apex Legends Mobile – its full release will roll out later this year (aka the financial year, which ends in April 2022), according to Apex Legends News.

So an Apex Legends Mobile release date might be a way off, and although we could be surprised with an earlier release, it's probably best not to get our hopes up.

Apex Legends Mobile: everything we've heard

Respawn officially introduced Apex Legends Mobile in April 2021 and announced the game would soon be playable in beta – first in India and the Philippines for limited tests, and then expand to more players and regions through 2021.

While the official blog post didn't answer many questions, it did clarify some early points: the mobile version wouldn't have cross-play with the PC and console versions, would have a battle pass and unlockables exclusive to mobile, and would launch in beta first on Android with iOS support coming after. 

Here are some representative screenshots included in the post and collected in a tweet:

Apex Legends Mobile: what we want to see

Here are some of the features of Apex Legends Mobile we'd like to see, including changes (or lack thereof) from the base game, and ways it'd work on a mobile phone.

1. Cross-play for mobile devices

This is an easy one, and something we expect you'll be able to do when it launches. We'd love for cross-play to be supported by Apex Legends Mobile, but just across mobile devices.

It wouldn't be fair to be competing against those on console or PC, but it'd be great if Android players could be mixed in the same matches as those on iOS. That's especially the case as the people you want to meet up with and play online may have differing devices.

2. 120Hz support across all devices

Fortnite Mobile is capable of running at 120Hz on the iPad Pro, but that's all for now and we'd like to see Apex go above and beyond that for its mobile iteration.

With a lot of top-end mobile devices now sporting 120Hz frame rate displays, we'd hope this would soon become the norm in games like Apex Legends, at least for phones that can support it. 

This is unlikely to happen at launch, but it'd be a big benefit and make the gameplay even smoother than other mobile titles.

3. A reworked map

We don't want to say goodbye to Kings Canyon, but that may be a necessity for a mobile version of Apex. Traversing that map may be difficult in a short mobile game, so maybe Respawn could work on a smaller map for this edition?

It could still be a mobile version of Kings Canyon, but considering how long it takes to travel from one side of the map to the other this may be a difficult thing to do in the Kings Canyon or World's Edge we know and love.

4. Easy to download 

This is another simple one; we'd like Apex Legends Mobile to be easy to download and install to your phone.

Epic Games decided not to host its version of Fortnite Mobile in the Google Play Store at launch, so you had to download it in a roundabout way with an APK and that was a bit of a pain.

We'd like to see EA make a big song and dance about its Apex Legends mobile release, and launching that on the App Store and Google's alternative would be a good way to do that.

5. A solo mode

Mobile connectivity can be unreliable at the best of times, so perhaps it's time to have a single player mode of Apex Legends in the mobile title so you don't have to rely on the connection of those around you.

By this we mean, we'd like to see you play as a team of one, so your game plans won't be scuppered if another player disconnects (in fact, that might be advantageous for you).

This won't be anywhere near as fun as working as a team, but it may be a good addition for those with poorer connectivity or those who want to avoid working with others.

6. Support for plug-and-play controllers

Plug-and-play controllers are great ways to play mobile games, as they imitate the console controller experience and stop you becoming reliant on the often-fiddly on-screen controls.

However, some games like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile don't work on all - we tested the Razer Kishi recently and these games weren't supported, so we couldn't use it on them. 

We'd like to see Apex Legends Mobile launch with a bespoke control scheme for mobile game pads, so we have the option of using the controllers if we so wish.

7. An offline mode

Sometimes you just can't get online to play games, and we'd like Apex Legends to have an offline mode so we can still enjoy the experience without needing to be connected to the internet.

One option for this is to bring over the Story Mode from the main version which lets you play linear levels with select equipment and enemies based on areas from the map. These are short, but are a fun alternative to the online battle royale.

Another option is to offer a version of the battle royale game where you only play against AI opponents. Of course the AI would need to be pretty good, so you don't feel like you're fighting lifeless robots (as that would be no fun) but it could be a good training mode for the actual game.

8. Variable frame-rate and other battery features

Mobile gaming can be a huge battery drain, but some titles have ways to mitigate this issue to an extent, and we'd like Apex Legends to bring some into play.

For example, Old School RuneScape lets you set a frame-rate cap if you like, which reduces battery drain (and makes the game easier to play on older phones), and that'd work well here for people who don't have 120Hz phones as mentioned above.

Good optimization in the game would also stop it draining power as much, and possibly shorter match lengths as well so each individual one doesn't take as much off your phone's battery life.

• Everything you need to know about Call of Duty Mobile

Respawn Entertainment, the development studio behind games such as Apex Legends,  Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Titanfall, has revealed that it's in the early stages of developing a new game.

The news was revealed by programmer at Respawn Entertainment, Steven Kah Hien Wong, who tweeted out a job advertisement for a software engineer, in which it's confirmed that the role is for a "brand new IP". This was then retweeted by Respawn’s studio head Vince Zampella, who called the new project “super exciting stuff”. 

It’s clear that the new game is still in the very early stages of development; not only is Zampella inviting applicants to “get in early”, programmer Steven Kah Hien Wong stated that the development team currently comprises only five people, with the new hire to be the sixth.

At this early stage, we can probably figure out more about what the game isn’t than what it is. As a “new IP” that’s being built “from scratch”, it seems safe to say that this title isn’t going to be another Star Wars game or that highly-desired third Titanfall game (sorry Titanfall fans). 

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A mystery

The only thing that's close to a hint in the job advertisement for the game is that whoever is hired will be part of a team that's aiming to “Pioneer new ways to enable ‘adventuring until the heat death of the universe’", which sounds exciting and ambitious but isn’t particularly enlightening. Does that mean space? Procedural generation? Game as a service? None of the above? We imagine we won't find out for a while.

While this new IP is in development, Respawn Entertainment still has plenty on its plate with Apex Legends. The game’s ninth season, called Legacy, is fast approaching for console and PC players, while the first regional beta tests for Apex Legends Mobile are kicking off later this month with plans to expand to “more regions and more players around the world” through 2021

Via IGN

• Games of the Generation: Titanfall 2 should be bigger than Fortnite, but you’re all idiots

Apex Legends Mobile has officially been revealed, and it’s launching in beta soon – but only in limited regions, starting with India and the Philippines. There's no word on other regions like the US and UK just yet.

As expected, the game has been adapted for mobile and “specially designed for touchscreens, with streamlined controls and thoughtful optimizations,” according to Respawn’s blog post.

The post didn’t go into too much detail, nor have we seen gameplay for how Apex on mobile will look. But Respawn did confirm that there won’t be cross-play between Apex mobile and the console/PC versions of the game. It will still be free to play and have its own battle pass, complete with cosmetics and unlockables unique to the mobile version. 

But we do have a couple official screenshots showing characters and locations in the Worlds End map that look faithful to the console and PC versions:

The initial test periods in 'Spring 2021' (Q2 2021) will start with closed betas in India and the Philippines limited to a few thousand players before expanding to “more regions and more players around the world” through 2021, the post said.

Apex Mobile and Apex main: so many Apex questions remain

We still have plenty of questions left unanswered, including how content releases will work between the distinct mobile and main console and PC versions of Apex. The blog post implied that Respawn won’t neglect the console/PC versions while working to release Apex Mobile, but it’s unclear how much parity the versions will have – like the just-announced new legend Valkyrie, and everything else coming in Season Nine: Legacy.

We could expect the shooter combat to follow other mobile versions of desktop shooters, like Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile, which assign mouse and keyboard functions to a slew of buttons on the right side of the phone screen (and a free-floating d-pad on the left for movement) – but until we see a screenshot of the actual HUD/layout, we won’t know for sure.

We’re also curious how the gameplay itself will be adapted to the small screen. Will Apex Mobile follow League of Legends: Wild Rift’s example and shrink the maps as well as adapt abilities to mobile play? Will the legends and guns be tweaked to better serve mobile screens? There’s plenty of unknowns, but we’re excited that the ball is rolling on Apex Legends Mobile.

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An Apex Legends dataminer has shared findings that Titans could be making their way to the popular battle royale game by way of a not-yet-announced character’s unique abilities. The leaker, Biast12, shared a datamined clip on Twitter showing the character spawning a Titan – the iconic giant robots from the Titanfall series – but with some tweaks suggesting we might not get the same mech action we know and love. 

In the clip, we can see the new character calling in an Auto-Titan which, when dropped onto the map, lays down suppressive fire in a conal area. Unfortunately for fans eager to jump in the cockpit, it looks like the Titan won’t be able to be piloted by the player and will instead be entirely controlled by the AI. 

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It’s a welcome callback to Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall series, which the developer has confirmed shares the same universe as Apex Legends. Speaking of throwbacks, Biast12’s tweet shows that the new character should be recognizable to fans of the Titanfall games and their memorable villains. 

Titan's boon

The character in question is none other than Blisk, a primary antagonist from the Titanfall series (and leader of the Apex Predators mercenary unit as well as rumored founder of The Syndicate, which created the Apex Games battle royale portrayed in Apex Legends). If the datamine’s information is true, then Apex Legends players invested in the lore of the wider series should have even more to chew on, especially when it comes to the future of both Apex Legends and Titanfall.

While nothing has been confirmed on either EA or Respawn Entertainment’s side, we can see Blisk’s addition to Apex Legends acting as a bridge between it and a potential Titanfall 3, should it ever come. There’s no better time for it, either, especially with the current console generation in full swing with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Titanfall 3 could also land a sizable playerbase at launch, too, if it’s featured on EA Play. This EA subscription service allows players to delve into a vast back catalog of EA titles, and has been integrated into Xbox Game Pass. 

That said, Apex Legends is still a popular multiplayer game, so EA might not yet be willing to eat into its player base with a third Titanfall entry. But a year or two down the line from now, that could be something that changes as players feel naturally inclined to move onto other games.

• 20 Bethesda games are now on Xbox Game Pass

Apex Legends' Nintendo Switch release date might have been accidentally revealed ahead of schedule, if a video description from the game’s latest trailer is to be believed.

As discovered by Twitter user Dexerto, a Japanese trailer for Apex Legends’ new character Fuse included a video description that said: “And on February 2nd, it will be possible to play on Switch at the same time as the start of Season 8”. The message was also spotted in the Russian version of the game’s YouTube trailer. 

The Nintendo Switch release date was not found in the English versions of the trailer, and has since been removed from all other language versions on YouTube.

The free-to-play battle royale game’s release date was pushed back to 2021 on Nintendo Switch, after being announced last year. In a blog post on EA.com, Apex Legends’ Game Director Chad Grenier said the decision to delay Apex Legends on Switch was to ensure the team could make it “into the great experience Switch players deserve."

Iron price

If Apex Legends does indeed launch on Nintendo Switch on February 2, the game will support cross-platform play, the latest seasonal content, and include full feature parity with the other versions of the game. 

It’s likely you will need an Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play the game, as it’s an online-only experience. However, the possibility of playing one of the best battle royale games anytime, anywhere is certainly appealing.

It'd also be nice to see if Apex Legends receives some Nintendo Switch-specific features, like gyro-assisted aiming to help players line up that perfect headshot. Time will tell, but we expect to hear more about the game soon. 

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Epic Games has just added a new social deduction game mode to Fortnite called The Spy Within, taking somewhat unsubtle inspiration from Among Us' popular cat-and-mouse premise. 

The time-limited mode has been introduced for the holiday season, and sees players (you guessed it) assigned to a team – without knowledge of who their teammates are – tasked with weeding out friends from foe. 

Two players in each game will be on the Spy team (read: the imposters) and must eliminate all others – who are working in silence to complete objectives throughout the map – while avoiding detection. 

•  Kratos in Fortnite is a step too far – here's why 
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It’s no secret that Among Us’ Cluedo-inspired premise found immense popularity during this year’s lockdown periods as gamers spent (even more) time indoors, offering a simple, enjoyable way to stay engaged with friends without the need for expensive games and hardware. 

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Among Us was the most searched video game on Google, gaining unprecedented traction for what is, essentially, an online board game. 

Fortnite has spent the last few years at the top of the industry pile, and so it follows that Epic Games hopes to seize on the popularity of the sleeper hit by adding an almost identical mode to its already phenomenally popular game.  

Epic copycats

This isn’t the first time the battle royale heavyweight has been accused of pinching successful ideas. Way back when, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer, Bluehole, expressed concerns that Epic lifted designs from what many consider the defining game of the battle royale genre.

Fortnite’s addition of the ping system, an idea popularised by Apex Legends, also drew criticism for its obvious, unashamed similarity to that used in the Respawn title. 

By-and-large, Fortnite’s battle royale competitors have been unhurt by Epic’s casual larceny; both PUBG and Apex Legends remain hugely popular games in their own right. It remains to be seen whether Among Us, led by a small indie team from InnerSloth, can weather the storm from such a big-hitter. 

In better news for fans of the game, Among Us is no longer a PC and mobile exclusive. Nintendo recently announced that Among Us is coming to Nintendo Switch, marking the game’s first foray into the console market. 

•  Among Us, Skyrim and more Yakuza games are coming to Xbox Game Pass 

Previously, Electronic Arts has confirmed its plans to bring the battle royale game Apex Legends to mobile devices, and now we've heard the wait may be longer than initially expected.

Chief executive at EA, Andrew Wilson, has updated fans by saying the game will be landing in the 2022 fiscal year. That means you can expect it to land any time from April 1, 2021.

The company is aiming to bring the game to mobile devices during 2021, but this new way of referring to the date may be so the company can slip into 2022 before its release too.

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Previously, the company suggested Apex Legends Mobile would be ready for smartphones by the end of 2020, so this is a significant delay.

It's currently unclear if that's owing to complications from the Covid-19 pandemic, but Wilson didn't offer any further clarification on why the game has been delayed.

The company has also reminded us that it plans to bring the game to Nintendo Switch in the near future too.

EA is planning to further expand into mobile titles over the next few years, with the company said to release at least six new soccer mobile games in the next two years alone.

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Via DotEsports

Valorant, the new team-based multiplayer shooter from Riot Games, is a brave undertaking. Launching a brand new, competitive first-person shooter in an already saturated market is a major risk. But if any developer is up for the task, it’s Riot Games. After all, the developer built League of Legends from scratch and turned it into a household name in PC gaming circles. It’s also an incredibly popular esport, too.

However, despite the pedigree of its creator, Valorant has a Herculean task if it wants to thrive among the giants of competitive shooters. Is it an instant contender, then, or does Riot still have work to do? Let’s take a look.

 Time to fight 

Valorant’s gameplay can be closely compared to that of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). It’s a precision-based, 5v5 tactical shooter that focuses on accuracy and crosshair placement above all else, which can admittedly be punishing for newcomers. You need to aim for the head, try to control bullet spray and recoil from a variety of guns, and there are no respawns if you die during a round. The twist, of course, is that Valorant has a clever character class system, along with nine Agents who each have their own abilities – but we’ll get to that in a moment. 

Valorant’s main two modes, Competitive and Unrated, focus on the highly enjoyable premise of attack versus defense which was popularized by CS:GO. The attacking team has to try to plant and detonate the spike (essentially a bomb), or wipe out the entire enemy team to win a round. The defenders, meanwhile, have to do the opposite: defuse the spike if it's planted, or wipe out the enemy team. Once the match reaches the halfway point, you’ll switch sides.

But that's not all. Players begin with a small amount of funds to buy weapons, armor and abilities at the start of each round, and more credits can be earned by performing well or besting your opponents. Winning a round will provide your team with extra funds, but you’ll still pick up some credits if you lose. 

The economy management aspect brings an interesting risk/reward element into Valorant gameplay, as you’ll need to use your money accordingly throughout the course of each match. If you spend big on a powerful weapon to maximize your chances of success, you open up the risk of having nothing to spend in the next round if you die. While if you’re too frugal with your cash, you’ll be at a big disadvantage if you come up against someone who’s better equipped. Decisions, decisions.

Sounds a lot like CS:GO, right? Well, there are a few distinct differences between the two games. For example, matches are best of 30 in CS:GO, as opposed to Valorant’s best of 13, which keeps games from being drawn out – particularly if they go the distance. Valorant also avoids feeling like a carbon copy through its striking visual presentation, excellent map design and unique agent abilities. 

There’s nothing wrong with building upon an incredibly successful formula, either. CS:GO is still one of the most played games on Steam every week, and Riot Games' approach to Valorant is reminiscent of how Epic Games approached Fortnite. There's no doubt it was built upon the foundations set by PUBG, who was the leader in the battle royale genre, but they added their own spin on the formula with huge success. Essentially, that’s what Riot Games has done here, and they’ve done it extremely well.

How does it compare?
To compare Valorant to Overwatch and Apex Legends in terms of gameplay would be unfair, then, as even though the games do share some similarities such as heroes, team-based gameplay and a colorful visual style, they’re all markedly different in the experiences they try to provide.

Choose your character

This is where Valorant really stands out. Known as Agents, Valorant’s nine heroes each offer their own perks and abilities that can turn the tide of battle when used correctly. From blocking sight lines to revealing enemies, you’ll need to make the most of your chosen agent’s arsenal if you want your team to come out on top.

Each character belongs to one of four classes: Duelist, Initiator, Sentinel and Controller. Duelists are ideal for players who like to push forward and engage the enemy head on; Initiators can be best described as scouts who can help determine the enemies location; Sentinels are suited to defensive players who prefer to support the team through healing; and Controllers are specialists at blocking off sight lines and disrupting the other team’s tactics.

Each character has three abilities (two of which are optional purchases each round) and an ultimate ability that charges over time/based on your performance. It's crucial, then, that you assess what's happening on the battlefield, the type of opponent you encounter and use the strengths of your particularly agent. 

For example, if the enemy team is huddled up at the end of a narrow corridor, chuck a cluster grenade in as Raze to make them scatter. Don’t know where your opponents are hiding? Place a tripwire as Cypher and you’ll be alerted of any incoming hostiles if they trigger it. Want to lockdown an area but can’t cover every sight line? Place a wall as Sage to force the enemy to choose another entry point. Abilities can turn the tide of any encounter. 

Ideally, a balanced team will include a mixture of character classes, as teamwork is paramount in Valorant. It’s important to learn how each Agent operates, too, as if someone picks your favorite before you do, you’ll have to play as someone else. With each Agent offering new playstyles to master, then, there’s plenty of depth on offer.

How does it compare?
Perhaps somewhat predictably, both Apex Legends’ and Overwatch have had far more time to amass a roster of playable characters. Both games have been out for significantly longer, and it’s impossible for Valorant to compete with the likes of Overwatch’s 32-character roster. However, with Riot Games promising to add more Agents into the game in the coming weeks, months (and hopefully) years, the key to Valorant’s success will be ensuring that each new character is properly balanced and adds something fresh to the experience.

Rules of warfare

Valorant only had four modes at launch, Unrated, Spike Rush, Custom and Practice, but the long-awaited Competitive mode has now also arrived. This is where most of the player base will gravitate to, as it’s where Valorant’s chops as a competitive shooter will really come to fruition. 

That being said, Valorant’s Spike Rush mode is a fun, quick-fire game type that serves as a much-needed alternative to the longer form matches. Each player begins with the same loadout (there’s no in-game economy) and there are various stat-boosting and gameplay-affecting Orbs to collect on the battlefield. Every attacker has their own spike, too, meaning that rounds are often frenetic affairs. It’s a best of seven format, and is the perfect pre-game warm up mode.

How does it compare?
Other than that, however, the lack of modes could be seen as Valorant’s weakest feature right now. When judged against the competition, Valorant simply pales in comparison. The disparity is immediately noticeable when stacked up alongside Overwatch, in particular, which has four core modes Assault, Escort, Hybrid, and Control that are buffered by standard Deathmatch offerings, capture-the-flag, and rotating seasonal modes. Clearly, Overwatch has had longer to establish itself and find new ways to keep players engaged, but Valorant’s offering still leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Theaters of war

But what about the game’s maps? Unfortunately, there aren’t many stages to fight it out on yet – there are only four – but each one has at least been crafted to offer unique challenges to overcome and encourage you to experiment with new strategies. Haven’s bomb doors cut off certain entry routes, for example, and Split features a lot of vertically so things still feel fresh. 

How does it compare?
Unfortunately, Valorant is outclassed by its rivals when it comes to map selection, as both Overwatch, Apex Legends and CS:GO offer plenty more variety in selection and layout. Overwatch’s real-world locales mixed with more outlandish maps like Junkertown or the nostalgic wonderland BlizzardWorld are simply more interesting than anything Valorant offers. Meanwhile CS:GO’s 12 maps offer three times the choice, while also including a remake of arguably the most famous multiplayer map in shooter history in Dust 2. On the one hand, it’s unfair to compare a game that's still in its infancy to one that’s been around for a decade, but Riot knew what the competition looked like going in.

Put your money where your (micro) mouth is

Controversial as they are, micro transactions have become commonplace in free-to-play games, and Valorant of course is no exception. Riot decided to keep things simple here: buy a certain amount of digital currency for different amounts of real money, use that digital currency on cosmetics. Easy for people familiar with the format to understand, completely optional, and non-intrusive to the player experience, the micro transactions here are probably as good as they get. 

This falls in line with the other competitive shooters in the free-to-play field, with the majority of the in-game purchases sticking strictly to cosmetic attire. Both Apex Legends and Overwatch have a similar approach: not wanting to risk the integrity of competition by allowing players to buy game-breaking boosts or abilities. CS:GO also offers a ton of content through its micro transactions, but that game’s community market has become a haven for money laundering schemes, which isn’t great.

Well worth a go

The final verdict here is clear: despite the lack of variety of game modes and maps, Valorant is an expertly-crafted competitive shooter that has all the ingredients to hold its own among the more established titles in the genre. The action is arguably more exciting, and the unique characters are fun to learn and experiment with. The classic attack v defense format works wonderfully, too, and the game’s Competitive modes should make for some epic moments. As time goes on and more content becomes available, then, it’s not unreasonable to think Riot Games could have another tremendous hit on its hands.

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First-person battle royale shooter Apex Legends is coming to Nintendo Switch and Steam, it's been announced by Respawn Entertainment during its EA Play Live stream. It's coming to both platforms this 'fall' (September through November). 

Apex Legends Crossplay will be added, too, uniting the player bases across the current and future platforms: PS4, Xbox One, or PC (and eventually Nintendo Switch). PC players on Origin can enjoy the game with those on Steam, too.

The newest Apex Legends season 5 event was announced, as well, which is called Lost Treasures, coming on June 23. A new limited-time event will focus on Crypto, introducing a drone that players can use to revive other players. Here's a trailer for that:

Apex Legends has reached over 70 million players to date, according to EA, and is free-to-play on all formats. Nintendo Switch owners are in for a treat. Hopefully this means Respawn can link up the formats, too, so players only need to buy the battle pass on a single platform. That's just wishful thinking until we learn more, though.

No more specific release date was given for each version other than fall of this year. 

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EA is finally adding cross-play support to one of its titles, but somewhat surprisingly, it’s Need for Speed: Heat – a game which has largely been forgotten about, and one that isn’t exactly noted for its online multiplayer.

The update for Need for Speed: Heat, which arrives on June 9, will work just as you’d hope: players will be able to race against each other whether they’re on PC via Origin and Steam, or playing the game on PS4 and Xbox One. 

It should go a long way to boosting the game’s longevity, but it’s an interesting choice by EA nonetheless, especially when you consider the wealth of online multiplayer titles the publisher has at its disposal. 

And that got us thinking –  with the PS5 and Xbox Series X on the horizon, cross-play should become the standard for all EA games. With that in mind, here are five EA games that would really benefit from cross-play support.

FIFA 20

As EA’s most lucrative and popular title, there’s no explicable reason why FIFA 20 doesn’t already include cross-play support. There’s no competitive advantage to be gained by playing on either PC or console (most PC players tend to use a controller anyway), and it’s a game that would benefit immensely from letting everyone play together, no matter which platform they choose to buy the game on. Cross-play would be a huge boon for FIFA 21, then. 

Madden NFL 20

Another obvious candidate for cross-play support is EA’s Madden franchise. Once again, there’s no balancing issues to worry about – apart from maybe a few graphical bells and whistles on PC, the games play exactly the same. By adding cross-play support, Madden NFL would certainly have more of a resurgence on PC, a platform where it’s historically struggled as most people tend to opt for the console versions of the game.

Battlefield

Adding cross-play support to Battlefield 5 would take a little more finesse, but as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has shown, there’s no reason why PC and console players can’t co-exist. Yes, PC players will always have a competitive advantage when it comes to first-person shooters, largely due to the laser-like accuracy a mouse can provide. But honestly, unless you’re determined to rise up the ranks and become some sort of pro, most of us just want to play with our friends online. Add in the option to turn cross-play on or off for Battlefield 6, and everyone’s happy. 

Apex Legends

Apex Legends may have been the darling of the battle royale world, but nothing lasts forever. Even though it’s still an incredibly popular game, there’s no doubt that players have had their heads turned by other new and exciting games, such as Valorant. But would more people give Apex Legends a go if they knew they could play with their friends across platforms? Absolutely. Like Battlefield, a bit of tweaking would be required, but the game is a no-brainer when it comes to adding cross-play.

Anthem 2.0

Anthem is currently undergoing a major overhaul after a much-maligned launch. But if EA really wants to win back some goodwill from gamers, and exponentially increase Anthem’s chances of success, cross-play support is a must. Not only will it unite a fractured player base, it’s a great way to boost the game’s overall player numbers. And let’s be frank: if Anthem doesn’t attract new and old players alike, the time and money EA are investing to try and relaunch the game will all be for nought. 

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Apex Legends could be pinging its way onto PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, after a job listing appearing to hint at next-gen ports for the hit battle royale game.

As spotted by GamesRadar, Respawn has posted a job listing for senior rendering engineers to seemingly work on next-gen ports of the game, writing that "Respawn is looking for Senior Rendering Engineers to push next-gen platforms and the PC to their limits on Apex Legends."

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Apex Legends launched to great acclaim last year, with the smooth gunplay and smart mechanics we'd come to expect from Titanfall developer Respawn. But this is the first time we've got an inkling of the battle royale title coming to next-gen consoles.

When could it happen?

While it's not a surprise to hear Respawn is planning to bring its game to PS5 and Xbox Series X, the job specification leads us to believe that work is already somewhat underway, given the dev is recruiting for individuals to help with "shading", "optimizing", and bug-fixing, which feel like end-of-pipeline considerations for any game.

There are few launch games announced so far for both consoles, and getting Apex Legends: PS5 Edition to players before January would be quite a big achievement – while giving console upgraders a quality battle royale experience to take part in. 

It's possible, though, we won't see it until 2021, especially with lockdown measures hindering game development and leading many publishers to delay big game releases, such as The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima. For its part, though, Respawn has only delayed season 5 of Apex by a week so far, so maybe this new version of the game will be unaffected. 

First, though, we'd like to see cross-play for this generation. Anything to announce, Respawn?

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Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that Apex Legends Season 5 will be starting on May 12, a week later than originally planned. 

The developer confirmed the date through an official blog post in which Design Director, Jason McCord, also details the team’s plans for wrapping up Season 4 with a brand new Limited-Time Mode. 

According to McCord, the decision to push the start date of Season 5 back slightly was driven by a desire to give Apex Legends players a little more time to “grind out their Battle Pass or try and hit that next level of Ranked”.

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Next steps

That extra week will also allow for the final two-week event of Season 4: Battle Armor. 

The Battle Armor event will kick off on April 28 and run until May 12, when Season 4 will make way for Season 5. 

Battle Armor will take place on the game’s World’s Edge map with rotations happening every few days which will see players limited to only one armor type. McCord states that in this mode every player will drop into matches with the same armor type as well as a P2020 and will find that, aside from Shield Cells and batteries, no other kind of armor will spawn. 

When the event starts on April 28, those taking part will be limited to White Armor. On May 2, the armor allowed will upgrade to Blue and then to Purple on May 6. Finally, on May 9, players will be restricted to the recently introduced Evo Armor—which grows stronger with damage dealt—until the event ends and Season 5 begins on May 12. 

McCord says that this event is just one way Respawn is planning to experiment with the game’s “core gameplay”, adding that it’s “excited to introduce even more twists in Season 5 and beyond.” 

Other than this tease, it’s not entirely clear what Season 5 will hold for players just yet. New seasons usually mean map changes and a new Legend but Respawn is yet to give official confirmation of what it has up its sleeve. Given the run up to Season 4 of Apex Legends was fairly entertaining and surprising we're sure players are looking forward to seeing things unfold over the next couple of weeks. 

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Apex Legends is getting duos mode permanently from April 7, EA and Respawn have revealed. Map rotation for both duos and trios is coming on the same date for Kings Canyon and World's Edge, which is also a permanent change.

While duos and the old Kings Canyon map have featured in the game as limited time events in the past, this marks a major difference in the flexibility of the free-to-play FPS. Could it have been caused by the increased competition of Call of Duty: Warzone? Either way, we're delighted, as it'll make playing the game with friends a little easier. 

This isn't all players can look forward to from Apex on April 7. A new Bloodhound-themed lore event called The Old Ways kicks off then too, with an area in the northwest region of World's Edge becoming home to Bloodhound's Trials. Here, players will fight prowlers, which sound like NPC enemies from what we've been told, to get high-tier loot. Obviously, the prowlers won't be the only threat, with other players no doubt rushing for the same rewards.

That should make it a little quieter on the train in World's Edge for a few days, thank god. A new set of daily challenges will accompany The Old Ways event, as well as event-specific DLC items that players can buy. It's hinted that you'll benefit during the event if you've got Bloodhound in your team, which makes sense. 

The Old Ways runs from April 7-21, and there are more details here. Here's the trailer:

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Apex gets better and better

We're not sure when Apex season 5 begins, but we've thoroughly enjoyed our time with the game during season 4. This kind of change just gives players more ways to enjoy Respawn's FPS. If you've been playing with one friend, and find yourself frustrated by the consistency of random teammates you're grouped with in trios, you never have to worry about that again.

Having two maps in rotation is a treat, too, especially for players coming to the game who didn't experience earlier seasons of Apex. Call of Duty: Warzone is the big new show in town, but there's more than enough room for both. 

And they're each free. What a time to be alive.

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Respawn Entertainment enthralled Apex Legends fans earlier this year when, prior to the launch of Season 4, they announced a new Legend called Forge but promptly had him killed by the actual new Legend, Revenant. 

It was a nice bit of storytelling that proved to be an appropriately dramatic and surprising way to introduce the sinister character of Revenant. But Respawn has now revealed that it wasn’t just trying to entertain the community with this bait-and-switch, it was also trying to mislead data-miners. 

In an interview with Dot Esports, Respawn Design Director, Jason McCord, revealed that the Forge forgery was the idea of designer Rayme Vinson, who was looking to “misdirect” data miners after they had leaked the character of Revenant months before Season 4 was due to begin and “ruined [their] surprise”. 

It's all in the name

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“We actually purposefully leaked fake concept art and details of Forge’s kit in patches,” McCord explained, “so there would be a breadcrumb trail by the time we announced him. It’s pretty insane, really. I can’t think of any other game that has gone through such hijinks.”

It worked well, distracting data-miners and fans who began to believe that Forge, not Revenant, would be the next addition to the game. The Forge set up was so convincing that even after his death, some players thought he might come back into the game eventually. McCord shut this down, stating that Forge is “super dead”, adding that the developers didn’t actually make a model or a kit for him in the first place.

Although this move had positive results and allowed Respawn to regain the element of surprise, it came from a place of frustration. 

Apex Legends has always been subject to leaks and the developer has previously told players that data-mines are “not a source of truth”, asking them to wait for Respawn to announce real information. Shortly before leaving his role as executive producer for Apex Legends, Drew McCoy tweeted that leaks are the “absolute worst” and ruined the “insane amounts of time and energy” that the team put into creating surprises for players. 

At the very least, Respawn managed to make the best of its situation and we’re keen to see what it does next. 

• We've got all the latest Apex Legends news

Respawn is taking Apex Legends players back in time this weekend by bringing back the game's original Kings Canyon map for a limited period. 

Apex Legends may only be just over a year old but across the game’s first two seasons we watched the Kings Canyon map evolve before it was replaced in October 2019 with a brand new map, World’s Edge, which is still in play now. 

One of the best things about live service games like Apex Legends is that they keep things fresh with regular updates that herald new challenges, items and even maps. But sometimes you can’t help but get nostalgic for the old stuff, the original game that grabbed your attention in the first place.

Long live Kings Canyon

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So those that have missed the Kings Canyon map will be glad to know that for a limited period, between February 21 and February 24, it's returning to Apex Legends in its untouched Season 1 form for unranked matches. 

Unlike previous restorations of the Kings Canyon map, this one isn’t in a different form or part of a themed event, it's just the old map you remember. 

Those who don’t miss Kings Canyon at all or are more than happy with the current set up will be glad to know that World’s Edge is still available across this weekend as well. Players are able to access it as part of a separate playlist. 

This could actually be a good opportunity for ranked players to refresh their memories before Kings Canyon comes back as the setting for the next half of the game’s Ranked Series Split which will run from March 24 until May 5.  

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Five years ago, the battle royale genre was barely existent. Titles like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite catapulted the new craze to heights unheard of. With every influencer possessing half a streaming setup jumping into the phenomenon, you literally cannot avoid the buzz. Terms like “winner winner chicken dinner” and “where we dropping boys?” have now transcended videogames media into general pop culture, which for better or worse, is hard to dispute as anything but an achievement. Then on February 4, 2019 a new challenger arose. 

Respawn Entertainment stealth-dropped Apex Legends to the world and within a week reached a player base of 25 million. That’s a feat many developers dream of as a lifetime goal - not in seven days. It’s easy to see why it’s been so successful, with Apex pulling heavily from Respawn’s acclaimed Titanfall universe, even going as far as to call it a spinoff. However, Apex stands on its own two legs better than anything the studio has released prior. 

We'll be continuing to update this review intermittently to assess how Apex Legends' updates and battle passes affect the game. However our initial review score and verdict will not be changed.

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Apex Legends: one year on

Apex Legends has been with us for a year now and, due to its status as a ‘game as a service’, we think it’s important to update our thoughts on it. 

A lot can happen in a year. Taking advantage of every opportunity, Respawn has gone from promising up-and-comer to EA’s ace in the hole, thanks to the humongous success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and of course, Apex Legends. 

Season 4 – Assimilation kicks off to celebrate the anniversary, bringing with it the already initiated sequence of a new character, weapon, map alteration and battle pass, among other collectibles. It’s a tried and tested formula, keeping both fans and the developers confident of the quality to come over the coming months. 

Scarpering from the claws of death, destined to repeat the endless cycle in a state of limbo, Revenant made his unorthodox entrance in sanguinary fashion. Stealing the spotlight from cyborg MMA fighter Forge in a trailer teasing the next Legend, professional mercenary Revenant was confirmed shortly after in a John Wick meets Terminator-style arrival. 

For the most part, this has been one of Respawn’s greatest assets: its storytelling. Its labor of love to the lore of Apex. Its bold approach to just what a battle royale can be by expanding in cinematic, blockbuster ways that wouldn’t feel out of place as a Netflix anime.  

Additionally, it’s even sweeter when the new characters not only play well but bring a different philosophy to the game altogether. Revenant is a malicious brute that is only obsessed with killing. Nothing like the happy-go-lucky Octane or oblivious Pathfinder, no the machine is out for blood and (alongside Caustic) is a straight up villain that the title craved. 

Moves wise, brings an interesting setup with his Tactical (Silence) shutting down any rival abilities, Passive (Stalker) increasing speed on walls and when crouched and Ultimate (Death Totem) being able to bring players back to life if killed in battle. They all have their caveats, however. 

Disabling enemy moves is all well and good but it basically brings the characters down to equal ground, instead of giving one a momentary advantage. More so, increased movement is barely noticeable, while the totem takes away shield power completely; meaning new strategies will need to be devised to really benefit. 

After an extended period solely with World’s Edge, there’s been an outcry from fans to return to the original map, King’s Canyon. It’s hard not to pine either. Still, cracking open Capital City and positioning a Planet Harvester in the centre where the Fuel depot once was does make things more interesting. For instance, the long corridor stretches within the apparatus provoke quick combat, as the split city offers breathing room like never before. Overall, it’s a welcome change. 

The Sentinel bolt-action sniper rifle arrives as the new firearm, and it’s fine. It does what’s expected, featuring more recovery time then others, just don’t go in expecting to be blown away like prior newcomers, such as the Charge Rifle. 

The same can be said for the Battle Pass - it’s more of the same, which isn’t a bad thing after the initial season one incentives. Even so, maybe when Season 5 rolls round it’ll be time for a big revision but for the time being, it’ll satisfy long-term players (or someone that has clocked in around 180 hours and counting). 

Apex brilliance has stemmed from both its consistency and radically different altercations via special events. The Grand Soirée gave players two weeks of chaos where if players missed a day or two then a new mode could be missed entirely. It was simply fantastic, though the more worrying aspect is that now after 365 days of general play, are the themed events and special modes arguably the most enticing element? Time will tell. 

• From Apex Legends to Star Wars: Respawn’s redefining year in games

Apex Legends: eight months on

Apex Legends may only be a few months old but Respawn Entertainment has been working diligently on rolling out several quality-of-life improvements and ushering in one of the game’s largest overhauls to date. 

Apex Legends Season 3 – Meltdown is now live and with it comes a new character, weapon and battle pass, along with a host of other changes both big and small. Most excitedly however, is that Kings Canyon is no more.

A new map - that sees fire and ice clash in spectacular fashion - has arisen in the form of World’s Edge. Let’s start off with the obvious: it’s huge, it’s bright and it’s going to take some time getting used to. This is only the second map to be implemented into Apex Legends, yet it’s radically different with dozens of hidden nooks and crannies. 

Already we’ve ran into a number of sealed loot vaults that appear to be counting down to a particular date. This kind of content is exactly what keeps the conversation going and is exactly what the community thrives off. 

Next to the lava-infested Thermal Station and frozen Epicenter, World’s Edge is home to lengthy natural plains that make long-play king. Snipers will be right at home (especially considering the satisfying new Charge Rifle), while those looking for close combat will be better equipped in Capitol City, Skyhook or the Sorting Factory.

The fact that Respawn has managed to craft this new territory just eight months on from release is mighty impressive. Sure, the skeleton of Kings Canyon can be found if you look close enough and certain interior layouts seem identical, but World’s Edge is truly scintillating. 

Not to mention there’s erupting geysers, a towering tree and an open train circling the map. Everything just screams fun. For the time being, the locomotive will be where the majority of users will head for a good old-fashioned scrap, similar to Kings Canyon’s Skull Town. Players will be lucky to leave unscathed but those that do are treated to high-tier loot and even the opportunity to stop the train by pressing a button in the forward car. 

After being teased in Season 2, Meltdown brings in the surveillance expert Park Tae Joon or as he’s better known, Crypto. A much-needed recon character that can be accessed for 750 Apex Coins, Crypto helps balance out the roster (previously Bloodhound was the only character in this class). Crypto utilizes his Surveillance Drone to stay ahead of the competition by maneuvering the machine locally and spotting opponents – even highlighting their whereabouts for teammates. 

When charged, Crypto can kamikaze enemies with his drone to take away 50 shield points, slow down movement and destroy traps. When any of these moves are initiated, Crypto remains motionless until disturbed or chosen to exit. 

Knowing your adversary’s whereabouts is a huge bonus and one that does potentially raise some concern with just how good Crypto could be for top players. Regardless, his unique playstyle and captivating backstory make for another fantastic addition. 

The Season 3 battle pass, while still not amazing, is a sight better than anything that has come prior. More exciting skins and new trinkets that attach to weapons are all well and good but it’s the added currency (so players can spend freely on what they desire) that goes down best. Still, those looking for a Battle Pass that will keep them engaged until its conclusion - maxing out at level 110 - should look elsewhere. 

Ranked Leagues have remained the same, albeit a welcome change point system that rewards assists and multipliers. The severity of leaving a match when still able to be respawned has been upgraded too, now resulting in a delay to your next game, which in theory should help improve general play. Barely any issues were seen throughout the new seasons’ launch apart from an unusual bug that makes characters stand in a T-pose on the select screen. A more comical than worrying outcome. 

Whether lapsed or curious to see what the world of Apex Legends holds, Season 3 has proven that there is no better time to drop in. 

Apex Legends: five months on

The sky is full of bloodthirsty raptors, Kings Canyon has been invaded by skyscraper-sized monsters, and the world of Apex has been turned on its head. Of course, this is the Apex Legends Season 2 launch which sees Leviathans and Flyers infiltrating the simple settlement of the planet Solace. 

After being teased for months, the land has been torn apart by wild animals, leaving areas changed and giving players a rethink when it comes to strategizing. The biggest of these changes has taken place in the Bridges sector, that has been demolished in favor of the multi-storey Cage, while the Cascades has been swapped for the more confined Containment. 

The former is more inventive and gives great precedence to that King of the hill-style dynamic. Consequently, this location has become extremely popular, with anyone below needing to be wary of eagle-eyed snipers scouting from above. Containment on the other hand is a nice change-up but nothing special. 

Back to the beasties for a moment, Leviathans will slowly move across the map with anyone unfortunate enough to be caught underneath the dinosaur’s ginormous feet meeting an untimely, though hilarious, death for onlookers. Flyers circle overhead, holding onto Death Boxes that contain high-tier loot. By shooting them down you can upgrade your inventory but risk giving away your position. There’s also a few Flyers trapped in cages, but it’s unclear at this time what the plan is for these particular dragons. Just don’t expect to be training any in the meantime. 

In addition to map changes, there’s also a new Legend on the block. Positioned as the poster girl for the Season 2, we have the electric-infused Natalie Paquette a.k.a Wattson. Devious but adorable Wattson is the daughter of the Apex Games’ lead electrical engineer Luc Pacquette, giving her arrival that extra context which Respawn does so well. Like all new inclusions, Wattson is unlocked by spending 750 Apex Coins - and she is absolutely worth the money.

Apex was in need of another defensive-type character and Wattson’s playstyle fits this perfectly. Her Perimeter Security ability is a joy to any players patient enough to wait out the closing ring, on top of her Ultimate – Interception Pylon – that not only shocks enemies but restores shield damage. Considering the size of Gibraltar and Caustic, her hit ratio is significantly smaller. Put this together with the fact that she is generally a bit nimbler and Wattson is now the optimum pick for the class. 

It’s also  worth mentioning the lengths the artists went to with the design, impeccably giving the character a Lichtenberg-figure scar - which is a common side effect of electricity. 

In addition to a new character, comes a new weapon: the L-Star LMG. Found in supply drops, the weapon deals a fair whack of damage but overheats if used too much. Initial impressions are that it feels damn good to use, if not a little over-powered. A re-balancing in the near-future seems inevitable. 

When it comes to Apex Legends’ Battle Pass Season 2, it seems Respawn has listened to the issues raised by players regarding the previous season’s lacklustre package, offering players not only new costumes and badges this time around but introducing music packs, skydive emotes and custom load screens - alongside a boost to crafting materials. This is what season one should have been and it’s exactly what we’ll keep us coming back for more. 

Skydive emotes specifically are a neat addition, taking clear inspiration from the success that Fortnite has achieved with its emotes both in and out of the game - although the levels necessary to unlock them seem a bit high. Emotes are unlocked specifically for each character (via the battle pass) every 10 levels or so, though for someone like myself who mains Wraith, it’s frustrating to see that her dance moves are locked until level 95. 

Not constrained to the battle pass, Respawn has also launched Ranked Leagues that see players gaining RP (Ranked Points) by performing well in matches. Everyone starts in Bronze IV, with Apex Predator I being the endgame for pros and Twitch streamers alike. 

The ranked system changes up play entirely, as immediately contenders dropping in are avoiding hot spots like there’s no tomorrow, instead opting for more tactical plays. In approximately seven hours of reasonably good play, we made it to Silver tier, proving that if you want that top mantle, you’re going to need your A-game. And that’s exactly what Apex has needed. Something to grind for. Something to keep players interested. Season 2 is here and could just be what is needed to get the casual audience back into the fight. 

Not simply shoot and out

[Below is our original review of Apex Legends.]

Similar to other battle royales, Apex Legends contenders drop out of a cargo ship onto an island with the aim of being the last combatant standing while an ever-enclosing ring pushes players towards one another. Apex though, changes up the dynamic in a number of ways with the biggest difference being that you’re in a squad of three, with each user controlling a different legend.

Running with this idea, killing enemies is not simply shoot and out. Once a foe’s heath is decimated the player is considered downed. Here, teammates can recover their squad member before they bleed out or are finished off by opponents. After this there’s a further period where teammates can grab their fallen comrade’s banner then return the player back to the action through the use of various Respawn Beacons spread out across the map. This idea keeps the game fresh while adding that extra edge and incentive to make sure enemies are gone for good. 

On entry, Apex will walk you through a tutorial giving you chance to work out the controls before entering Kings Canyon. For those familiar with Titanfall, it should be an easy transition. Everything is climbable in the world while the inclusion of a sliding mechanic makes traversal immensely satisfying. 

Working in a group is obviously the go to route but the game has been balanced to such a high-standard that whenever reduced to solo play, you never feel overwhelmed. In fact, the odds aren’t that slim of making it to the final two squads, if you play strategically. This is why a single player mode would make a great inclusion. Something hopefully that is planned for the game’s future since only one mode currently exists.

Wicked personalities 

Six characters are available from the start with two more accessible via in-game currency or by purchasing with real money. Keeping these characters locked was a wise-choice by Respawn as it gives players something to strive for, eventually becoming an accomplishment to boast about when earned.  Each comes with their own wicked personality and set of individual abilities, while being separated into four classes: attacker, defender, healer and tracker. 

Real credit has to be given to how fleshed out and diverse the starting roster is (unlike a certain Blizzard franchise that stumbled out of the gates addressing this). From Mirage’s cheeky overconfidence to Pathfinder’s loveable schadenfreude, everyone truly feels unique with enough of a backstory given to fill in the blanks, albeit not too much that a manual-sized test regarding lore is needed upon arrival. It’s there if you want it, but in no way a necessity. 

Each legend has a Passive, Tactical and Ultimate move that play into their style. Lifeline for instance will naturally revive team teammates at a faster pace through her Passive, as well as deploying a Heath Drone (Tactical) and Care Package via her Ultimate for lots of high-quality goods (which we’ll come onto). 

Bangalore on the other hand will pull from her military background using a smoke launcher and an air strike to her advantage. For the most part, all seem varied with an equal amount of benefits for players to utilize. There are two exceptions to this however. 

The first being Mirage’s Vanishing Act that sends out numerous holograms of himself in an attempt to bamboozle opponents. It’s a cool concept but contradicts the idea of deception considering when rivals see more than one copy it becomes obvious none of them are real. Next to this is Pathfinder’s Inside Knowledge that scans survey beacons for the rings next location, which does very little to give users an edge.

Extra details go a long way

Over time you’ll naturally lean towards one persona. Wraith has become our personal pick, thanks to her agile skills that enable a void jump to escape weapon fire. On top of that, height-wise she’s the smallest, meaning her hit box is significantly less than big brutes like Caustic and Gibraltar. It’s these extra details that go a long way. 

At the time of writing, adrenaline junkie Octane has just been introduced to the already impressive roster. Inspiration for the character was taken from Titanfall 2’s speed running community showing how much Respawn value its fanbase. Octane is fun, fluid and another stellar inclusion. 

Kings Canyon itself is a medium-sized island covering rocky, industrial and swamp-like terrain. Compared to Fortnite’s map, Apex’s turf is much smaller but because of this feels better condensed. No zone feels wasted with every round feeling different. 

Not surprising, there are an abundance of weapons to get acquainted with. Snipers, shotguns, pistols, assault rifles and more all feature, alongside the now infamous Mozambique. Apart from this Nerf blaster, the lineup of firearms is adequate yet there’s room for improvement further down the line. 

Besides weapons, the bulk of your time will be spent finding/upgrading loot. Armor, health and weapon attachments are scattered throughout Kings Canyon ranging from common to the elusive legendary. Each match a blue circle will surround a certain area pinpointing where to find high tier loot, which presents the interesting conundrum of risking an early death for quality goods. There’s also a Supply Ship that crosses the land near the beginning (although it can descend some rounds) carrying top tier loot creating a further option.

• Apex Legends loot map: here's where to find the best in-game gear

Ingenious Ping System

A shout out must be given to Respawn’s ingenious Ping System. As a completely online game that requires team coordination, normally microphones are required. In Apex this isn’t a necessity. Furthermore, it’s arguably quicker to use the in-game structure than yell that an adversary is incoming. Deeper than this, a simple button push can make allies aware of items, where to head next or whether to hold up in a spot. Everything is accounted for. 

Speaking of online, during our playtime little to no server issues were experienced. You might get the odd match where an ally drops out leaving two of you, still this seems out of the developer’s hands. It’s worth mentioning that the game will kick you out if no movement is detected after a little while, which can be a little annoying if your strategy is to wait out opponents or ‘camp’ as it were. Overall though, nothing of genuine concern. 

One thing that may bring up some concern however is the battle pass. Originally not released at launch, the Apex Legends battle pass has ended up being anticlimactic due to its uninspiring rewards. Something to reach long-term is part of the initiative surrounding a battle pass but even the highest-level cosmetics feel lackluster. Saying this, as a free-to-play title, Apex handles the loot boxes scenario reasonably well, never forcing real cash to exchange servers. A testament to this still experimental enigma. 

Verdict

Truth be told, the Battle Royale movement has never quite grabbed me. I dabbled in PUBG and spent a dozen hours or so with Fortnite, yet nothing ever quite stuck the landing. Apex though, has got me hook, line and sinker. Featuring intuitive controls, an outstanding comms system and remarkable rogue’s gallery, Respawn has created what feels like the AAA outing for the genre. 

• Apex Legends battle pass: price, release date and road map
• Check out our picks of the best PS4 games

Apex Legends is celebrating its first anniversary, and what better way to honor the occasion than to add a brand new Legend to the roster. That's exactly what Respawn Entertainment is doing, among other things.

During a devstream, the developers revealed that it will mark the battle royale's one year anniversary by kicking off Season 4 on February 4. This new season, called Assimilation, will bring with it a new battle pass, weapon and some freebies - but most importantly, it'll add a new cyborg MMA fighter character called Forge.

You can check the full video out below:

Who's Forge?

Forge is your quintessential buff guy with a cool streak in his hair, a pretty big belt and some tattoos - oh yeah, and he's got a big ol' cybernetic arm too. According to Respawn, he's a "five-time hyper fighting federation champion" who used to take part in a sci-fi version of MMA. So, he's essentially Conor McGregor with extra metal.

Here's Respawn Entertainment's profile description of this new brawler character:
"Confident yet humble, Forge uses his size, strength, and heavy-duty Shatter Gauntlets to batter his opponents into submission."

We don't know this Legend's exact abilities yet but, from what we gather, he likes to get up close and personal in his fighting style. Apparently his cybernetic arm will also tie in with Apex Legends lore in some way. 

In addition to Forge joining the roster, Respawn also revealed that an "all-new" battle pass will be available which will add a bunch of exclusive items. We'll also be able to get our hands on a new bolt-action rifle called the Sentinel. 

Ranked mode is also being updated to include a new 'Master' tier between Diamond and Apex Predator as well as limiting the rank of Apex Predator to only 500 player. Things are definitely going to get heated.

You can check out more about these updates on the Apex Legends website.

Apex Legends: Season 4 will kick off on February 4, 2020.

• Check out our full Apex Legends review

Apex Legends' latest free update introduces the Grand Soirée arcade event which features seven rotating limited-time modes and some fancy formal skins.

Running from January 14 to January 28, the Grand Soirée event lets players partake in new modes every two days, from returning favorites like 'Armed and Dangerous' to brand new additions like Dummie’s Big Day. Alongside these rotating modes, players will also get the chance to earn (or buy) a bunch of Art Deco inspired cosmetics and outfits.

Check out the Grand Soirée arcade event trailer below:

Apex Legends Grand Soirée modes

Below, we've listed the modes available during the event. Remember, each mode rotates every two days, and each limited-time mode will have three new challenges worth a total of 1,000 points.

• January 14 – Gold Rush Duos
• January 16 – Live.Die.Live
• January 18 – Third Person Mode
• January 20 – Always Be Closing
• January 22 – Armed and Dangerous on World’s Edge
• January 24 – Kings Canyon After Dark
• January 26 – Dummie's Big Day

Apex Legends' Grand Soirée arcade event is a free update and kicks off on January 14 for PS4, PC and Xbox One.

• Check out our full Apex Legends review

Anyone that has the faintest idea about the world of games won’t have to venture far before discovering that Electronic Arts is not too popular in the games sphere. Amazingly though, one studio acquired by the publisher has been chugging away since 2010 and has built up a reputation that no other developer in EA’s catalogue can today claim to. And that’s Respawn Entertainment. 

Created by former Infinity Ward co-founders Vince Zampella and Jason West, the studio has launched four AAA titles to ever-growing critical success, though a favorable outcome has not always been on their side. 

We chatted with Apex Legends’ game director Chad Grenier and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s game director Stig Asmussen about Respawn Entertainment’s redefining year.

Birth of a Titan

In 2014, Titanfall was the first Respawn Entertainment title to make its debut, a multiplayer sci-fi shooter that featured large mechs known as Titans. After huge acclaim in the build-up – winning over 60 awards at E3 2013 alone – the longevity of the game and lack of DLC sales were not up to the company’s aspirations. Still, 10 million figures (It’s never been made clear if this was sales, unique players or elsewise) were something to be proud of, even if not considered a ‘success’ by publisher EA’s metrics. 

Round two for Respawn arrived in the form of a Titanfall sequel in 2016, with an original campaign and more platform availability than ever. While critics revered the outing, the choice to launch one week after (soon to be) sister-studio EA Dice’s Battlefield 1 and one week before juggernaut Call of Duty made its way to shelves, resulted in the game heavily under performing. Four million units shipped against Battlefield 1’s 15 million within the same year, left Respawn as a casualty.  

Three years on (minus one unsuccessful attempt at cracking the mobile industry), the LA-based studio returned with not one but two full experiences that look to have finally achieved both critical and sales status. 

Creating a legend

“It has definitely been a very exciting year for Respawn!” Apex Legends game director Chad Grenier tell us.

Titanfall spin-off Apex Legends is the first battle royale title from the studio, while Jedi: Fallen Order is the first single-player story-driven Star Wars game since the deal was struck with Disney back in 2013. 

“The Apex team had been working for a long time on Apex Legends in secrecy, so finally having the game released and be well-received has been pure joy for everyone involved.” Grenier says.

“It was also a privilege to see the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order team’s progress throughout the year, and we are so thrilled for their team and the game’s success. Respawn is riding on a high right now, it’s quite unbelievable.”

As Grenier states, no one outside of EA was aware of Apex Legends’ existence, taking a huge risk to stealth launch on February 4, 2019. One week later, more than 25 million players had logged on, but was this reception expected? 

“Absolutely not, but it's been a real thrill!” says Grenier. 

“We felt we had a great game on our hands but you never really know how well a game will be received. As developers we can sometimes be too close to a project or, much like other forms of art, only see its flaws. We were caught totally off guard when the game launched."

Stealth strategies

Apex Legends went on to have the best launch month of any free-to-play game, estimating at $92 million in revenue for February. More recently, the title passed 70 million players confirming the game’s longevity from its initial risky move. Stealth release is something many developers would never dream of, with the fear stemming from the lack of marketing ahead of time. Not for Grenier though. 

“The trepidation was actually coming from the thought of doing a traditional release with reveals and trailers before launch since we had a great game set in the Titanfall universe but without Titans,” he says

“We knew that if players could just play the game and experience it for themselves, they would probably love it, but if we had teased the game ahead of time there would have been a lot of questions and discounting the direction before even trying it. 

“By doing a stealth release we were able to let the game speak for itself on day one. Going this route proved additional challenges, however because of the added secrecy. It was a bit of a gutsy move, so we’re glad it paid off.”

Star Wars on the other hand, went the traditional route but did take some elements from its counterpart.

“We certainly took inspiration from the wall-running in Titanfall and the studios commitment to overall responsive controls that just ‘feel good’, says Asmussen. 

Overall though, Respawn’s approach with Stars Wars was similar to the entirety of their library: “make games that feel connected to the player be reducing lag/friction in controls and creating snappy and fun mechanics”. 

Crossing galaxies

Another asset shared across both titles is their diverse list of characters. Lifeline, Cal Kestis, Gibraltar, Cera Junda, Bloodhound, Greez Ditrus etcetera, all come from different backgrounds representing communities that some would consider overlooked. 

Speaking on Apex, the game director believes that “legends are a key part of the game” with plans to “create diverse and personable ones” continuing going forward. 

“Our character team is filled with some of the best talent I’ve ever seen, and I feel like they’ve finally hit their groove,” Grenier tells us.

“We do playtests every day at the studio and it's almost like a different game sometimes when we have a handful of additional Legends in the line-up that haven't been released yet. The future of Legends in Apex is strong. I can’t wait for a certain one to hit the game soon. Sorry, no spoilers!"

With so many attributes shared and both development teams working in-tandem with, is it possible that we would ever see a crossover? Possibly a new Legend inspired by a Jedi? Already an Easter Egg has been discovered by the community referencing Star Wars pilot Greez in Apex Legends and a Star Wars inspired skin for Pathfinder has been released.

“I would love it if we did get a chance to collaborate” says Asmussen. 

“I can think of a number of ideas that come naturally.  Of course, with everything we do on the Star Wars team, it would need to align with the Star Wars galaxy, continuing the incredibly collaborative process with partners at LucasFilm.”

Becoming EA’s “fastest-selling digital Star Wars title on PC in its initial launch window” alongside the “fastest-selling digital Star Wars Game in its first fortnight”, Jedi Fallen Order has followed in Apex’s success. So much so, that EA deemed the game a “success” less than a month after release. 

For the time being though, the group is “100% focused” on maintaining both games and, according to Amussen, are more than “capable of getting the job done”. 

• Check out our full Apex Legends review

Respawn Entertainment has had a busy year, releasing both hit battle royale Apex Legends and single-player Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order within months of each other. But now the developer is colliding the two worlds, bringing a Star Wars inspired skin to Apex Legends - for free.

Apex Legends players can pick up a free BD-1 skin for Pathfinder - that's the little droid from Fallen Order - that changes the friendly Legend's appearance to white with some red bits. We didn't say it was the best skin in the world...

• Check out our Apex Legends review
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order: how to get a double lightsaber
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order: how to complete the Tomb of Eilram puzzle

How to claim

It's very simple to claim the free BP-1 Pathfinder skin, simply log in to Apex Legends on Xbox One, PS4 or PC between December 3 and January 14. Simple!

Apex Legends was a hit straight out of the gate for Respawn Entertainment (although it's lessened in popularity), but Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order received a bit more of a mixed reception.

In our Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review, we said:

"Fallen Order is the definition of a mixed bag, a muddy combination of trending influences with some that land and others that fall way short of the mark. The combat system at its core is impeccable fun and we struggled to put the game down, but the rest of the experience feels very disparate and bloated, and the downtime will always leave you longing for more of the brilliant moments of action."

• Apex Legends Battle Pass: season one, price, release date and roadmap

Apex Legends is one of the hottest battle royale games you can play at home, and the publisher has confirmed it will be bringing the experience to mobile, but it's not coming for at least around a year.

Chief executive at EA, Andrew Wilson, confirmed the game wouldn't be launching until the fiscal year of 2021. That begins on October 1, 2020, so we should see the game launch sometime from then.

• Everything about Apex Legends Season 3
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With Fortnite, Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG: Mobile all seeing major success on smartphones, it may be that EA plans to bring the experience to your phone sooner than the end of 2021, but even October of next year is a long time to wait.

The company confirmed a mobile release for the game back in May this year, so it's likely Respawn (the developer of Apex Legends) is already working on porting the game to phones.

During EA's most recent earnings call, Wilson said, "Apex Legends is a major long-term franchise for us, and since launch, we've significantly expanded the team working on the game and it continues to grow. 

"With the Apex Legends community now growing pass 70 million players, we're focused on expanding to mobile new platforms and new geographies, as well as launching an Apex competitive gaming program that we'll share details on soon."

Whenever it comes to phones, it's clear EA wants to keep developing the game further, so expect even more seasons and extras to be introduced to Apex Legends in the coming year.

• Read our full Apex Legends review

Via Phone Arena and Dexerto

Apex Legends is finally getting a Duos mode – but for a limited time only. Developer Respawn Entertainment announced on Twitter that the new Duos mode will launch next week, on November 5, for all platforms. 

Duos mode will allow players to team up with one other player to take on other pairs, much like squads but with less people. Check out Respawn Entertainment's Twitter announcement below:

Highly requested

Players have been requesting a Duos mode in Apex Legends since the game's launch earlier this year; however, don't hold your breath waiting for it to make a comeback after the limited-time end.

To date, we haven't seen any of Apex Legends' limited-time modes become permanent features in the game – but that's not to say it could never happen. It's possible that, if the mode is popular enough, it may become an integral feature.

There's no word yet on how long the Duos mode will be available for, but previous limited-time modes in Apex Legends modes have lasted for around three weeks. And don't worry about how to access Duos – you'll get a free update to your game that will allow you to jump straight in when it becomes available.

• Check out our full Apex Legends review

Apex Legends' Halloween event kicks off today, adding spooky new cosmetics, a new limited-time mode and raising both players and Kings Canyon map from the dead. 

The Fight or Fright event runs from October 15 to November 5 and sees Kings Canyon plummeted into eerie darkness for a new limited-time single-player mode, which sees the Legends taking on mysterious villain Revenant.

Check out the new teaser trailer below:

The limited-time mode, titled Shadowfall, sees you and 34 other solo players being dropped into a night time version of Kings Canyon with a mission to be one of the last 10 Legends standing – before working together to escape on an evac ship. However, there's a twist. Players who die will respawn as undead 'zombies' with supernatural movement and jump speed (known as the Shadow Squad), and they'll be on a mission to take you out.

• Are you clued up on Fortnite Chapter 2 yet?

Trick or treat?

In addition to this new mode, players can grab some exclusive Fight or Fright treats for completing event challenges, including two legendary weapon skins, along with the chance to obtain event limited premium cosmetics such as a Frankenstein-themed skin for Gibraltar and a clown costume for Caustic.

However, Respawn Entertainment hasn't spilled all the details about the Halloween event yet so we're not sure of exactly what will be on offer – only that there will be 24 event limited cosmetics up for grabs which you can obtain by direct purchase, through Apex Packs or by crafting.

Apex Legends' Fight or Fright event goes live on October 15 and runs until November 5. 

• Check out our full Apex Legends review

While so many games are looking to knock Fortnite from its battle royale perch, it feels few have come closer than Apex Legends. Respawn’s reputation for excellent gunplay and player movement, a neat class-based twist, and the free-to-play nature saw the game reach a million unique players within eight hours of launch.

There’s a saying that goes “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”, and Fortnite has lost it where it matters – at least from Epic’s point of view. Year on year revenue for the second quarter of 2018 vs 2019 shows a steep decline of 52 percent, while the game’s 2018 peak enjoyed almost 75 percent more revenue than the most recent quarter. Has the king been slapped from its pedestal by this young upstart? 

It’s hard to consider a game backed by EA as the David battling Goliath, but given Fortnite’s meteoric rise and complete permeation of mainstream culture it feels like the publishing juggernaut is taking aim with its slingshot nonetheless.

It could be about to get worse before it gets better, though, as Apex Legends makes the one move that Fortnite seems to have tiptoed around for an eternity – introducing a new map.

Battle Royale is a strange genre. It’s one built on matches with high player-counts, built solely for competitive multiplayer. That means, in theory, you’re simply playing the same matches again and again – though every now and again with new rulesets or slightly amended weapon load outs. 

All this is to say that dropping onto the same map dozens of times every day (and watching your favourite streamer do the same) can lead to understandable tedium. There’s only so many times you can find enthusiasm for Tilted Towers, whether it’s the Neo version or not.

Fortnite has been reinventing its map on a near-constant basis with the start of each new season, but many changes feel small scale. With everything being somewhat destructible (or at least harvestable) with a pickaxe, it feels like these small tweaks lack any permanence or strategical boosts - feeling almost like a box tick.

There have been more impressive changes, too. Fortnite’s addition of Creative Mode was a stroke of genius – a set of tools for a fervent community to bend to their will, remaking games and creating new game modes entirely. Seeing fan-made products appear on the Battle Royale map as The Block is fun, but it’s a small piece of a very large map that lacks meaningful innovation.

Standing at the edge of the world

Apex Legends, on the other hand, may lack the visual identity of Fortnite’s almost toy-like villages and structures – Kings Canyon’s sandy, arid, and downright brown colour palette certainly doesn’t feel particularly inspired – but its buildings can’t be converted into materials with which to build new ones. Instead, each combat diorama feels deliberate, the entire map feeling like a patchwork quilt of deathmatch maps stitched together by sight-lines and kill-boxes.

Of course, Apex Legends focus on verticality can’t be understated either. The game feels built with player locomotion in mind, with sliding downhill not only an option but actively encouraged – right from the game’s tutorial. There are ziplines, no fall damage, and even stations where teams can redeploy across the map with relative ease. With Kings Canyon leaving rotation at the start of the latest season 3, it would be reasonable to expect that all of these skills and fun ways of getting around will feature heavily in traversing the new World’s Edge map, particularly given the location’s position within a cliffside. 

This adds extra depth, factoring in environmental hazards like molten lava as well as rejuvenating the aforementioned dull aesthetic. There’s even a lore reason for the change, with the Syndicate that manages the Apex Legends tournament changing locales after displeasure with Kings Canyon’s construction schedule. It’s minor, and doesn’t affect gameplay in the slightest, but it's a neat piece of trivia that feels thought out.

Of course, rumours abound that Epic are preparing a map swap of their own. It even looks as though the Battle Bus, the erstwhile method of jumping into a match, is being retired at the end of the current tenth season. Fortnite has never been afraid to mix things up in other areas, notoriously adding aeroplanes and mechs in Seasons 7 and 10 respectively, but both were lambasted by the game’s competitive players.

What is clear is that the next move Fortnite makes could be huge. One wrong tweak or a lack of meaningful variation in its battlefield, and it could potentially lose more than just revenue – and a Battle Royale haemorrhaging players is never a good thing.

• Fortnite Creative codes: 10 best Creative mode custom maps

Right off the bat, if the title doesn’t fully convey it, we should stress that this is a subjective list of top-notch games which have meant something special to us down the years, compiled in celebration of TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019.

Every selection we’ve made has a couple of key things in common. They all offered up new ideas or features – ‘wow’ moments, if you will – that were either ground-breaking, or at least refinements of revolutionary concepts that had popped up in some form previously, but the fresh new take really made them pop and sparkle.

But most importantly, these are the games and experiences which made a huge (and lasting) impact on us over the last three decades of PC gaming, and kept us glued to our monitor for countless bleary-eyed hours.

In short, this isn’t a purely ‘best games’ thing – which has obviously been done to death anyway – but it’s a personal journey through the games which pulled off something searingly memorable for us. Starting with the title that made us buy a gaming PC in the first place: cue stirring music, and scrolling intro text…

• Best PC games of 2019: all the must-play titles

Star Wars: X-Wing (1993)

This was where it all started: the game that made us want to throw in the towel with the Commodore Amiga, and defect to a PC. Essentially, we purchased a 486DX-33 computer – with a mighty 33MHz processor – at the cost of over a grand, just so we could play X-Wing. And it did not disappoint.

This was the first Star Wars game on the PC (or anywhere for that matter, save for the sit-in arcade cabinet) which managed to capture some of the true atmosphere of the movies, and offered top-notch (at the time) 3D polygonal graphics. Not only that, it was nicely presented with cut-scenes and briefings, and boasted a variety of challenging missions linked together into campaigns.

X-Wing also majored in fast and furious arcade-style space dogfighting with a generally well-balanced difficulty level (although some missions could be very tricky and frustrating, it always felt rewarding to eventually beat them).

Oh, and the soundtrack was immense, too: based on iMuse (used previously in LucasArts adventure games), it changed dynamically according to what was happening on-screen.

Perhaps most importantly, all the elements of attention to detail in this game – from the visuals, sound, presentation, through to the core space combat – added up to make us feel like we really were an X-Wing pilot. And that was a pretty mind-blowing experience in the early 90s. A thousand pounds well spent, then.

Interestingly, there’s a mod project to bring this classic up-to-date with tasty new graphics. Color us excited, although we’ve long since lost our X-Wing DOS floppies, sadly.

Doom (1993)

Doom was where it all began for shooters on the PC. Okay, so it did have a predecessor in the form of Wolfenstein 3D, but Doom was far more sophisticated, and represented the true birth of FPS as we know it today.

Doom benefited from much better graphics, for starters, and while technically these were both 2.5D shooters – meaning they looked 3D, but were still just cleverly-presented 2D with flat sprites – Wolfenstein simply felt like you were wandering through a crude maze. Doom, however, gave a much better three-dimensional illusion with added verticality (even though it was still 2.5D, so you couldn’t mouse-look around, and could only aim in a horizontal plane).

Doom also stood out for us as the first game to induce moments of sheer panic, using darkness, jump scares, throwing evil beasties right in your face, and similar horror movie tricks.

Moreover, it introduced deathmatch, which was a huge leap for multiplayer gaming. And the first time we played a head-to-head shooter (over a serial cable running between two PCs, we might add), we were truly blown away. We soon moved on to four player deathmatching over the office LAN, for even more absorbing, frantic, swearword-filled action.

Other similar games followed, like the Doom engine-based Heretic, but could never quite replicate that initial thrill, despite introducing some pretty cool stuff like being able to turn your opponent into a chicken. Until our next pick came along to take deathmatch up a level…

Quake (1996)

It’s amusing to recall that we really didn’t like Quake much to begin with. We tried the single player mode initially, and found it was pretty much a joke. We scratched our heads at the most pathetic end-of-game boss ever. We wondered why all the graphics were dreary shades of brown or grey, as if to match the dull campaign.

Even the deathmatch mode left us rather cold on that first day, leaving us to wonder what all the hype had been about (and there’d been some seriously major hype, unsurprisingly).

But then the multiplayer clicked; we soon realized what a marvel it was, and never looked back. The dizzying pace of the deathmatch action, the beautifully crafted levels, or some of them – we’re looking at you DM2, DM3, and DM4 in particular – and the true 3D nature of the game which ushered in nuances like shooting rockets at the feet of opponents to catch them with splash damage (while jumping to get a better angle, and make yourself less of a target), or tricks like rocket-jumping. All this added up to a breath-taking multiplayer shooter experience.

Throw QuakeWorld into the mix, which smoothed over the netcode to allow folks to play on a dial-up modem (not everyone could afford an expensive ISDN line, or had access to JANET), and you ended up with clans and competitive leagues which we played in (the UKCL, as part of QPD to be precise).

We pretty much lost an entire year of our life to that, ahem.

Quake was also the start of competitive esports proper, with the UK squad being picked and the first international matches played, and of course Thresh famously winning that Ferrari.

We still remember our Quake days with a fond (quad-powered) glow, and for us, this shooter provided many of the most memorable matches and moments of our entire gaming life.

EverQuest (1999)

This was our first real foray into the world of the MMORPG. We wanted to like Ultima Online, and played it very briefly, but it never grabbed us. EverQuest, on the other hand, got hold of us by the scruff of the neck and didn’t let go.

The big draw here was that developer Verant presented us with what seemed like an impossibly sprawling world, full of mystery, and equally crammed with other players who made exploring this environment feel, well, as close to a ‘virtual world’ as we’d ever got.

In those early EverQuest days, we fought hard to get magical weapons for our ranger. We were felled in one savage hit by the hugely overpowered Ambassador DVinn in Crushbone. We marvelled at hulking sand giants in the Desert of Ro. We wondered how on earth those teleport spires that high-level players appeared out of worked, and where they got that beautiful shiny red metallic armor (rubicite) from.

And that was the crux of what made EverQuest amazing. It was our first MMORPG, and there was a true sense of mystery about how everything worked. Not to mention a true sense of peril and fear of death, which carried eye-watering experience penalties. Plus if you died in a tricky area and couldn’t retrieve your corpse in swift order, it rotted away and you lost all your equipment.

EverQuest was certainly a cruel world at times, made all the more brutal by the game’s terrible mob pathing, which meant that in, say, Mistmoore, just by breathing on the wrong bookshelf you could easily pull all the inhabitants of the castle down on your party. But that lurking sense of danger and potential imminent panic-stations somehow made our high-level achievements seem more spectacular.

World of Warcraft was a great game, not to mention far more refined in so many ways, but even so, it didn’t capture that same sense of mystery and excitement we experienced when exploring our very first MMORPG. Blizzard’s game became more of a levelling puzzle and loot-dispensing-machine (with too much of the stuff flying around, too readily) than an ‘adventure’, at least for us.

Yeah, we know: the sense of adventure was never going to last, but it was all-encompassing in its presence to begin with. And that was most definitely a beautiful thing, and a big piece of the puzzle missing with future MMORPGs, where we (mostly) knew what was happening behind the curtain, as it were.

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)

Zug zug! Warcraft III was a landmark game for us because it was where we truly fell in love with the RTS genre, as it did several things differently, to great effect.

Not only were the visuals a massive step forward from Warcraft II – this was a gorgeous looker of an RTS at the time, which always helps – but the single player campaign had a suitably gripping story, with some smartly designed and well-scripted missions, that didn’t just make you think, but also at times, feel.

What really sold Warcraft to us, though, was the RPG element added in terms of levelling up your hero character to get new skills; that and the multiplayer. With the latter, the game was carefully balanced between factions, and there was a major thrill in being able to successfully direct your build-up to overcome your opponent.

What was really engaging here was the combination of having to build a base while simultaneously directing the hero’s party around killing ‘creeps’ to level up, flicking deftly between the two activities in the process of shaping up to take on the enemy. It proved an intensely addictive micromanagement juggling act for us, and when we got off to a flying start and subsequently outmanoeuvred an opponent, we found an immense sense of satisfaction. Far more than we ever encountered with earlier RTS titles, whether that was previous Warcraft outings or the likes of Command & Conquer.

Incidentally, a reboot entitled Warcraft III: Reforged is expected to arrive later in 2019, and it’s shaping up to be pretty slick. Set nostalgia drive to full-ahead maximum warp…

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2010)

It seems quite a few of our picks here revolve around multiplayer, and here’s another. Generally speaking, there was far from anything wrong with Assassin’s Creed’s single player, but the introduction of online play with Brotherhood was what sealed the deal for us.

Mainly because this was a very different type of deathmatch, one which wasn’t about attack, but rather revolved around stealth and subtlety. Although in actual fact, a game we played called The Ship had done this sort of multiplayer before, back in 2006. It was set on a cruise liner where passengers were given a target to murder, while also being someone else’s intended victim.

We enjoyed The Ship well enough, but Brotherhood took this concept to a whole new level, refining it with slick mechanics – from scaling walls to hiding in NPC crowds – and adding a neat scoring system where bonuses were racked up for cleverly thought out kills.

Hiding in a bunch of NPCs moving around the level, and acting as mechanically as them, so as not to arouse suspicion in your quarry until the last second – when you deftly poison them for massive bonus points – was in many ways so much more satisfying than any long-range headshot. We still remember that poison kill which scored us 3,200 points like it was yesterday…

Hearthstone (2014)

Hearthstone is still going strong as an online card game five years on. It’s free-to-play, but spending money to buy packs will obviously give you a much better selection of cards to build your decks with. Not in Arena, though: here, everyone’s on a level playing field, in that you must draft a deck from a series of randomized choices of three possible cards.

And it’s that draft we get excited about, and more specifically, the way the player is challenged to make selections to craft a deck with synergy on-the-fly. It’s like drafting a fantasy team, except with rocket-riding goblins and swordfish-wielding ninja murlocs (though sadly, Finja is no longer available in Arena) rather than athletes.

The core game mechanics are a work of art, too, and when you get an Arena draft right, subsequently racking up the wins – possibly sweeping a 12 win streak which is the end goal – it’s a magical feeling right up there with our most thrilling competitive gaming moments of all-time.

We know many Hearthstone fans dislike this play mode, and feel that luck is far too much of a factor – either in terms of deck drafting, or curveballs the matchmaking system throws you – but it’s funny how those top ranked Arena players seem to get constantly lucky…

Apex Legends (2019)

Doubtless this will be a controversial pick, because it is so new, the game remains unproven, and has suffered a number of issues from bugs through to complaints about lacking content updates (although Season 3 has just introduced a new map) and ridiculously costly in-game items. And we agree with some of those grievances to an extent, but still, in terms of contemporary games, this is the title which has made the biggest impact on us.

So why has Apex been a ‘wow’ moment in PC gaming? Simply because when it launched, this was the game that finally got us to try – and fall in love with – the genre that is battle royale (BR), which has become a massive phenomenon of late.

Despite all the hype surrounding BR, we never fancied splashing our cash for PUBG. Having watched it on Twitch, the game never really grabbed us, or felt quite engaging or polished enough. Fortnite was free, a major draw, and faster paced, but went the other way, being too cartoony and silly. We simply don’t want to play a shooter where you can throw up walls in front of yourself.

Apex Legends, which is also free, got the porridge at just the right temperature for us in terms of being more fast-paced and accessible, while still playing like a ‘genuine’ shooter, as it were. Not only that, but we love the hero choices, team synergies and overall focus on teamplay, with the genius introduction of a (much-copied) ping system for dead simple and convenient cooperation between players, even in pickup groups.

The fluid movement system, with a focus on mobility and parkour elements, along with the shooter mechanics which we think are pretty much spot-on – and contain hidden depths and nuances – all make Apex Legends a definite highpoint in PC gaming for us thus far. Will that last? The jury’s still out, but nonetheless, this game got the mechanics so right, and fully opened our eyes to the ‘just-one-more-go’ world of BR, that it earns a wow salute.

Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place.

Apex Legends, the free-to-play battle royale set in the Titanfall universe, is just days away from the launch of its third season and its developer, Respawn Entertainment, has revealed that a brand new map is incoming. 

The action of Apex Legends currently takes place in King’s Canyon on Planet Solace but when Season 3: Meltdown begins on October 1, players will be whisked away to Planet Talos. Here, the game's new location World’s Edge, a place “where molten heat and chemical ice collide”, will be introduced.

• Our full Apex Legends review: the official Techradar verdict
• All of the latest Apex Legends news
• Apex Legends beginners: essential tips and tricks

Respawn has offered players their first glimpse of this new map in a launch trailer which you can watch for yourself below.

A game of ice and fire

Naturally, the cinematic trailer doesn’t give away absolutely everything about the new destination but it gives a good idea of what to expect as far as its environment is concerned: ice, lava, geysers and potentially a moving train. It’s also worth looking out for a glimpse of Season 3’s new Legend, Crypto, who is a hacker with his own surveillance drones he uses into battle. 

While the original King's Canyon map for Apex Legends has seen some changes since the game's launch, this marks the first time that an entirely new map has been introduced. It's not been made entirely clear yet whether World's Edge will sit alongside King's Canyon or if it will eclipse it entirely.

Season 3: Meltdown and World's Edge will arrive in Apex Legends alongside a brand new character and weapon on October 1. 

• Everything you need to know about Apex Legends

Apex Legends could finally be getting cross-play that will allow PS4, Xbox One and PC players go head-to-head in the Battle Royale.

That's according to a recent leak by reliable dataminer That1MiningGuy (via GameRant), who found 'Nucleus' strings in Apex Legends' code that suggests developer Respawn Entertainment has found a way to standardize player identification across Xbox One, PS4 and PC. 

This would allow players to match-make across these three major platforms, likely through their Origin login - something the game hasn't supported to date.

Check out the tweeted leak below:

• Apex Legends solo: here's how to win without a good team

Maybe cross-progression too?

Not only does this leak suggest that cross-platform play is coming to Apex Legends, it hints that cross-progression could be on the way too. 

Cross-progression allows players to continue their progress across a range of platforms so, for example, you would remain the same level in Apex Legends on PS4 as you are on PC.

That1MiningGuy points to player PINs found in the game's code. These PINs are used to track a player's performance in a game. The fact that this code is mentioned beside both the platform identification and the "Nucleus" string we seen previously suggests that Respawn Entertainment is also looking into cross-progression. 

It's always worth taking these leaks with a pinch of salt, but it would make sense for Apex Legends to finally implement cross-play and cross-progression, especially as competitor Fortnite already boasts these features.  

Even if this leak is to be believed, we don't expect cross-play or cross-progression to land soon, but fingers crossed it's something we will see in the future.

• Apex Legends landing spots: here's where your Jumpmaster should touch down

Apex Legends' Voidwalker event kicks off from September 3, featuring a new limited-time mode that only lets you use the game's worst weapons: shotguns and snipers. 

The battle royale's next event centers around Legend Wraith's "mysterious past" and adds a bunch of new content including event challenges, a direct purchase shop and new map details. 

The Voidwalker event will run from September 3 to September 17 on all platforms, but what can we expect?

• Apex Legends solo: here's how to win without a good team
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• Apex Legends review: the official TechRadar verdict

What's new?

Arguably the biggest Voidwalker event addition is the new limited-time mode: Armed and Dangerous. This mode only allows players to use snipers and shotguns, and makes overall loot much more difficult to find. 

The event also adds some new lore details including "part of a decayed Project: Wraith facility in Kings Canyon". This facility includes "a functional prototype portal" that allows you escape quickly or get an early jump on a base.

As with any event, Voidwalker also adds some exclusive new skins and Wraith-themed content which can be unlocked by completing event challenges during the two weeks. After that, the exclusive content will no longer be available.

If you would rather just buy some exclusive items, then you can purchase all themed cosmetics from the direct purchase shop for $5.

As a tie in to the short, we’re adding a set of themed cosmetics such as the Voidwalker Wraith Legendary, which includes a custom character select animation.

Finally, from 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on September 6 to 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on September 9, players will earn double XP for Top 5 finishes and wins. According to Respawn, this bonus will affect both Account Level and Battle Pass progression.

• Apex Legends Season 2: Battle Charge update, start date and new characters

To coincide with Gamescom 2019, Nvidia has introduced a graphics driver that comes with new technology to take on AMD’s Radeon Anti-Lag for more responsive gaming – alongside a serious boost in frame-rates for some games.

Nvidia’s Gamescom Game Ready Driver (436.02) adds an ultra-low latency option which enables ‘just in time’ frame scheduling.

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When you’re playing a game, Nvidia’s driver previously buffered a frame – or up to a few frames – in a render queue, to help smooth over any potential frame-rate glitches if the GPU suddenly gets overloaded with a busy scene. The downside to this is that it introduces a little input latency.

With the new ultra setting for the low latency mode, the next frame is only submitted ‘just in time’ for the graphics card to receive it and start rendering.

This cuts down any potential latency to a minimum, so in other words, any lag between a mouse or keyboard input actually happening on the monitor is reduced.

Thus your in-game actions are more responsive, and although the time difference may be a relatively small matter of milliseconds, you can feel the difference, particularly in the likes of a fast-paced shooter where fractions of a second can be the difference between life or death.

AMD’s equivalent is Radeon Anti-Lag, which was introduced recently in July, so this is effectively Nvidia’s answer to the rival tech.

Nvidia claims the new setting makes quite a difference in some games, and for example in Apex Legends, it reduces graphics latency from 29/30ms with low latency on and off, respectively, to 19ms with ultra-low.

The Division 2 presents the most startling difference, with latency of 49ms/33ms, dropping to 22ms with ultra-low being used. A difference of 27ms will likely be at least somewhat noticeable to most gamers, although that seems an extreme case.

With Radeon Anti-Lag, AMD claimed an improvement in response times of up to 31%, which would seem to roughly correlate (on average) with the benchmarks Nvidia provided here, although in the more extreme cases, Nvidia is claiming over 50% victories. So that makes it seem like Nvidia could possibly just have the edge here, although further (more direct) testing would be needed to fully draw that conclusion, of course.

Nvidia’s feature is still officially in beta, however, so you may see slightly wonky results for the time being. And just as with Radeon Anti-Lag, it only works with DX9 and DX11 games, as in DX12 or Vulkan titles, the game makes the decision regarding queuing frames, not the graphics driver.

It’s also worth noting that Nvidia observes that low latency modes have the greatest impact when a game is GPU (rather than CPU) bound, and is running with frame-rates of between 60 to 100 frames per second.

Legendary boosts

As well as this latency wizardry, with the new driver, Nvidia is boasting that some popular games will benefit from frame-rate boosts of up to 23%.

That headline 23.4% increase occurred with Apex Legends at 1080p resolution with the GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics card. The RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2060 Super witnessed slightly more modest gains at 16.9% and 15.5% respectively, but they’re obviously still impressive strides forward.

The RTX 2060 Super got the biggest boosts of all RTX models with Forza Horizon 4, though, with a 17.1% increase at 1080p, and 17.6% at 1440p.

There are worthwhile gains here for Battlefield V, Strange Brigade and World War Z as well, all of which are detailed by Nvidia’s own benchmarking in its post introducing the fresh Game Ready Driver.

That post also provides instructions on how to turn on the new ultra-low latency mode, which you will find in the Nvidia Control Panel, under Manage 3D Settings. Global Settings will implement your choice across all games, but you can use Program Settings to change the mode for individual games, should you wish to use ultra-low in some but not others.

Also worth noting in this driver release is the introduction of GPU Integer Scaling, which makes for sharper upscaling in pixel art games like Hotline Miami and Terarria, to ensure that they look suitably crisp rather than blurry on higher-resolution monitors.

Nvidia explains that this innovation comes courtesy of a hardware-accelerated programmable scaling filter available in Turing graphics cards.

Finally, Nvidia has introduced a new ‘sharpen’ Freestyle filter which is better than the previous ‘detail’ filter, offering a higher image quality with considerably more crispness, plus it exacts much less of a performance hit, too.

• These are the best graphics cards you can buy in 2019

Apex Legends has a lot of big changes coming up. Between a rumored new character and upcoming solo mode, Respawn Entertainment is busy rolling out new content left, right and center.

But if you're more interested in Apex Legends' upcoming bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements, then you'll be happy to know that the development team now has a public Trello board which allows players to keep track of smaller improvements that are on the way.

As spotted by Eurogamer, the 'Apex Tracker' details a bunch of fan-requested changes that are on the way, including bug fixes and improvements to aspects such as UI, networking and quality-of-life features.

• Apex Legends Season 2: Battle Charge update, start date and new characters
• Apex Legends landing spots: here's where your Jumpmaster should touch down
• Apex Legends solo: here's how to win without a good team

This handy tracker also lays out the latest news, patches and game updates, as well as useful links for players. However, don't expect to see any of the super-secret stuff the developer is working on.

"Our goal with the dev tracker is [to] provide players with more visibility into some of the bigger community issues that we've seen reported and [are] working on," Respawn Entertainment writes in the Trello description. "Note that this board doesn't account for ALL the things we're tracking.

"We'll be updating the cards here at least once a week and will include a link to the board when we do dev updates."

Upcoming features

So what new features can we expect in the future? Well, according to the tracker, we'll be seeing quality-of-life features such as auto sprint for consoles, showing  XP and star challenge progress in match summaries, a better Battle Pass progression on match summaries, and the ability to switch from localized voiceovers to English. 

In terms of general bug fixes, the team is also working on fixing instances where players lose ranked points when a server crashes, challenges don't track and spamming heal results in the animation being cancelled.

There are plenty more small updates on the board too, so make sure to check it out. It's worth noting, however, that when these fixes and features will be implemented is not specified. But it's always good to see that Respawn is taking community feedback on board.

• Check out our full Apex Legends review

Apex Legends' three members squads are unique amongst Battle Royale shooters, allowing players to team up with friends or randomly-matched squad mates in order to have a better fighting chance against opposing attackers.

However, developer Respawn Entertainment is changing things up (albeit for a limited time) with the introduction of a new Solos mode which will take a more traditional 'every man for himself' approach when it launches next Tuesday on August 13, as revealed by the official Apex Legends Twitter account.

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The new mode will be only be available for a limited time as part of the game's upcoming Iron Crown Collection Event, which will end on August 27, 2019. The event also promises new skins and other content.

As the new Solos mode is basically a trial, we imagine that Respawn may consider rolling it out as a permanent addition to the game if it does turn out to be a hit with players. 

One thing's certain: Apex Legends will play very differently as a free-for-all, as co-operation with team members is vital to the game in its current form – without its excellent ping system, is it even really Apex Legends?

• Read more: Apex Legends: battle pass, characters, and news