Apex Legendshas been branching out to more and more platforms in the past year or so, which is something that can only help both the player base and the game’s developer, Respawn. Respawn has already ironed outApex Legends’web of cross-play connectivitybetween all of its platforms, though that web will be expanded once again when the Nintendo Switch port releases tomorrow.
However,Apex Legendsis still missing a highly sought-after feature that many players have been asking about for quite some time: cross-progression. Unfortunately, a recent interview with members of both Respawn and Panic Button reveals that although the development has been working towards cross-progression forApex Legendsacross all platforms, it will not be available with the release of the Nintendo Switch version.
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The interview in question comes by way of NintendoLife’s Zion Grassl, who spoke withApex LegendsGame Director, Chad Grenier, as well as Panic Buttons' Head of Production, Dan Hernberg and Technical Director, Andy Boggs. The full interview goes fairly in-depth into the inner workings of Panic Buttons' development process, howApex Legendsis able to run on Switch, and how the teams have been working during the pandemic. However, one point of interest comes from Boggs and Grenier when asked about cross-play and cross-progression on Switch. Sadly, Boggs was quick to confirm that cross-progression is not supported inApex Legendsat present.
Thankfully, Grenier gives a bit of brighter news by confirming that Respawn is still planning to implementcross-progression inApex Legendssometime in the future. Grenier goes into more detail about cross-progression implementation, explaining that it’s “not something we can just turn on” despite wanting to implement the feature quickly, as both a developer and a gamer himself. However, Grenier does reiterate that Respawn has heard the outcry for the inclusion of cross-progression for quite some time, and it seems the team has no plans of abandoning it in the future.
The holdups for cross-progression’s implementation seem far more complicated than many would think at first glance. Grenier says, “…there are legal and contractual things to navigate with purchasing on other platforms and having those carryover and also some technical challenges.” So whileApex Legendsplayers on Switch has cross-playright off the bat, players will have to wait for cross-progression if they are moving over from a separate account on a different platform.
Still, it’s probably not all that likely that many players will be moving from platforms like PC and console to playApex Legendson the Switch. In terms of competitive play,Apex Legendsplayers on Switchmay end up being at a pretty large disadvantage when going up against players on PC, PS4, or Xbox One. This is due to multiple factors, such as Joy-Con drift and even the smaller screen size in handheld mode. Still, it seems Panic Button has done quite an impressive job gettingApex Legendsto run on Switch when all is said and done.
