Respawn and EA have officially announced that Apex Legends will be coming to Steam sometime later this year; in the Fall of 2020. The move will end the game’s exclusivity on PC to EA’s Origin platform, which has been the case since its launch. The announcement comes alongside the news that the game will also be coming to the Nintendo Switch at around the same time.
Apex Legends Coming to Steam in Fall 2020
More than a year since the game’s release, it seems that EA is now pushing to get Apex Legends out to a wider audience. While the game’s current audience, spread across PS4, Xbox One, and Origin on PC, is very large, there are still plenty of gamers who either only own a Switch or have no desire to use Origin (preferring Steam as their platform of choice on PC). As such, this decision should expand the Apex Legends somewhat. Launching an Apex Legends Steam version isn’t the only step that EA and Respawn are taking with regards to expanding their audience, however.
EA has also recently announced the upcoming launch of cross-play for Apex Legends. This fall, presumably around the same time as the Steam/Switch launch, Apex Legends cross-play will go live. When it does, every version of the game on every platform will enter the same ecosystem. EA and Respawn have clarified that there are no exceptions to this; Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and both Steam and Origin on PC, will be able to connect to one another. Any player on any system will be able to play with anybody else.
The launch of cross-play may actually do more to boost Apex Legends’ audience figures than the Apex Legends Steam and Switch launches. After all, it may convince many gamers who might not otherwise have had friends with the same platforms to play with to give the game a try. While Apex appeals to many, there are certainly gamers who have little interest in Apex as a solo experience. Cross-play and these two new launches should do much to make it easier than ever for Apex to be an easily-accessible multiplayer experience.