Respawn Entertainment may finally be ready to start talking about Apex Legends on the Switch again. The studio is announcing the release date for season 8 of its battle royale shooter, and that may include the release date for the game on Nintendo’s hybrid home/handheld console. Apex Legends hits Switch on March 9, according to a press release posted by a Japanese gaming news site.
Respawn has confirmed this date on its blog:
We’re proud to announce that Apex Legends launches on Nintendo Switch on March 9th, 2021.
❗️: https://t.co/V19mWq3zF1 pic.twitter.com/EA3jCDMayf
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) February 2, 2021
Developer Panic Button is overseeing development of the Switch port of Apex Legends. This is the team that brought Rocket League to Switch. And that studio has overcome some challenges to get it to this point.
Electronic Arts announced Apex Legends for Switch last summer. The game was supposed to launch in October, but EA and Respawn delayed the project because they wanted to improve the game’s performance. At that time, Apex Legends was still having a lot of issues running on the underpowered mobile processor.
But now the game is coming soon. This will give Nintendo players a chance to play Apex Legends along with their friends. It should also provide another revenue stream for Electronic Arts for the popular shooter.
This is one of the seven Switch games that EA promised to release over the 12-month period starting in June 2020. Here is the full roster:
- Burnout Paradise
- FIFA 211
- Apex Legends
- Lost in Random
- Velan Studios game
- Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
- Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
Of those seven titles, EA has already released Burnout Paradise, FIFA 21, and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. It has also announced Lost in Random, Apex Legends for the Switch, and a partnership to publish Velan Studios’ team-based action game for Switch. This leaves only Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, which should come soon.
Updated at 1:45 p.m. Pacific time: I’ve corrected some of my wording to clarify that EA hasn’t sent out a press release and instead the press release showed up on Japanese media.
Updated at 2:20 p.m. Pacific: EA has confirmed this date.
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