It took a solid six months to arrive but at long last, Apex Legends has a solo playlist. The mode, which debutd alongside the battle royale’s Iron Crown Collection event earlier this week, has been labelled a particular blessing by lone wolf players, who will no longer be forced into a rigid three-man team just to sky-dive into Kings Canyon. The caveat to this positive news, however, is that, as a limited-time addition, the dedicated solo queue has a finite lifespan. Or does it?
In its post over on the official Apex website, Respawn notes that both solos and Iron Crown have been introduced as a pair, meaning that when one leaves, so will the other. Barring unforeseen circumstances or last-minute extensions, the date in which all of this new content goes bye-bye is August 27th, two weeks from now. Sad news, certainly, for players currently having the time of their lives facing off against 59 opponents on their own, but the aforementioned cut-off date doesn’t necessarily mark the end of your illustrious solo career.
In fact, Respawn is using the mode’s current iteration in-game as a means of testing its viability as a permanent fixture. “We are always striving to ensure healthy matchmaking across all modes, so it’s too early to say whether Solos will be permanent or not, but we’re going to watch and see what happens,” reads the studio’s statement, which closes by asking that players provide any and all feedback on their experiences.
Assuming a final decision is made in favor of solos returning to Apex Legends in the future, however, some major adjustments will assuredly be necessary. While reception from the player base has largely been positive, reports of people bypassing the intended rules to gain an upper hand have begun flooding social media. Not exactly the sort of positive reception Respawn will have been looking for, I imagine.
We’ll see how the studio intends to address the issue going forward but for now, it and publisher EA have a larger PR nightmare on their hands in the form of questionably-priced cosmetics. See here for all the details.