The next generation of consoles have been around for over a year now - it's about time Apex Legends makes the jump, right? It's one of the few hugely popular multiplayer games out there that doesn't have a native next-gen release - Destiny 2, Fortnite, Siege... they're all available on PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, so why isn't Apex Legends?
Of course, this isn't an easy transition and we can imagine Respawn Entertainment are working hard - however, there are some rumblings that would suggest that a next-gen release is on the way. Here's what we know about Apex Legends on the PS5 and Xbox Series X...
UPDATE - Next-Gen console support in the works
It isn't much, but a Producer on Apex Legends has confirmed that "Next Gen Console Support" for Apex Legends is "in progress" at the moment. You can check out the tweet referencing this below:
We don't know the extent of this support but it could mean a next-gen console release is in the works. Apex Legends' next season is due to start in February 2022 - but we're not sure a next-gen version of the game will be arriving that soon. May 2022 or June 2022 - in time for Season 13 - is a more likely prediction.
Either way, we think it will be released to coincide with the start of a new season... However, only time will tell when exactly this is.
NEXT-GEN - Is Apex Legends coming?
Shrugtal, a notable data miner and leaker of Apex Legends content, has raised several files relating to next-gen Xbox consoles from Apex Legends' 11.0 Patch. As you can see below, both PS5 and "XB5" is referenced alongside changes to the recognition of using a DualSense controller with Apex Legends over a Dualshock controller.
These might seem like minor changes, but they could hint towards a next-gen release for Apex Legends a lot sooner than you might realise. People are after 120 FPS on consoles at the very least - however, these improvements could lead to a disadvantage for current-gen players.
At the moment, you can only play Apex Legends on next-gen platforms through backwards compatibility. A native next-gen release for Apex Legends would bring a slew of performance improvements and allow for major graphical improvements. We could see Apex Legends' textures get improved, faster loading times, more environmental details... The possibilities are endless. You would need to have Apex Legends on your internal SSD storage if you're on PS5 though, which could make finding space for it an issue.
Does Apex Legends even need these updates? It seems to be popular enough without them at the moment. Either way, we might hear more about this soon - if we're lucky.