EA and Respawn Entertainment’s battle royale will be hitting Nintendo’s industry-shifting portable console just in time for its second anniversary, barely missing the start of the game’s eighth official season. Understandably, you likely have a couple of questions upon reading this. In particular, you’ll probably want to know just how well the game will run on such a small console and whether or not it will have crossplay, or if your progression from other platforms will carry over if you play on the Nintendo Switch. Scroll down below to learn everything there is to know about playing Apex Legends on the Nintendo Switch.
Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch Release Date
EA and Respawn Entertainment will launch Apex Legends on the Nintendo Switch on March 9, 2021. Just like in every other platform you can play Apex Legends in, the game is free-to-play. However, EA nor Respawn Entertainment, as well as Nintendo, have yet to confirm if players will need a Nintendo Online account to play the game. It’s important to note that Fortnite on the Switch is similarly free to everyone and doesn’t require a Nintendo Online account. It’s highly likely that this will be the case for Apex Legends as well.
Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch Trailer
Unfortunately, there is no trailer for the launch of Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch. Instead, the only thing we have to go off on is the logo reveal and a possible “Fall 2020” release window at EA Play 2020 in June, which, as we all know, never really came to fruition. With just weeks to go before the actual release of the game, it’s understandable that fans are expressing concern on how the game would look like on the Nintendo Switch.
Does Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch Feature Crossplay?
Yes. Nintendo Switch owners will be able to join in on the fun and play with and against other players from other platforms at launch. Unfortunately, while there is crossplay, there’s no cross-progression. What this means is that anyone playing on the Nintendo Switch will have to start from zero as their progress from the PC and other platforms won’t carry over. If it’s any consolation, Nintendo Switch owners will receive a bonus in the form of double XP for two weeks following the game’s release, as well as 30 free levels of the battle pass for Season 8.
How Well Will Apex Legends Run on Nintendo Switch?
This is perhaps the biggest question regarding Apex Legends on the Nintendo Switch right now and, so far, we have no idea how the game will run. The only thing that we know for sure right now is that it is in good hands. The studio working on it was the one responsible for porting 2016’s Doom title, as well as its sequel, 2020’s Doom Eternal, to the Nintendo Switch, which actually ran quite well for a game so demanding. Respawn also claims that they used some “smart optimizations” to make sure that the game ran well on the Nintendo Switch. Just how smart and effective those optimizations are is something that we’ll find out soon enough.
