Apex Legends match sizes won’t be increasing “any time soon,” says Jason McCord, the game’s design director. Calls to increase lobby sizes, which now stand at 60 players per match, have been getting louder since the game was confirmed to be coming to more platforms. McCord says the popular battle royale title is “balanced and optimized” for 60 players.
Apex Legends first released in February of 2019 and quickly became one of the most popular battle royale titles available. Initially only releasing on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, the developers at Respawn Entertainment recently announced ports for the Nintendo Switch and mobile. In addition to more available platforms, the game will be getting a crossplay feature some time soon. The crossplay beta begins on October 6th, alongside the Aftermarket Collection event.
With the game coming to more platforms and reaching more prospective players than ever before, some fans are itching for bigger lobby sizes. After releasing the crossplay beta information on Twitter yesterday, a fan asked Respawn design director Jason McCord if an increase in lobby sizes was on the horizon. “Probably not any time soon,” McCord replied. “We think the game is balanced for 60 players, and it's optimized for 60 players. And our maps are made for 60 players. So many reasons.”
Currently, Apex Legends games feature 60 players, divided into 20 teams of three. Three is the standard team size in Apex, though a duos option is also available. Solos, a game mode that is typically available in other popular battle royales like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, is not always open in Apex.
Additionally, other popular BR games often have much larger game sizes than Apex. Fortnite sends 100 players onto an island each match, while Call of Duty: Warzone sends 150. Apex Legends' smaller lobby sizes mean the games end quicker than other similar titles. With a shorter game, players may be more inclined to re-queue into the next one.
While some fans may be disappointed with McCord's reply, it’s understandable for game designers to want their game to operate the way it was intended. Smaller game lobbies work for Apex Legends, no matter what platform the game is being played on.
Source: Twitter