Apex Legends is one of the biggest battle royale games out there. Of course, when it was launched in February of last year, it hadn't had any marketing beforehand and became available at lunchtime in the US—a strange time for any game to be released. Yesterday, we learned that Respawn delayed Apex Legends' launch to accommodate a game developer's court date.
Now, you might have read "court date" and thought that something bad happened. However, this is thankfully a happy story and nobody was hurt by the delay. As a matter of fact, the delay happened to make sure that someone could find peace, happiness, and love in a world that can be cruel and painful.
Jon Shiring quietly shared the story of Apex Legends' strange release on Twitter, explaining that its launch was delayed so that he could go to court. Go to court, that is, to finalize an adoption. The game was supposed to be launched at 10 am on the morning of February 4, 2019. However, the LA County court that Jon needed to go to scheduled his adoption hearing for the same time and day as the game's launch.
Being the team lead for the online services side of the game (kind of important) Jon panicked. Luckily, others at Respawn Entertainment had his back and were willing to delay the release of the game until Jon was able to get back and manage the launch—and celebrate—with his team.
So there you have it. Apex Legends launched at a weird time because one of the game's leads needed to be able to go to court to adopt a new member of his family. Apex Legends has since become one of the go-to games for free-to-play battle royale mayhem. This month, it's getting some Halloween themed content updates and even a possible "Shadow Royale" limited-time mode (LTM) to play. This game mode will change what happens when you're downed. You should read the full article, but suffice it to say, it fits well with the Halloween season.