Respawn Entertainment, the developer behind free-to-play battle royale title Apex Legends, has opened a new studio based in Madison, Wisconsin.
The opening marks Respawn’s third studio to open following its expansion to Vancouver, Canada in 2019.
The studio’s primary focus will be to create content for Apex Legends, which recently celebrated its fourth anniversary. In addition to the expansion, Respawn Entertainment has announced former Raven Software Senior Executive Producer Ryan Burnett as its Studio Director.
Respawn Entertainment collaborated with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to facilitate the expansion into Madison. In an interview conducted by Gamesindustry.biz, the studio says the expansion will extend the lifecycle of the battle royale for ’10 to 15 years.’
Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts (EA), the game’s publisher, have built the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) into one of the largest battle royale esports circuits in the world. In comparison to its last split, the 2023 Split 1 Playoffs saw a 30% decrease in viewership but still had a total watch time of 6.7m hours.
Daniel Suarez, Senior Vice President of Operations at Respawn Entertainment, spoke on the expansion: At its core, this expansion represents Respawn’s commitment to work with the most skilled, curious, and creative minds in the industry. Having just passed its 4th anniversary, our aim is to continue to make Apex Legends the premier Battle Royale on the market.
“I cannot think of a better addition than the immensely talented developers in Madison working alongside our Los Angeles and Vancouver teams to help us shape what comes next.”
The news of Respawn Entertainment’s studio expansion follows EA’s decision to lay off over 200 contracted QA testers shortly after the cancellation of Apex Legends Mobile.
