Respawn teases ‘deeper, bigger’ stories coming to Apex Legends’ lore in season 17 and beyond

Richer narrative content might just be on the horizon.

Ballistic bows his head and stretches out his arms in front of the legend displays at the Monument POI.
Image via Respawn Entertainment

Things have been quieter on the narrative front in Apex Legends for a few seasons now. Despite a variety of plot threads still hanging up in the air, from Crypto and Ash’s plans to Valkyrie working behind Loba’s back with Revenant, recent seasons have done little to drive the story forward.

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That’s set to change in season 17, though, with narrative lead Ashley Reed teasing that the team wants to tell “deeper, bigger stories” about the Apex Games and the wider universe in the near future. While the fruits of that labor won’t be in front of players at the season’s May 9 launch, “something special” is slated to hit around the middle of the season.

Related: Ballistic’s abilities will give teammates infinite ammo and more in Apex Legends’ season 17

This news came during a recent press event, where Reed discussed both the stories told within World’s Edge’s new Monument POI as well as the plans for the future of Apex’s lore. 

Apex is in its fifth year and there’s this rich well of design and lore to pull from for this museum and we want to tap into that as we tell deeper, bigger stories about the world,” Reed said. “More than that, we also want to tell deeper, bigger stories about the characters our players know and love.”

The battle royale has managed to tell those deeper stories on occasion in the past, during events such as The Broken Ghost quest or The Williams Sendoff chronicle, but it’s struggled to consistently deliver on the expectations of an audience hungry for more tales about their favorite legends. The tease of greater things to come doesn’t inherently mean that this will change, but there’s a good chance we’ll see more quality storytelling more often.

Related: Are quests still the best way for Apex Legends to deliver lore in future seasons?

“In terms of those bigger stories, we have something special planned for this season that we’re not quite ready to talk about yet, but we wanted to let you know to keep your eyes peeled as we get closer to the middle of the season,” Reed said.

What that might entail is up for debate, but the prospect of exciting things to come for the Apex story is a much-needed boost of adrenaline after a few seasons lacking on the narrative front.

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Alexis Walker
Alexis is a freelance journalist hailing from the UK. After a number of years competing on international esports stages, she transitioned into writing about the industry in 2021 and quickly found a home to call her own within the vibrant communities of the looter shooter genre. Now she provides coverage for games such as Destiny 2, Halo Infinite and Apex Legends.