After one year of waiting, Respawn finally announced a definitive date for Apex‘s Steam debut—and it’s coming soon.
The battle royale will debut on Steam on Nov. 4 alongside the release of its seventh season. Origin players will have a seamless transition if they decide to play on Steam. “All your account progression and unlocks will carry over” between the two platforms, according to game director Chad Grenier.
The special regimen between Origin and Steam also comes with the option to ditch EA’s platform altogether. Apex “will launch directly with Steam without running Origin,” according to a developer. Matchmaking will work normally between the two platforms.
Apex‘s Steam launch is the product of an ambitious deal between EA and Valve. The agreement allows Origin-exclusive titles such as Apex and The Sims into the Steam Store, alongside subscription-based service EA Play.
Both companies signed the deal in October 2019 and have been hinting at a release date since. The official announcement is vague and says that the battle royale would launch on Steam “next year” [in 2020]. Respawn’s reveal during EA Play in June narrowed it down slightly—the game was coming “this fall,” a marginally less vague timeline.
Apex‘s move to Steam is bringing in a special treat to celebrate the partnership: three free, limited-time gun charms that mix Apex and famous Valve titles. The items feature a potato version of Portal‘s GLaDOS, Wattson holding a Companion Cube, and Octane infested by one of Half-Life‘s headcrabs.
