Apex Legends dev explains why they won’t update character animations

After an Apex Legends fan asked if Respawn would consider adding new character animations, Respawn’s Design Director explained how it would be unnecessary work.

Since its launch in 2019, Apex Legends has been consistently updated with new maps, Legends, weapons, and more. We’re now in the game’s seventh season, which has brought the new Olympus map, Legend Horizon, and joinable clubs.

Respawn Entertainment are known for their dialogue with the community, where senior developers often reply to requests, bug reports, and complaints. They will give a detailed explanation as to why something may or may not be added to the game.

On a Twitter thread about game development, Respawn Design Director Jason McCord replied to a fan’s request to add more character select animations to the game.

New Legend animations won’t be coming

When you select a Legend before a match begins, they will have a little animation. There is currently only one animation for each Legend, which can get repetitive after significant playtime.

• Read more: Why Apex devs won’t buff Mirage’s Passive Cloaking

“Any idea to update the animations in character select screen,” the fan asked. “It’s the same thing we see again and again… and it should be updated!”

McCord responded, explaining why that won’t happen.

Cool new animations would be fun to look at, but wouldn't change anything significantly, and would take away people like @_moyparra from working on new stuff.
Game dev is often about these tradeoffs. I'm sure you'd rather want a new Legend than new character select anims.

— Jason McCord (@Monsterclip_JM) December 21, 2020

“Cool new animations would be fun to look at, but wouldn’t change anything significantly,” said McCord. It would “take away people like [Moy Parra, Principle Animator] from working on new stuff.”

“[Game development] is often about these tradeoffs,” McCord concluded. “I’m sure you’d rather want a new Legend than new character select anims.”

With the developers hard at work on the upcoming seasons, the animators won’t have the time or resources to create new animations. Respawn needs to prioritize what’s important, and adding new character select animations is so far down on the list it will probably never get added to the game.

Apex Legends Game Director Chad Grenier recently revealed there will be major surprises coming in Season 9, so expect exciting updates in future seasons.

Image Credit: Respawn Entertainment