Cross-progression in Apex Legends is a "gnarly as hell" problem for Respawn that won't be solved until 2022 at the earliest.
This is according to Respawn director of communications Ryan Rigney, who spent some time in a Reddit AMA thread last week answering questions directly from players. Rigney explained that cross-progression is "a mess" of challenges, but that the team is committed to making it happen.
"Cross-progression is gnarly as hell in terms of being a problem to solve," Rigney said. "It's not only that you have to solve the technical challenge of merging existing accounts, but there are also legal and contractual issues to navigate with purchasing on other platforms."
Rigney said that different regions have different laws that Respawn has to navigate and that cross-progression is a mess as a result.
Cross-progression would be especially useful in a game like Apex Legends due to its availability on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Cross-progression would allow players to play on PC, and then pick up with the same account on Switch while laying in bed, or on a PS4 in a different room. Add in that Apex Legends has well over 25 million players, and that the game has been so popular that EA is doubling down on live-service games, and it's easy to see why cross-progression would be a big deal for the battle royale.
Elsewhere in the AMA, Rigney said that the team is very excited about a next-gen update for Apex Legends.
"Oh man, I WISH I had an update to share but we can't say anything definitive at the moment — so can't spoil anything here," he said. "Trust us though, it's in the works and we're excited about it too."
It would seem that big news about Apex Legends, be it a next-gen update or cross-progression, is due for 2022 at the earliest. Only time will tell, though.
While waiting to hear more, read about how Respawn has seemingly been working on its next-gen release of Apex Legends for over a year if a job listing from April 2020 is anything to go b. You can also read about how EA is handling all of its PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrade plans. Check out this Apex Legends Season 10 explainer after that, and then read about how EA is doubling down on live-service games as full game sales drop.
Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.