Respawn Entertainment Opens New Studio Devoted To Apex Legends Development

Respawn Entertainment recently opened its third facility. 

According to EA’s developer, this announcement was made today. It stated that the new studio is located in Madison, Wisconsin and led by veteran AAA battle royale (and FPS) developers. The studio, which is based in Madison, will be primarily focused on content creation for Respawn’s battle royale FPS Apex Legends. 

Below is a statement about the studio’s opening from Daniel Suarez, the senior vice president of operations at Respawn: 

We’re incredibly excited to announce that the Apex Legends team at Respawn will continue to strengthen its development team with the introduction of a brand new studio location in Madison, Wisconsin led by industry veteran Ryan Burnett. 

Ryan is an exceptional leader and pillar of the large mid-western gaming community. Ryan is a veteran of nearly twenty years in the development industry at Epic Games and Raven Software. His history has been exemplary for inspiring creativity and innovation within his teams, which are what have made Apex Legends possible.

It’s been our belief since day one that Respawn is not a singular location but a mindset: when passionate and talented people have creative freedom, they’ll achieve the unexpected. We were able to successfully move to Vancouver in 2019. As the workplace changed, this view allowed us to continue working with the very best the gaming industry has to offer. Madison is a city that has been recognized as a leader in game development not only in the United States, but all over the globe. That’s why we’ve worked closely with and appreciate the assistance of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to help facilitate the studio’s growth in Madison.

At its core, this expansion represents Respawn’s commitment to work with the most skilled, curious, and creative minds in the industry. Apex Legends is celebrating its fourth anniversary. We want to keep Apex Legends as the best Battle Royale game on the market. Madison’s talented developers are a great addition to our Los Angeles or Vancouver team. They will help shape the next chapter.

This studio’s opening comes just three weeks after EA laid off more than 200 Apex Legends quality assurance testers at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana office over a Zoom call.