Respawn Entertainment Opens New Studio Devoted To Apex Legends Development

Respawn Entertainment has opened its third studio. 

The EA-owned developer announced this news today, stating that this new studio is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and is led by “veteran AAA battle royale and FPS developers,” according to a press release. This Madison-based studio will be focused primarily on creating content 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 extraordinary leader with a proven track record in live service games and as a pillar in the massive mid-western game development community in Madison. With nearly two decades of development experience at places like Raven Software and Epic Games, Ryan has a history of inspiring the sort of creativity and innovation in his teams that is the foundation of games like Apex Legends.

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. This view helped us successfully expand to Vancouver in 2019, and as the workplace evolved, it helped us continue to work with the best that the games industry has to offer, whether at the office, remote, or hybrid. We see that Respawn mindset reflected in Madison, which has cemented itself as one of the great game development cities not just in the United States but the entire world. 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. Having just passed its 4th anniversary, our aim is to continue to make Apex Legends the premiere Battle Royale on the market. I cannot think of a better addition than the immensely talented developers in Madison working alongside our Los Angeles and Vancouver teams to help us shape what comes next.

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.