Apex Legends, the battle royale game from Respawn Entertainment and EA, is as popular as ever. The game just launched its eighth season, introduced the newest Legend to join the Apex Games, Fuse, and has finally announced a release date for the Nintendo Switch. However, that isn't the only plan the developers have for the game in February, as Apex Legends is adding a new Black Lives Matter badge that players can equip.
Video games have always been known at times to embrace politics and make commentary on different current events. The Black Lives Matter movement, which primarily protests against police brutality against the Black community, is an example of current events that have been honored in gaming before. Recently, players discovered a Black Lives Matter mural in Spider-Man: Miles Morales. In a broader context, many gaming companies last summer made a big show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, to various responses.
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The official Apex Legends Twitter revealed that all players would receive a Black Lives Matter badge in honor of Black History Month this February. The badge consists of a raised black fist, a common icon for the Black Lives Matter movement, overtop a yellow background. The developers want to remind players that they should always "stand in solidarity with [their] Black colleagues, partners, family, friends, & players in the fight against racism and social injustice."
The player response to this free badge has been expectedly mixed, with some, unfortunately, falling into racist territory. Some question the badge's purpose in a system that is meant to showcase skill achievements, even though there have been badges before not related to skill, such as the Origin Access Badge, which is just for Origin Access subscribers. Other players support Respawn's efforts to bring the discussion to the table, especially during Black History Month.
While no company is perfect, Respawn has already shown it wants Apex Legends to be a force for good, as well as a great game. The cast of Legends is incredibly diverse, consisting of many characters of color, and characters with a variety of different genders and sexualities. For example, Bloodhound is explicitly non-binary, and Fuse was just confirmed to be pansexual.
There are players that may not agree with the decision to include this badge to the game, but Respawn has made it clear that its goal is to show solidarity with anti-racism efforts. Either way, players have a lot to look forward to with the new season, and with Apex Legends arriving on the Switch in March, thousands of more players will soon be joining the Apex Games.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and will release for the Switch on March 9.