Apex Legends Anniversary Collection Event Extended Due to Login Errors

Respawn Entertainment's popular battle royale Apex Legends turned two years old this month, and celebrations began with the Apex Legends Anniversary Collection Event on February 9. Fans have been able to unlock limited-time cosmetics including 12 Legendary skins, and the event was set to run until February 23. Respawn announced today that it will now be available through March 2 at 10:00 a.m. PT.

A post by the official Apex Legends Twitter account says, "We heard some of you need more time to collect your Anniversary rewards," so the developer is keeping the party going for an extra week. However, Twitter account Apex Legends News; the battle royale-focused arm of news site Dexerto; suggests this extension may be more directly linked to login issues currently being investigated.

At 3:22 p.m. PT today, the Respawn Entertainment Twitter account posted that it released an update for Apex Legends fixing stability issues and the appearance of "grey, untextured hand models" on console versions.  However, the post says Respawn is still investigating issues that are preventing some players from logging in. Given reports of Apex Legends suffering server lag and connection issues since the start of Season 8, this isn't particularly surprising.

Connectivity and login issues are not the only problems which have plagued Apex Legends in recent weeks. Another update was put out on February 10 to resolve an issue with the Anniversary Collection Event's heirloom pack resetting. Players who were affected by that bug were offered Apex Packs as compensation the following week.

There are other prevalent concerns in the battle royale not directly related to the second-anniversary event, too. Another widely reported bug has been preventing Apex Legends players from looting death boxes from their opponents, meaning they cannot collect gear as a reward for their efforts. Game balance is also a long-running project for Respawn, as lead game designer Daniel Klein recently discussed difficulties balancing the Legend Caustic.

Despite these ongoing issues, many players will no doubt be excited to get an extra week's worth of time to potentially unlock the Anniversary Collection Event cosmetics. Such an occasion literally comes once a year, after all, and the variety of skins for characters and weapons offer a good way to show one's devotion to Respawn Entertainment's battle royale. However, Apex Legends will be releasing on Switch after the event ends even with this extension, so anyone waiting to play on Nintendo's hybrid console will have to wait for next year to get any anniversary swag.

Fans of Apex Legends are no stranger to the frustrations that can mount when facing an enemy squad that's rolling with a Caustic. The legend comes with one of the game's most devastating ultimate abilities. Caustic's Nox Gas Grenade can be dropped or tossed accurately at range. Upon detonation, players in the wide area-of-effect start taking damage, finding both their vision and mobility impaired. In the matches' last seconds, with the game's ring closing in, enemy teams often have to choose between taking damage in the wall or facing Caustic's gas. Depending on the final ring placement, there is no counter move.