Apex Legends could soon get Solo and Duos modes

Respawn's surprise hit battle royale Apex Legends only supports play in squads of three, which is a little unusual given that the other big-name games in the genre—Fortnite, PUBG, Blackout—offer solo and duo play as well as squads. But if the information dug up by Fortnite dataminer ShiinaBR (who is apparently now branching into Apex Legends) is correct, solo and duo modes are on the way to Apex, too. 

The fine print in the posted image makes a few relevant references, to "2-man Squads" and "#SOLO_MODE," which are fairly self-explanatory despite the absence of any further detail.

The year-one roadmap makes no mention of new modes in the works, but it makes sense that they'd be coming, if only because the other games support them and there's no reason for Respawn to leave that flank exposed. What is a little surprising is that there seems to be some resistance to the idea: Several threads on the Apex Legends subreddit take the position that the game was designed for three-person play, and that messing with that formula, particularly with solos, will take away from everything that makes it special.

Personally, I'm of the "build it and see if anyone comes" mindset: I love the strategic aspect of trios but sometimes I'd like to strike out on my own and see how long I can last as a renegade solo hunter (which is to say, hiding behind an out-of-the-way bush) without feeling bad about the other two schmoes I left in the lurch. I'm not saying I've done that, by the way, but I'm not not saying it, either.

In another not-terribly-surprising development, a leak from last week indicated that ranked play is also on the way. I've reached out to EA for more information and will update if I receive a reply.

Thanks, GamesRadar.