Apex Legends developer Respawn has opened a new studio in Vancouver to ramp up development on the battle royale shooter. 

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the Canadian studio will sit alongside the company's existing California office, and will be led by head of operations Henry Lee and team director Steven Ferreira. 

Lee explained the second studio will give the California team more room to breathe, grant Respawn access to a broader range of talent, and help the company boost support for Apex. 

"At Respawn we've already got a lot of innovations underway. The trouble is we can't do all the innovations we want -- there are just too many," they commented. "How do you choose which ones to run with, and which ones are best for the game? Building a team in Vancouver is only going to help us bring more to the game."

Looking further ahead, Lee suggested the expansion could allow Respawn to turn the free-to-play shooter into a juggernaut franchise akin to FIFA or Call of Duty, which is a view supported by parent company and Apex publisher EA. 

"We have a long-term view for where we'd like to take the franchise, and EA supports that long-term view of building out the franchise," they continued. "FIFA didn't grow to be the juggernaut it is today in one night. Call of Duty -- something near and dear to many of us on this call back in our Activision days -- didn't grow there in one night.

"It took time to get there, so we have that realistic long-term view, and I appreciate the support from EA and the lack of pressure."