A recent job posting on Respawn Entertainment's website appears to hint at an unannounced project being a first-person shooter of sorts as the team is looking to hire an experienced Lead Combat Designer for the title. At the moment it is unclear if this is related to Apex Legends or an entirely new IP.
Respawn Entertainment explains on its site that it is ideally searching for a candidate that is intimately familiar in areas of enemy design, AI behavior, control, combat/weapons, class design, progression with regards to skills, story, and boss encounters. Quite the resume needed, as Respawn would like the role to be filled by someone who can focus on innovating in the combat experiences space that ensures players of every skill level can enjoy. Additionally, along with being able to collaborate with others in a team setting, the candidate would need to work with the Game Director to ensure that enemy designs and combat systems are seen through from creative conception to completion. The unannonuced project appears to be using Unreal Engine 4 as well.
Candidates will need numerous years of experience (around 5+ years) working in the industry as a designer for combat and its associated systems and having had knowledge of shipping out at least one game. Along with Unreal Engine 4 experience Respawn once again states that the candidate must have a superb background in enemy and boss design and an excellent grasp of timing which insuates that this FPS title will be a quick and snappy shooter. Finally, whoever applies would also need to have impeccable interdepartmental communcations skills, ensuring every aspect of the creative vision is realized.
Judging from the information given, one's mind immediately goes to Apex Legends, Respawn's highly successful FPS free-to-play battle royale. Apex has made waves in the industry and is beloved by many gamers even in the wake of the enormously popular Fortnite. However, a sequel seems unlikely as this genre of gaming isn't exactly prone to the sequel mentality. It is likely the game is a new IP but whether it's a single or multiplayer title is unclear.
Some might be asking does this mean bad news for a Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order 2? Unlikely, as Respawn has multiple teams at the moment and it is likely development for the Star Wars title is in late stages whereas this one is just picking up. However, the use of Unreal Engine 4 is an interesting tidbit as studios start to experiment with the new Unreal Engine 5 more and more. Hopefully Respawn will clue us in on the title a little more come 2022.