Check out the details from our latest Reddit AMA
Hey Legends,
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to jump into our latest mode: Wildcard. If you haven’t yet or would like a quick refresher, check out the full breakdown in our dev blog.
We’ll be answering as many Wildcard questions as possible this Tuesday, August 12, 2025, at 10 am PT. As always, feedback is also welcome and we’ll be collecting everything to share with the team.
Here’s our Wildcard team on deck:
- u/RSPN_Danja: Chris, Sr. Technical Game Designer
- u/RSPN_KDubz: Kevin, Sr. Technical Game Designer
Hit the link here to check out the full AMA or dive into the questions below!
Q:Do you have any plans to add more maps to Wildcard in the future?
Yes we do! While we can't tell you what map is coming next, our current plan is to give all of the BR maps the Wildcard treatment.
Q:Is it here to stay? I bloody love it and its the most fun I had in Apex for years.
Wildcard is here to stay. Expect to see periods of the seasons where Wildcard will be updated with new Events and content to keep the mode feeling fresh.
Q:Can you add the shadow ability from shadowfall gamemode as one of the wildcards in the upcoming wildcard ltm?
We'll look into it! While we have some great Wild Cards designs, we will still need to find the best Event for that Wild Card to shine.
Q:Do you envisaging getting to a position where Legends are balanced differently in Wildcard versus regular BR?
E.g. Certain legends arguably benefit way more from spawning in with a refreshed Tactical - such as Fuse coming back with two charges of knuckle cluster, or Caustic and his traps. To be clear I'm not suggesting nerfing those people, but rather buffing up certain others, or maybe giving them an extra charge.
We currently don't have any plans to perform Wildcard Legend balancing. Our thinking here is that we don't want to confuse players who jump between Wildcard and other modes with modifications to a Legend's kit.
That being said, Wildcard is still in its infancy and we will always be looking for ways to improve the health of the mode.
Q:Love the game mode, I hope it’s here to stay permanently. I think this mode would massively benefit from been able to pick your loadout before the game starts. Is this something we could see in the future? And if not, why?
Wildcard, at its core is still intending to be a Battle Royale experience.
For new and casual players, we didn't want to remove core elements of what makes a BR, a BR.
Searching for your preferred weapons while using ones you're less familiar with is something that is part of that experience.
Q:Any plans to let us choose what weapon is active when we land? Right now it defaults to 2, but would be nice to choose (or just let us switch while in the air).
Cheers. Really enjoying the mode, and the heavy combat focus. Plus it makes solo queuing way more enjoyable.
This is definitely something on our radar as an unintended side effect of the respawn system. Ideally Slot 1 should be taking priority here.
Q:What led to the decision of no KD shields?
Feels like it was designed for you to just die if you get knocked down as you have no form of protection and people just finish you off before you can even pull a self revive off. Also without protection you can't try and get to a safe place to self revive. Since people die pretty much right away when they get downed it is near impossible to recall them using Alter's ult and the more you die the longer the timer to respawn is.
I also haven't played as Newcastle but I imagine the lack of KD shield affects his revive.
The removal of knockdown shields was mainly done in order to both simplify and speed up the mode. We opted to have players eliminated quicker once downed in order to keep the match flowing and get players back into the action quicker rather than staying in the knocked state longer. The self-revives were meant to give you the small opportunity to reset if you weren't directly in someone's line of sight, but ultimately it wasn't meant to be a guarantee you could get back up.
New Castle is a special case, he does get his knockdown shield when reviving others, since that is a big part of his passive ability. However, that doesn't mean we wont see the knockdown shield return in the future in some other capacity.
Q:Given that the goal these days is to balance Apex characters when they all have access to perks, how does Wildcard team intend to approach this in an environment without perks and with other missing elements? (e.g., no knockdown shields or knockdown shield upgrades for Newcastle).
To be clear, I think the mode is awesome, but it is different and different means balancing will not cleanly port over.
We won't be seeing Legend specific balancing for Wildcard, as we feel this will confuse players when bouncing between Wildcard and other modes.
Though we are wanting the mode to stay healthy and be a place for players to continue having fun. The Wildcard team is continually working on future content so there may be opportunities for things like Knockdown Shields to return for a limited time, or though something like a Wild Card.
Q:Hi i wanted to say thanks for all your hard work for this wondorful gamemode its really good and i like it very much First of all do you think the gamemode itself needs a special balancing for legends only inside that gamemode and if you thought about and wanted to add it what would you do
Second which old care package guns are in the game rn and can you add more to it and also additional items like epg and the knife
third what are your plans for the future of the gamemode
And Fourth can we expect another map added to wildcards and when and what would that be?
Also the cc's talked about the wildcard ltm with items like wall running i wanted to ask could you add the shadow mode from shadowfight gamemode as a wildcard
Thanks for the kind words!
Currently there's 11 Mythic tier weapons in Wildcard to find, many inspired by older seasons. We will definitely add more Care Package guns with new events and seasons! As for EPGs and Throwing Knives, well, that sounds really cool doesn't it ;)
As for maps, we are planning to release more maps with the Wildcard treatment in future seasons!
Q:Are you going to add shield batteries to the game mode?
Also do you plan on adding legend upgrades to the game mode?
Lastly, any plans on introducing new maps to the mode?
Overall I love Wildcard as a mode and enjoy playing it.
Shield Cells are the only healing item currently planned for this mode in order to keep it simple. We added auto health regeneration and removed Phoenix Kits and Shield Batteries in order to streamline the healing process and remove the need to manage your inventory with multiple healing item types. Evo Orbs also serve as a way to regain shields after a fight, without needing an inventory item to do so, and removes the need to go into the death box and perform an armor swap. Wild Cards will also bring in other fun ways to regain shields!
Q:Any plans to increase the number of teams* from 10 to 15? With current ring and timer I believe it shouldn’t be too much of a change.
Would also be nice to have 50 kills/10k dmg badges 👍
Our current team count of 10 required a balancing act to make sure we are achieving great performance at all times during a match of Wildcard.
Increasing max team count is something we're looking into, but performance is still a key metric to consider.
Q:Since this is going to be a permanent mode, are there are legend balance plans for this mode specifically?
Like right now most people just play Ash because it outshines everything while Loba for example has almost no useful utility in this mode.
The team found Legend Stacking to be a very fun experience that can generate some new and pretty fun strategies to play and work around. We would like to keep it in so players can form those strategies while also not preventing players from being locked out of playing their favorite Legend.
At this time we would hate to disable that feature so you'll see less of those Legends. Otherwise, there are no current plans for Wildcard specific Legend balancing at this time.
Don't discount Loba's utility though! Her ultimate still has great value in Wildcard by locating weapons and scopes more quickly, getting your newly respawned teammates topped off with Shield Cells, and snagging some Self-Revive Kits when you're out!
Q:Can we have more room for cells? Since it’s the main way you heal your shields.
We've definitely heard the feedback about players running out of cells and having troubles finding more, we will likely be taking another balance pass here to address these concerns.
Q:Do you plan to build upon the chaotic aspect of the gamemode?
What you are currently experiencing is the core Wildcard gamemode.
Events will now live under Wildcard. That means, with each Limited-Time Event you can experience new weapons, Wild Cards, map toys, and gameplay rules to spice things up.
TL'DR : Yes
Q:For the future seasons, Do you plan to make the legends balanced for unranked and ranked and leave more un-balanced perks, passives, etc. exclusive to Wildcard ?
IMO, this would be a good oportunity to keep both try-hard and casual palyers in the game, seeing that there is a part of the try-hard players that misses the more gun focused gameplay
Wildcard is definitely going to be the place for the more experimental and fun gameplay additions that are less focused on being competitively balanced and more focused on adding new fun gameplay elements. There's currently no plans to add any of the mechanics from Wildcard into the existing Battle Royale modes.
Q:I really hope it’s permanent it’s very fun and I love how fast paced it is! Why is there a day count on the game mode selection screen? It’s Monday now if it currently says 7 days left. Does this mean a map change is coming or is the mode going away?
Wildcard is not going away after that timer ends. It signifies that Wildcard will be making some changes to its content!
Q: How many other Titanfall elements do you want to include besides wallrun?
thanks, awesome mode!
How much more Titanfall would I like to add? All of it!
We all love Titanfall and we want to be respectful to that, so while we are looking at more ways to incorporate Titanfall into Apex Legends there is a right time and right place for when we can insert that type of content.
Q:Any plans on a duos version of wildcard as well?
The team's current focus is on growing the Wildcard Trios experience, so no current plans for a Duos mode.
Q:Any plans on letting us choose our legend upgrades?
Game mode is an amazing addition to the core game and congratulate you guys on making such a fun game mode. Any chance we can get a cosmetic AMA soon? I’d like to ask some questions about auras, tracker art, prestige skins, etc.
Thank you! We're happy that you are enjoying Wildcard! It makes us feel good inside.
Legend Upgrades were originally part of the plan, but disabled in order to keep Wildcard more streamlined.
Q:Why did my settings get reset. Took me years to fine tune it :(
Q:Thoughts on giving us a self-revive on every single life? it would be a fun way to encourage more chaos and action with everybody having to move positions to secure their kill, right now it seems like self-revives run out a little too fast if your team is getting farmed
Self-Revives on every life sounds like a great place for a Wild Card to exist!
Q:Will Wildcard work as a "Test Lab" for new mechanics and/or new features that could potentially be implemented on the main game? (i.e. Trios/Ranked)
I think that is a possibility. The feature would first need to find a place in Wildcard, and even after that there is NO guarantee that anything you experience in Wildcard is intending to make its way into other modes.
Q:Any plans to have a bit more experimental wildcards, like, idk, a titan wildcard or something like that? I heard it was the new cool thing among kids to have titans battling it, just saying.
We have dozens of Wild Cards already in the pipe and ready to go out with upcoming Wildcard Events. We've got some wacky things coming your way.
Q:What drove the decision to allow earning of notoriously difficult badges (4k/20 kill) in the wildcard game mode?
Though it’s nice for less-skilled players like me to be able to earn them now, I am not blind to the fact that it takes away from the meaning of those badges and the grind people who earned them in normal BR had to endure.
We wanted players of all abilities to be able to enjoy Wildcard. Badge eligibility has often varied between modes/events, and community feedback is a part of that - including Wildcard's eligibility. While there's nothing concrete we can share on the potential of future badges at the moment, we're excited for how we can continue to evolve this going forward.
Community Manager