Honest Feedback for Apex in 2026
To start, I've been playing this game since the first month of its release, and I have seen a lot of good and bad changes over the years.
I'm someone who had put in over 6k hours in on the EA App alone, obtained a few Heirlooms, had bought a few event items, and even bought the Battle Pass more than once, so its not like I'm fairly new to the game, (while many players here on the forums have seen me reply to numerous threads, doing what I can to either help them, forward bugs and issues to EA/Respawn, etc., and fewer have known me long before I became a Hero on the forums).
Speaking of being a Hero, I am not writing this as a Hero, rather I am writing this as a normal Apex player who wants to see the game thrive:
#1 Matchmaking & Servers
Whatever matchmaking Apex uses, (be it skill based, engagement based, both, etc.), it clearly has room for improvements as the matches are fairly unbalanced where you would have several weaker teams VS top-level teams.
I know this as I've been playing Ranked since Season 2, where the highest rank I've achieved outside of Season 17's broken system, (where I got Masters), was Diamond, and that was during the current season, (Season 29), which brings me to what I've observed:
- The system allows for players to hop onto new accounts to stomp lower lobbies and even for higher ranked players to drop too far down into lower lobbies to farm kills and damage
- Often times when trying to play the game smart, you would get teammates who treat Ranked like its pubs, (and in pubs, these randoms would leave as soon as they are knocked)
- The enemy team you fight against, (no matter the mode), are somehow way better than your team, (requiring most players to carry the whole team if they wish to win)
- and many more issues that would take a lot of time to get into, (like how Solo Q Diamonds to Preds are all still on the same team in Plat matches)
As for the servers, I'm not sure if the game needs better servers or if the game needs to run on a newer game engine, but something should be done about the lag, desync issues, etc.
#2 Aim Assist & Input
No matter what side you are on, (be it for Aim Assist or against, (which I'm not going to go into a discussion about that here)), the issue is players using 3rd party devices to take advantage of the Aim Assist.
While Respawn has been cracking down on these devices, there is a lot to be desired as I'm still seeing players clearly abusing Titans, Zens, etc., and its a problem as it ruins the game's integrity, so it is important for the game's health to have things like this sorted out.
As for the input, I think it would be better for the game to have lobbies where those on Keyboard and Mouse are in different lobbies than those on Controller unless otherwise opted in by each individual player to go up against whoever using whatever input.
#3 Cheaters & Bans
For this part, I won't be talking about any "false bans" as that's a whole other thing, but I will talk about the cheating issue and how bans seem to be handled.
First off, when a player is found to be cheating, they aren't always taken out of the game right away, instead they are allowed to keep playing while being added to a ban wave which would wipe them out alongside a bunch of other cheaters at once.
The problem with doing ban waves like that is that cheaters are allowed to cheat on multiple accounts for several hours, days, and sometimes even weeks before they are banned, and that right there ruins the game for everyone else, (which when playing Ranked, legit players are not compensated for losing matches to a cheater).
This system should instead start filtering those cheating into their own lobbies where it is then cheaters going up against other cheaters until a ban wave is issued, (which playing with a cheater is cheating as well).
Filtering the cheaters into their own lobbies would help strengthen the integrity of each and every match as there wouldn't be as many of them ruining the game for other players as more are taken out of public view, and the cheaters wouldn't be so quick to hop on to new accounts as they would think that they are in the clear when they are not.
#4 Smurfs
While Respawn allows players to play on multiple accounts, Respawn should at least consider raising the level requirements to enter Ranked as I've been seeing plenty of low level players in higher ranked lobbies.
Most games, (such as Valorant), defines smurfing as being on a new account to go up against lower skilled players, which is exactly what happens when players are allowed to play on multiple accounts, and this in turn causes issues in ranked where cheaters are able to quickly return to ranked on new accounts as well.
#5 Ranked
Everyone has their own opinion on ranked, and as for mine, I feel like the matchmaking could be better and a higher level account should be a requirement, (as mentioned above).
Besides that, I don't have a whole lot to say about ranked as most of the ideas I've thought of wouldn't work out well anyways.
#6 Badges and Stats
This one is simple:
- Rework badges to give back meaning, (like how having the 20 kills and 4k damage badges use to mean you were good at the game)
- Separate badges and stats between the game modes, (such as no longer allowing Wildcard to impact Battle Royal badges and stats)
#7 Firing Range
For this one, it would be easier to refer to an older thread I've posted since there is a lot written there as well:
Although parts of that thread is most likely outdated by now, (oh well).
#8 Legends, Weapons & Loot Balancing
Many players like to move fast, deal damage, get kills, but the movement and stun skills are out of control, legends are given scan abilities when they cannot move quickly or stop a player in their tracks, (or they are reworked in a way that doesn't fit their kit), and the weapons are either too strong, or lacking in power.
To be clear, I am saying that Axel is overpowered, Seer is too much, and that other legends like Crypto and Rampart are left in the dust, while the weapon meta is spotty at best.
As for loot, I think it would be better if the weapons all level up like the EVO Armor, which would remove the need to find attachments and only require players to find ammo, heals, AMPs, and explosives, while knockdown shields and backpacks can also be leveled up in the same way, (although that would mean that Loba's Golden Backpack perk would need to be reworked).
In short, less looting and more playing the game.
#9 Listening to Community Feedback
I cannot stress this point enough, but EA/Respawn, listen to the players playing your game. If they leave, it only causes problems later down the line.
The solution to this involves:
- Improving the matchmaking
- Smoothing out tensions between inputs
- Removing and keeping cheaters out of matches
- Not allowing players to ruin ranked matches on alt accounts
- Improving ranked, (which yes, I do know about the ranked overhaul as it is on the Apex Roadmap)
- Making achievements mean something again
- Improving game modes and provide better gameplay balancing, (which includes adding new LTMs outside of Wildcard variations, and being less focus on selling cosmetics during events)
- Being more transparent with changes, updates, etc. and even allow players to voice their opinions by voting on future changes, (even if the voting is just for buffs and nerfs)
#10 Allow for Playtesting
As far as I'm aware of, playtesting the next update of Apex is limited, although it would be beneficial for Apex to allow for more players to test updates to help provide feedback, suggestions, and to get bugs fixed before the update's release.
Thanks for Reading!
I'm sure there is a lot more to write, but this is all that I can think of for now.
