New Updates Coming with Apex Legends™: Amped
Season 27 is upon us, Legends, and it is adrenaline-packed! Chase new heights in an updated Olympus, rebuilt for better flow, dynamic positioning, and elevated gameplay. Check out changes to Valkyrie, Rampart and Horizon that are sure to get your blood pumping. Welcome to the fray, the Double Tap Alternator Hop-Up, destined to make the Alternator a close range demon. Plus, expand your advanced movement toolkit with Mantle Boost and dive into the party. Ranked drop zone POIs are getting a loot distribution adjustment. This season, we also have updates to audio systems that we think legends will be excited about. With updates to the Trident AND a new Wishlist feature, this season is ready for you to lock in and feel the rush! OLYMPUS RISING Float into a more competitive Olympus, with NEW POIs: Somers University, Gravity Engine, Stabilizer and Dockyard! After a mysterious, second Olympus is discovered crash-landed on Págos, Horizon moves in to uncover what it all means, and to get this Olympus back in the sky and competition ready. By reducing open space and reworking problematic areas like Orbital Cannon and Energy Depot, this Olympus aims to provide a smoother competitive experience with safer rotations and more cover. Here’s a preview of some of the new locations in this update: Somers University – Built by Horizon to explore the mysteries of the universe and honor her son Newton, Somers University replaces Orbital Cannon and brings bold architecture and high-flying lifts to Olympus. Gravity Engine – The new beating heart of Olympus, Gravity Engine replaces Energy Depot and harnesses the power of Branthium to keep the city afloat. Lifts, zip rails, and verticality collide making this POI the next hotspot on Olympus. Stabilizer – This platform in the sky replaces Docks and is responsible for keeping Olympus properly aligned. Floating rocks from the planet below provide a path to its outer ballast structure. Dockyard – This camp near Hydroponics gets a massive upgrade, combining nostalgic elements from the original Olympus with a new emphasis on vertical gameplay. And that’s not all! We’ve made tweaks to almost every corner of Olympus, with new camps to explore and additional cover in previously open spaces. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on these changes. AMPED’S LEGENDS We have a swath of Legend changes this season and Valkyrie, Rampart and Horizon are in the spotlight! Valkyrie is ready to rule the skies with a revamped jetpack; she can take flight quicker and move further than ever before. Rampart’s walls now have a roof that allows her to bunker up. Charge up your amped walls by dealing damage, then charge into battle. Horizon is primed with new upgrades that enable her to either float off her lift, or quickly slam to the ground. Get all the details on the Legend changes and more meta updates in the Patch Notes on November 3rd, 2025. DOUBLE BARREL DEVASTATION Say hello to our little friend, the “Double Tap” Alternator Hop-Up! Get ready for devastating close-range firepower and watch enemies drop before they know what hit them. Harnessing the power of both barrels at the same time this smg-shotgun hybrid excels in the hands of any Legend that can close the gap and double tap (rule #2). MANTLE BOOST We’re adding another tool to your movement toolbox—officially! Give yourself a burst of movement by activating Mantle Boost as you climb up from ledges or walls, and use it to dive into your next fight. If you took the time to master what our community calls Superglide, don’t worry it isn’t going anywhere and remains the high bar for skill - Mantle Boost brings similar functionality with higher accessibility for all legends. Adjustable on-screen indicators will help you achieve perfect timing so you can work this technique into your battle strategy! AMPED RANKED PLAY We’re adjusting loot quality across Drop Zones in Ranked play! The new Drop Zones sparked many internal and external discussions, one of which is about the fairness of different POI loot quality when you have no choice on where to drop. To assuage these frustrations, you will see more consistency in loot quality across different POIs. There will still be variance, but they will not be as extreme. Our goal is to have each match feel more fair, no matter where you drop. We will continue to monitor community feedback and reception. TRIDENT TUNE-UPS Tridents are getting a tune-up this season! Starting in Season 27, they will feature improved handling, better and more lenient boost control and an all new ability to jump and glide over rough terrain. In addition to a wealth of handling changes the Trident now deals low ramming damage when barreling into opponents. But don't worry, they also have their own health pool and can be destroyed - you will no longer see damage split between the occupants (which means, yes, you can snipe someone off a Trident now!) AMPED LAUNCH CHALLENGES Complete Amped Launch Challenges within the first two weeks to earn NEW Amped Seasonal Packs to test out the new Wishlist feature and get a shot at the Mythic 'Bird of Prey' R-99 skin. Build your Wishlist with 5 Legends and 2 Weapon Classes to target your favorites. For now Wishlist only affects Limited Epics in the Amped Seasonal Pack but look out for bigger updates coming soon. For full details on our new Wishlist feature, check out the patch notes coming on November 3rd, 2025. SEE YOU ON THE DROPSHIP The stage is set for you to step into a new Olympus. Are you diving into the new changes to Valkyrie, Rampart and Horizon or relying on old favorites? How are you working Mantle Boost into your battle plans? There’s a lot to consider, but only one question remains: are you ready to feel the rush? Get ready, Amped launches November 4th! Play Apex Legends™ for free* now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on X, Instagram, TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends™ news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. †Not available in all territories. SourceRanked Matchmaking Test - Season 26
Hey Legends, As part of our ongoing efforts to improve matchmaking in Apex Legends, it's time for another round of Ranked matchmaking testing. Starting today, Master players and above can only matchmake with Diamond players and other Masters and Predator players. At the end of the previous season, our test of limiting Master players to only match with Diamond I players was received positively, and positively impacted the queue experience of most players. More on that here. However, our last test resulted in some players not being able to find a match in a reasonable time due to shifting population levels in Master and Diamond I players for their region, platform, and the time of day. It goes against the core of our matchmaking philosophy to purposefully create scenarios where certain players face challenges finding matches within a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes this can happen due to things outside of our control, but we strive to create rules where everyone will eventually find a match. Despite positive results, we held off on implementing another test for Diamond and Master players with our Season 26 Ranked tuning and the introduction of Drop Zones resulting in fewer players in Diamond and above, shown in the graphs below. The goal of this specific test is to understand, both in terms of player feedback and queue health, what the minimum population of Master and Diamond players must be to enforce a restriction, and when that could happen over the course of the season. 25.1 - Ranked Tier Distribution, 3 weeks before the end of the season 26.1 - Ranked Tier Distribution, 3 weeks before the end of the season The above graphs show what the populations looked like 3 weeks before the end of each season. This is also why the design decision was made to expand the matchmaking restrictions for Master players to all of Diamond, as the total combined population of Diamond is now enough to support this change. We have also heard feedback from players that the difference between Master players and Platinum players is too wide of a skill gap to be in the same lobby, but matching with Diamond players more consistently meets your expectations. We will continue to explore options on how to best approach mid-season matchmaking when we have moderate populations of Masters and above, but not enough to create hard restrictions. To that end, in Season 27 Split 1 and the start of Split 2, Master and Predator players will still be able to match with high-tier Plat players. After the test is over, we’ll share a follow-up blog on the results and any next steps we plan on taking. Until then, happy matching! Source: SteamApex Legends™: Audio Update
Apex has evolved so much since its initial launch, but something that has not changed is our intention for the sound of Apex: a balance of feedback, immersion, and emotion. Our primary focus is feedback, which delivers critical information to understand each situation, while immersion and emotion are what make the world of Apex unique and real. We strive to ensure every sound belongs in the Outlands and behaves in predictable ways. It’s worth mentioning that these features we’re adding for 27.0 aren’t all we have in store, but are a significant first step with more to come. In addition to rigorous internal testing, we rely heavily on our community’s experience to help us understand, improve, and prioritize our efforts. Just like every aspect of Apex Legends, audio is constantly developing and some of the changes we've been working on are nearly ready to be added to the game. Here’s a TL;DR of everything we’re covering today that will be available with our upcoming season 27 on November 4, 2025: Updated Mixing: a new mix option to give each player the choice of how they prefer to experience the game—you can choose from the “Original” or the new “Focused” mix which reduces the volume of local player weapons (but not enemies), completely removes squadmate footsteps and increases enemy footsteps. Threat System: a dynamic evaluation of potential danger to drive contextual mix decisions for each player. Multiband Sidechain Compression: allows an active sound to dynamically lower the volume of other sounds; reducing clutter and increasing consistency. Environmental Audio Processing: new tech to allow for a more gradual blend as you approach and move between openings and doorways. Observability: new telemetry to track each time the game adjusts an enemy footstep event to allow for additional monitoring across different maps and gamemodes. OVERVIEW There are multiple methods used to dynamically affect the game mix to feature critical sounds when needed. Our most basic method of making changes to the balance of sounds during the game are what we call "mix snapshots," which we use to modify the volume and audible distance of individual and categories of sounds. Audio Voice Priority is the second layer of complexity within our audio system which helps to ensure that the sounds that matter most are played in favor of others. Some examples of this are enemy sounds being prioritized over squadmates, and threat sounds (ex. weapons, explosions) prioritized over ambient sounds. A sound's priority value is determined based on a number of factors including when it was started, its distance from you, volume, and more. Occlusion and reverb are two more keys to the puzzle that help locate sounds accurately. A sound behind a surface will have its frequency modified according to the density of the material occluding it, and the reverberation helps to identify if the sound is interior or exterior and the size of that space. This helps to identify when a sound source is in the same space as you or somewhere else. Frequency and gain are also modified by distance from the player, helping to pin-point the sound’s emitting position. All of these systems work together to provide a balance of immersion and clarity. The experience feels natural when working well, but can be jarring when it isn’t. UPDATED MIXING The amount of Legends, weapons, and other sources of sound has increased over our time in the Outlands and we’ve worked to maintain a consistent sonic signature for our universe. In addition to other technologies, we’ve been working on a new mix option to give each player the choice of how they prefer to experience the game. The new "Focused Mix" is optimized for threat detection and will be enabled by default starting in season 27, but you’ll be able to swap to the "Original Mix" that was previously the standard via the Audio Options should you prefer. Here’s some of the key differences: Lowered volume for your weapons and abilities Completely removed squadmate footsteps Louder enemy footsteps: in particular a slight reduction in the volume delta between jogging and sprinting As with everything, your feedback will be critical for us on this feature and we'll be making adjustments over time. THREAT SYSTEM What is important sonically changes moment to moment, and player to player. We've been working on a dynamic threat system to help drive contextual decisions that can affect the mix. Data (enemy proximity, line of sight, bullet proximity, and more) is continually evaluated to calculate a unique threat value for each player. That value can be used to affect the mix in many ways such as lowering the volume or audible distance of sounds that provide flavor but aren’t priority during combat, or to increase the volume of key indicators of potential threats such as enemy footsteps. We’re also exploring new ways of using this threat evaluation to grant other audio systems more contextual awareness. For example, the game now checks your squad’s threat level when deciding whether or not to let Legends say non-combat dialogue lines and keep you in the right type of mindset. MULTIBAND SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION Multiband Sidechain Compression will be joining the Apex Legends sound squad in season 27. This will allow us to use an active sound to dynamically lower the volume of other sounds and create small 'pockets' for targeted sounds to play in; reducing clutter to increasing their consistency. We’re balancing this tech to work in tandem with our other initiatives to combine for a smooth, clear mix that lets critical audio cues be heard when most needed without being distracting. We’ve started by isolating primary frequencies of enemy footsteps and using them to reduce sounds that typically overwhelm them (ex. explosions, ordnance, etc). This should help you hear your enemies more clearly before they sneak up on you and without needing to max out your volume. ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIO PROCESSING Environments should feel and sound believable and that includes each building and interior space. In Apex, we define the audio properties for these to tell the audio engine which reverb to use, amount of audio occlusion, ambient sounds, and more. Our current transition between different spaces is immediate: the moment you step through a doorway, all of these audio properties flip over the opposing environment. That’s not the most immersive experience, so we’ve developed some new tech to allow for a more gradual blend. As you approach openings and doorways, the sound environment will dynamically blend towards the exterior values. OBSERVABILITY We’ve put in a lot of effort towards monitoring the behavior of our audio systems using new tools and telemetry. Even though enemy footsteps are one of the most prioritized audio events in our game, there is still the odd situation where we may cull them for performance and/or audio clarity, for example when there are more audible footsteps triggered than can be effectively discerned. More recently, we’ve set up new telemetry to track each time the game adjusts an enemy footstep event to allow for additional monitoring across different maps and gamemodes. This will also give us a much broader understanding of how our audio engine behaves in a wide range of situations. Back with the launch of Season 25, we added a feature that prompts you to submit audio logs from matches where an unusually high number of audio footstep cancellations were detected. Your submissions allow us to replay audio logs and debug a 1:1 recording of game related sounds that happened inside of our audio engine throughout the course of that match. Using this data, we’ve already made meaningful improvements such as rebalancing prioritization of less important events (ex. downed footsteps) and this is just the beginning. Please continue to send your logs when prompted to help us with data collection, fixes, and improve the auditory experience in the Outlands for all. SEE YOU ON THE DROPSHIP Everything we’ve chatted about above will be live when Season 27 drops on November 4, 2025. We’re excited for the continued evolution of Apex Legend’s audio and appreciate your continued feedback with each and every match. As a reminder, any match with significant audio drops will result in a report prompt once you’ve finished with that match. Please continue to send those through as each one has the potential to have an impact. Play Apex Legends™ for free* now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on X, Instagram, TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends™ news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. Apex Legends™: Audio Update
Rev your shells in the Raise Hell Event
Table of Contents Raise Hell Collection Event Patch Notes ____________________________________________________________________________________ Raise Hell Collection Event Death came to collect Mad Maggie’s soul, and she laughed in its face. Now the armies of the undead are battling in the Raise Hell Event: ice-cold Reapers and monstrous Demons fighting for the one soul that refuses to be harvested. Wildcard gets a full Halloween takeover: Rev Shell Grenades hunt enemies through the shadows, EVO orbs pulse with otherworldly energy, even your loot bins may hold some… unexpected surprises. Kick those supernatural assassins back to hell from October 14 to November 4, 2025. WILDCARD: HALLOWEEN Pick a side in Wildcard’s supernatural showdown: choose Reaper or Demon themed Wild Cards to gain mastery of the dark arts. Take the Reaper Path for otherworldly precision: faster movement, reloads, and guaranteed critical hits. Pick the Demon Wild Cards for raw power: infinite ammo, explosive knocked enemies, and vampiric health recovery. Wildcard Trios Raise Hell (October 14 - November 4, 2025) Kings Canyon Wildcard Night Nighttime lighting Nessie balloons with launchers Loot bin jump scares Launchers with spooky sounds Replicator Wild Cards REAPER Wild Cards DEMON Wild Cards Monstrous Strength: Increased outgoing damage Drone Support: Reveal next ring location on round start High Velocity: Increased movement speed Speedy Charge: Tactical and Ultimate abilities charge faster Go-Go Ammo: Weapons have infinite ammo Fast Draw: Reload weapons and use shield cells faster Down Bad: Enemies explode when knocked Crackerjack: Instantly reload weapon on knock Status Report: Reveal Enemy locations on knock Wall Runner: Gain ability to wall-run for short duration Drain Gain: Recover health when dealing damage to enemies Chain Reaction: Damage is chained to enemies within an affected area Smoke Out: Drop smoke when downed, smoke regens shields for self and teammates Critical Roll: Reload weapon to gain guaranteed crits for a short period The Rev Shell ordinance is making a triumphant return! As a quick refresher: Rev Shells are a target-seeking grenade that look almost as scary as the damage they do. Grab a shell, toss it into the air and it will seek out valid nearby targets, delivering substantial damage. Is there a Rev Shell hot on your heels? Take aim and shoot it down to cause an early detonation. Enjoy for a limited-time, while Raise Hell is active! EVENT ITEMS Earn Pumpkins throughout the event to get items from the Reward Shop. Get Legendary skins for Ash, Revenant, Fuse, Octane, Caustic, and Horizon as possible drops in Raise Hell Event Packs. Watch out for Mad Maggie's Prestige skin, crafted for the one Legend hell itself couldn't contain. All items will be available in exchange for Apex Coins or Crafting Metals and in Raise Hell Event Packs† for the entire duration of the event. Go for the full vibe when you equip Mad Maggie’s “Apex Warrior” Prestige skin with her matching finisher and “Chains of Command” Skydive Trail. REWARD SHOP You can earn up to 2,050 points per day and challenges refresh daily. Each and every one of these challenges also stack with your Battle Pass, so you can make the most of your time in the Outlands. STORE TAB Explore the limited-time Raise Hell Event Store and check out Legendary skins for Octane, Ash, Horizon, Fuse, Caustic and Revenant, available October 14th to November 4th. PATCH NOTES PREVIOUS UPDATES & FIXES GAME The Sentinel has been re-enabled Auras now show the correct rank in lobby Mirage now receives appropriate EVO XP Evo Points after teammate uses their Class Perk Ability Reverted Trident boost input binding to its pre-26.1 state - (we have a future fix coming to revert the air brake input binding) LEGENDS Mad Maggie Wrecking Ball no longer causes a crash when thrown near a door.October 7th Hotfix Notes
Hey legends, we just pushed some quick changes to the live game! Peacekeeper: - Increased rechamber time between shots - Magazine size reduced to 5 (was 6) - Dev Note: The PK is out-performing our other shotguns and CQC weapons by a sizable amount. Ultimately we want to maintain its raw power in terms of damage and instead disrupt how quickly it can put that damage out. Alter: - Can no longer use Void Nexus while knocked (but you can still summon knocked teammates) - Only 1 Void nexus Allowed in the world (was 2) Seer: - Exhibit no longer provides ADS hover - Added a short full-body scan to Lasting Beats when an enemy leaves the ult area Other changes: - The Sentinel is making its glorious return and now works as intended. - Made server performance improvements which should reduce frequency of slow motion (continuing work). - The Trident's brake input keybind has been reverted to its previous setting (visual UI indicator will persist; to be fixed in a future update). - Fixed a bug affecting player's POV when entering a Trident. - Mad Maggie now sprints at the intended speed while using shotguns.Get explosive in the Wild Iron Event
It’s cybernetic supremacy versus the raw power of nature in the Wild Iron event, Legends. Wildcard gets explosive. Loot the new Mythic Flatline from Rampart Care Packages and try its two devastating abilities: knocked enemies turn into time bombs and every 5th bullet fired does double damage plus an AOE blast. EPG-1 grenade launchers in Mythic bins and higher Bocek spawns fuel the carnage. Craft new Wild Cards to get the edge over rival squads, with new abilities like marking enemies with explosive damage or instant reload on knock. Mad Maggie and Seer are blowing up the scene with their new Legend updates. Fight for nature, technology, or making things go boom—time to step up and outplay the world. WILDCARD: WILD IRON You ready for this dance? Rampart’s latest and greatest is coming in hot, and this time she’s partnered with ol’ Fusey on the Flatline! This collab weapon’s bullets occasionally come with a little extra fire power via a potential explosion on impact and bomb placement on knocked enemies. Pick your squadmate back up before the bomb detonates to defuse it. From September 16-30, even more explosive gear will be available amongst Wildcard’s loot with a chance of finding an EPG. Visit your local Replicator to increase your power with one of eight new Wild Cards: Crackerjack: instantly reload weapon on knock Down Bad: enemies explode when knocked Extra Ordnance: player gains ability to carry +1 ordnance Good Doctor: revive squadmates with additional shields Gren-Aid: mark enemies damaged by your explosives Sent Packing: frag grenade knockback is increased Shield’s Up: gain Epic level shield Stowed Reload: stowed weapon auto-reloads after several seconds EVENT ITEMS Gear up for your next throwdown with Wild Iron Event Packs†, which may drop items including new Legendary Skins for Lifeline, Pathfinder, Vantage, and more, plus Legendary Weapons Skins, including the Mastiff, Bocek, and Nemesis. You may also get the new Mythic Flatline, inspired by Fuse, the master of controlled demolition. Each event pack contains one event item and two standard items, and there are no duplicates of event items in these packs. REWARD SHOP Earn Cores by completing daily event challenges, then check out the Wild Iron Reward Shop to redeem them for rewards and see your progress with all four event badges. Offerings will rotate halfway through the event. GAME STABILITY Steam Datagram Relay (SDR) has been reintegrated with our servers on GameLift for added protection against DoS attacks. We have enabled SDR in 100% of Diamond and Masters Ranked matches, and are happy to report that we’ve seen a ~90% drop in suspected DoS attacks since. We’ll continue rolling this out to more matches, but first we are carefully monitoring statistics to ensure that players are benefiting without adverse effects to network conditions like packet loss and latency. These effects vary by region, so we are continuing to A/B test usage of SDR while we investigate any issues that arise. Tests so far have provided high confidence in performance in Asia and Australia. We’ve already ramped up a small percentage of coverage for matches in Ranked below Masters and Unranked in these regions, and will continue to expand here and in other regions in the future. PATCH NOTES BALANCE UPDATES EVO Harvesters (Previous Hotfix) Spawn rate increased to 10-11 depending on map size (was 7-8) Reduced likelihood of multiple EVO Harvesters spawning in a single POI Ring Exploit Prevention Adjusted to prevent system abuse LEGENDS Assault Class Stowed Reload: time to reload while stowed increased to 4s (was 2s) ASH Abilities Passive: Predator's Pursuit Increased dash cooldown to 12s (was 8s) Dash gives less of a boost when not dashing in the direction you're moving Tactical: Arc Snare Breaks more easily, base duration now 6s (was 8s) Less pulling strength Doesn't deal extra damage to shields Upgrades Level 2 Dual Breach & Marked for Death: removed NEW Longer Reach: increases Phase Breach range by 25m NEW Ultimate Cooldown: reduces Phase Breach cooldown by 30s Dev Note: Despite nerfs in recent patches, Ash has stayed at the top of the pack and we want to bring her back in line with the rest of the squad. In particular, a longer cooldown on her dash alongside Dual Breach’s removal should make it easier to punish Ash’s misplays. CAUSTIC Nox Gas Damage from gas ramps up more slowly, increases every 2 ticks (was every tick) Removed aim punch when taking damage Dev Note: Caustic’s recent improvements succeeded in bringing him back into the meta, but there were a couple places we wanted to tamp down to make the gas more forgiving to deal with. MAD MAGGIE Abilities Tactical: Riot Drill Firing animation sped up by 10% Drill now comes out immediately after releasing the button (was delayed by a few frames) Ultimate: Wrecking Ball Throw animation sped up 25% Wrecking Ball is now more reliable at moving around/over obstacles Explosions deal up to 25 damage (was up to 20) Reduced lifetime to 7s (was 10s) Speed pads increase movement speed for 3.5s (was 2s) Speed pads give fortified buff for the duration, doesn’t stack with already fortified Legends Speed pads last 20s (was 60s) Speed pads deactivate 6s for the player using it after being used Speed pads no longer drop from the final explosion Upgrades Level 2 Shots Shots Shots: removed NEW Gunrunning: Passive movement speed increase also works with SMGs and Pistols Fire Ball: now drops magma patches along the ground as it moves and Mad Maggie takes 50% less fire damage from all sources Dev Note: Mad Maggie was effective in certain circumstances, but we wanted to give her a bit more reliability and team utility to compete against other Legends. It’s now easier to get both her Tac and Ult to go where you want them to go. The fortified speed pads give her and her squad stronger options to both push and rotate. And the new Gunrunning upgrade allows her to have more flexibility in the close-range weapons that she can use effectively. SEER Abilities Passive: Heart Seeker Long View upgrade now permanent, increasing range for Passive + Tac to 75m (was 50m) Now one constant heartbeat instead of differing beats for each enemy UI and audio pulse to indicate when the heartbeat scans happen Directional waveforms are now taller or shorter depending on whether the enemy is close or far from where you are aiming Improved UI visibility Tactical: Focus of Attention Reduced weapon holster time by 60% when activating Tac with a gun out Scanning someone with Tac now gives Seer a speed boost for 4s Scan duration increased to 4s (was 2.5), slow duration to 1s (was 0.5s), and silence duration reduced to 2.5s (was 8s) Cooldown reduced to 20s (was 30s) Increased delay before the scan goes off to 1s (was 0.7s) VFX adjusted including extra clarity on AOE effects that let you know where the scan will hit Ultimate: Exhibit Artist's Reach upgrade now permanent, increased throw range to ~50m (was 15m) Sphere radius increased to 38m (was 34m) Seer gains enhanced jumping and ADS hover while inside any Exhibit Added threat indicator within 15m of the center that enemies will see Adjusted throw's pitch while aiming so you don't have to aim as far up to get longer throws Upgrades Level 2 Artist’s Reach: removed (improved and added to base kit) Ultimate Cooldown: removed NEW Lasting Beats: enemies who leave the dome have their locations shown for 5s NEW Home Base: Tac recharges 4x as fast in your Exhibit sphere Level 3 Long View: removed (added to base kit) NEW Energizing Focus: regen 25 shields when hitting an enemy with Tac Split Focus: no longer has a downside Dev Note: It’s time to bring Seer back into the meta. He’s been popular before, but that strength usually came at the cost of being extremely frustrating to play against. We’re aiming to have Seer be fun to play with more in-combat power, while avoiding some of the issues that made him feel oppressive as an opponent. SPARROW Abilities Tactical: Tracker Dart Tracking duration now 12s (was 15) New VFX when aiming to show if your dart will activate a nearby Enemy Scan Beacon Ultimate: Stinger Bolt Bolt health now 400 (was 550) Bolt’s pulsing now slows Sparrow and his allies, not just enemies Adjusted the animations when aiming Stinger Bolt to make it easier to see the trajectory Upgrades Level 2 Extra Traps: now gives 1 additional trap in world (was 2) Dev Note: Sparrow’s continued popularity surfaced some frustrating elements to his kit. His Stinger Bolt should now be easier to take down with 1 or 2 people, while his tracking should no longer lock opponents down for too long. We also included a couple of QOL improvements related to aiming his abilities. LOOT & ATTACHMENTS ATTACHMENTS Gold Magazine Time to reload while stowed increased to 4s (was 2s) LOCKED HOP-UPS Accelerator Increased points to unlock to 300 (was 150) Removed from: Peacekeeper, L-Star, and Alternator Added to: G7 Scout, CAR, and Flatline Graffiti Mod Increased points to unlock to 425 (was 300) Added to: Mastiff Gun Shield Generator Increased points to unlock to 375 (was 250) Selectfire Receiver Increased points to unlock to 375 (was 250) Skull Piercer Increased points to unlock to 600 (was 400) Turbocharger 600 points to unlock Compatible with Havoc and Devotion Dev Note: We're really happy with how Locked Hop-Ups have changed the game and provided a clearer path to unlocking a weapons power. However, we've found that the values we launched with have been a little too generous and that power is coming online a little earlier than we'd hoped. Increasing the unlock requirements should reign in their early game strength while still maintaining their consistency in the mid to late game. LOOT Amps (Previous Hotfix) Spawn rates reduced at match start Icon added to enemy health bar for which Amp they have WEAPONS LMG Devotion LMG Removed perk that would turbocharge after equipping a purple barrel, magazine, and stock MARKSMAN Bocek Compound Bow Decreased charge time to fully nock an arrow to 0.35s (was 0.45s) Improved hipfire spread PISTOL RE-45 Burst (Previous Hotfix) Reduced projectile size to match other pistols Reduced magazine size by 3 at all tiers, including base Increased horizontal and vertical recoil Wingman Damage increased to 50 (was 48) Skullpiercer headshot multiplier reduced to 1.92 (was 2.0) Skullpiercer headshot damage stays unchanged at 96 SHOTGUN Mastiff Increased delay before firing when drawing the weapon to better match our other shotguns Peacekeeper Increased size of blast pattern when choked MAPS Unranked & Ranked E-District Kings Canyon Olympus Mixtape TDM: Fragment, Skull Town, Zeus Station, Estates Control: Hammond Labs, Caustic Treatment, Barometer, Lava Siphon Gun Run: Wattson’s Pylon, Monument, Estates, Skull Town MODES Duos Reduced squad count to 15 (was 30) Reduced player count to 30 (was 60) Ring starts partially closed, timings adjusted Drop ship now starts at the edge of the ring (similar to Wildcard) Ring closes 4 times WILDCARD Wildcard Trios: Wild Iron (September 16-30, 2025) Kings Canyon Wildcard Rampart Care Packages: Mythic Flatline Increased spawn rate for explosive gear Added chance to find EPG in loot 8 new Wild Cards available in Replicators (see above) Crackerjack Down Bad Extra Ordnance Good Doctor Gren-Aid Sent Packing Shield’s Up Stowed Reload Wildcard Trios: Core (September 30-October 14, 2025) RANKED Ranked Ladder Scoring Changes Entry Cost no longer included in Ranked Ladder scoring Dev Note: One of the key goals for the Ranked Ladder is to create a fair comparison across players of similar skill levels. By removing Entry Cost from the scoring, we ensure that performance in matches (not rank-specific costs) is the only factor that drives your Ladder RP. This levels the playing field for all players competing on the same leaderboard. BUG FIXES Ammo notifications no longer broken after dropping the Infinite Ammo Amp Increased accuracy when pinging the map when zoomed Locked Hop-Ups + Points Fixed some strings where the Locked Hop-Up Graffiti Mod was incorrectly named Points will no longer occasionally reset when moving between Ballistic's sling after leveling up Locked Hop-Ups once again work as intended after respawning in Firing Range “No Ammo” message no longer appears on screen when your knockdown shield’s destroyed Players once again spawn with primary weapon equipped in Wildcard Switch 2 dynamic mode will no longer occasionally switch joycon modes LEGENDS Alter: “Celestial Essence” skin once again plays effects correctly Caustic: fixed an exploit that allowed him to accumulate research points quicker (Previous Hotfix) Mad Maggie Tac no longer deals up to 33% less damage than intended Wrecking ball no longer gets caught/reflected backwards by friendly Mirage decoys Rampart: hexagon FX no longer missing from the amped shield QUALITY OF LIFE Added “For You” section in the shop that contains personalized offers that rotate weekly Ranked Drop Zones: removed the jumpmaster, now all teammates skydive independently Wildcard Respawn notifications Reduced the size of the announcements to take up less screen space Removed the announcement for when individual teammates have died Reworded death banner to read “Last Legend Standing” ENGINE Shader count reduced by nearly 50%, improving performance and startup times especially on PC Now uses bindless resources for particle and FX rendering. This reduces CPU usage especially in cases of intense combat with lots of character abilities being triggered. PC: fixed an immediate crash when booting the game if the player has an Unknown Display Driver (sometimes the result of uninstalling previous drivers). Note: there may still be other issues with Unknown display drivers. Source: Get explosive in the Wild Iron Event Play Apex Legends for free* now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. †Not available in all territories.Apex Legends™: Anti-Cheat Update
Time for another anti-cheat update, Legends. With Showdown underway, we wanted to share some insights into last season, on-going efforts, and a quick look ahead. The team has been working hard behind the scenes as we continue making progress in our ongoing efforts against unfair play and bad actors. Here’s a TLDR of what we’re covering in today’s dev update: A Look Back at Prodigy: Total Bans (TB), Match Infection Rate (MIR), and Reports Per User (RPU) all saw fluctuations compared to the previous two seasons (see chart below). This is partially thanks to an additional data stream which improved tracking and expanded our console detections. We’ve also continued work towards cracking down on third-party macro devices. Ongoing Efforts: breaking down TB, MIR, and RPU—three pieces of our regular targets. We compile these utilizing several different layers which can result in varying values (examples below). MIR focuses on Ranked, while TB and RPU are inclusive of all modes. Recent Focuses: the launch of a new tool system has increased our adaptability and will continue to evolve as cheats do. It helps us to further action some of our top priorities including teaming and third-party bots. We’ve seen a decrease of 33% with teaming reports since February, and will continue to monitor and train the tool as results continue. Aim bots and anti-recoil are also a key focus that we’re actively developing and testing in. As we mentioned with our last dev updates, we’ll continue to share details whenever possible as they become available. A LOOK BACK AT PRODIGY Overall, last season saw an increase in total bans. Match Infection Rate and Reports Per User also saw some slight fluctuations comparative to last season that varied depending on platform. We’ve also recently unlocked a new data stream allowing us to consider more console bans, making the numbers below more encompassing of our action comparative to our previous data shares. Improved tracking on these have let us make more strategic decisions around effort prioritization and resourcing, including allocating additional team members to higher-infected regions. Previously, our data has been primarily on PC due to focusing cheat programs that don’t exist to the same degree on consoles. We’ve begun including console accounts in these stats as well as we’ve ramped up detections and actions against teaming, and work toward cracking down on third-party macro devices. For the chart below, Match Infection Rate and Reports Per User reflect the first two weeks after each launch, seasonal or mid-season patch. Total Bans reflects the duration of the entire half of the season. ON-GOING EFFORTS We’ve mentioned in previous updates that anti-cheat is a never-ending process that has a plethora of pieces that are constantly in motion. Total Bans, Match Infection Rate, and Reports Per User are just a few of the puzzle pieces, but we wanted to share a bit more detail on how those take shape. Total Bans: total number of suspensions (temporary + permanent) on player accounts via either automated systems or manual reviews. We use these in conjunction with other avenues, such as RP wipes, to take action against bad actors. Match Infection Rate (MIR): percentage of matches in which at least one player was reported 3 or more times and banned for cheating within the last 14 days. Apex Legends has a high player count per match (comparative to some competitors) which can contribute to higher MIR. It only requires one of the 60 players in a BR match to be cheating for a match to be considered “infected,” and even then you may not encounter the cheater directly or experience their impact on the match. A key way we’re able to drive down MIR is by improving our time-to-ban. Detecting cheaters quicker means they’ll impact less matches. Reports Per User: sum of all reports against players reported three or more times in the preceding 28 days divided by the number of active players in that same time frame. 3+ reports are not required before a ban is placed. This is the general guideline used to determine when someone is negatively impacting the player experience, regardless of actions taken due to reports. Including a 3+ report threshold is important as it often catches those who may have been playing fairly initially before switching to cheating. All metrics, including the ones we mentioned, are compiled using several layers including data centers, game modes, match tiers, report types, and more. This means that values can vary significantly per player, per match, per session, and even per region depending on the cross section of data. Here’s some variable examples: Match Infection Rate is typically the highest in Ranked where most cheaters congregate. Unranked Modes have a significantly lower MIR (between -50% to -80%) compared to Ranked. MIR also increases as you move up Ranked Tiers. Diamond and Master-level matches are twice as likely to be infected than the global Ranked Infection Rate, whereas lower-tier matches are significantly below the average. RECENT FOCUSES We’ve compiled some brief updates on a couple of our recent focuses because we want to give as much transparency as we can to our community. AN ADDITIONAL SYSTEM TOOL We launched a new system in season 23 that assists our actions against bad performers by analyzing various types of unfair play to each player based on gameplay indicators. It’s adaptable and will evolve as new variants of cheating are introduced. Looking forward, we’re hoping to expand these efforts to include input manipulation and anti-recoil. TEAMING, THIRD-PARTY BOT DETECTION, & MORE On the detection side, we’ve been making progress in a number of areas and added a report option for “Wallhacking/Impossible Gamesense” thanks to your feedback in our Anti-cheat and Matchmaking AMA back in May. Here’s an update on some of our top priorities: Teaming: since we last spoke on teaming, we’ve continued to improve this model over time and have observed further dropping of report rates (-33%) when compared to February. With the launch of our additional tool, we’ve been able to increase our detections based on more gameplay indicators. Third-party Bots: after refining the gameplay indicators, we were able to use our tools to target and remove “bot farms” and further train our additional tool for future detections—including an in-progress automated Bot Detection model. We’ll be closely monitoring results and you may see the impact on MIR and player reports in our future data shares. Aim Bots & Anti-Recoil: detection in this area is a critical area of focus for us and we’re developing in-house gameplay detection models for aimbots and anti-recoil devices. SEE YOU ON THE DROPSHIP We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Apex Legends should be fun and competitive without any loss to the integrity of the game. As we continue to make progress, you can expect continued dev insights on anti-cheat and other game impacting updates across blogs, reddit, Steam, and X/Twitter throughout the year. Source: Apex Legends™: Anti-Cheat Update Play Apex Legends for free* now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases.Wildcard - Showdown AMA Recap
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? Q:Is it here to stay? I bloody love it and its the most fun I had in Apex for years. Q:Can you add the shadow ability from shadowfall gamemode as one of the wildcards in the upcoming wildcard ltm? 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. 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? 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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 👍 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. Q:Can we have more room for cells? Since it’s the main way you heal your shields. Q:Do you plan to build upon the chaotic aspect of the gamemode? 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 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? Q: How many other Titanfall elements do you want to include besides wallrun? thanks, awesome mode! Q:Any plans on a duos version of wildcard as well? 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. 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 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) 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. 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.Apex Legends™: Showdown Patch Notes
WILDCARD Check out our dedicated blog here for all the cards you’ll want to have in your hand before jumping in. LEGEND UPDATES In addition to some Controller class updates, we’ve also taken a pass at two smokeshow Legends. Good to have you back in the meta, Gas Daddy and Bangydang. CAUSTIC Caustic’s gas should be deadly enough to live up to the fantasy, but lately it’s felt a little toothless. With the updates detailed below, Nox Gas has become something Caustics can trust to threaten or hold an area for a long time with windows that attackers can play around. Also, Caustic’s new Field Research perk allows him to gain additional Legend Updates—making him the first to be able to get all four upgrades at once! BANGALORE With a whole new Legend Upgrade tree, Bangalore’s been given tons of new flexibility. Among these new options, are new breaching mechanics that allow you to clear out entrenched enemies. GAMEPLAY ADDITIONS We’ve got three powerful additions to the Outlands with Showdown. Read on for an overview or dive into specifics with Patch Notes sections further down: Elite Weapons take the firepower from Ballistic’s personal stash and into your hands. These variants pack a punch and replace their typical counterparts for a limited-time. Showdown brings the RE-45: Burst, which swaps to Energy ammo and comes with a spin-up mechanic. Legend Amps are game-changing passives available in Unranked and Ranked BR matches. With five options to choose from, there’s an optimal Amp that could sway things in your favor in any type of fight. Locked Hop-Ups means that the looting for these boosts are no more. Each weapon comes pre-equipped with its Hop-Up waiting to be activated and unlocked for the rest of the match. RANKED Key adjustments have been made to better reflect your performance and risks. Entry costs, placement RP, and kill points have been tuned to create more room for performance-based variance and rewarding consistent well-rounded play. The updated Challenger Bonus gives more RP to players who take on and win fights against higher-tier opponents. And those aren’t the only Ranked updates in Showdown. NEW: DROP ZONES Drop Zones will start Ranked matches faster and fairer with squads automatically spread out across POIs. Before the match starts, you’ll see a preview of your Drop Zone with a ping-able map for strategic co-ordination before locking in your Legends. Loot has been fairly distributed across POIs, so no Hot Zones here. Keep your head up, though. There’s always the chance a neighboring squad will contest by skydiving in. AURAS Introducing a brand new cosmetic option: Auras. When equipped, your Aura will be visible in the lobby, Legend selection, and during podium moments. In matches: during dives, emoting in 3rd-person, and it’s visible for both of the engaged players when reviving or finishing. You can toggle your clout on/off in the Legend Locker. Every player with access to Ranked will get the “Ascension Crest” Aura after logging-in after Showdown’s launch and it will reactively reflect your Ranked Tier going forward. Those still working on their Road to Ranked will be granted this Aura once Ranked is unlocked. ACCOLADES Time to recognize players and their squadmates for all that they do during a match—not just winning. From pulling off tricky double kills to expertly blocking damage for your squad, Accolades highlight actions that often go unnoticed, uncelebrated, and untracked. They’re designed to celebrate varying playstyles and skill, and can be earned in Unranked, Ranked, Wildcard, and Mixtape with each tracking separately. Each Accolade has up to four tiers for you to achieve as you progress and they’ll award XP too. Post-match, the summary will show your earned Accolades and your Gladiator Card the top three. You can earn and record multiple Accolades each day, but there’s a cap of 2200XP for these per day. Find the full list and your tracking under Account Progression, including descriptions, targets, and those you’ve earned this season, per mode, and how many times you’ve hit them. CHALLENGE UPDATE We’ve updated our challenge system to try and help you progress more consistently no matter which mode you choose. Most challenges that used to require specific modes or had dual targets now count across all modes, making it easier to play how you want and still finish your Battle Pass. To keep time-to-completion balanced, some challenge targets have increased and we've added progression boosts to some modes. For example, “Deal 10K damage as a Skirmisher or Assault Legend” gets a 2x progress modifier in BR to match it to Mixtape’s completion time. This is part of our long-term goal to create challenges that support a wider range of playstyles. Jump in, play your way, and get rewarded just like before. NEW REWARD FLOW Based on your feedback around reward confusion, we’ve created a new summary to showcase your hard work and rewards without the plethora of pop-ups. You’ll now be able to see each reward (including those occasionally granted silently), how it was earned, and additional details all at once—giving you more time to celebrate those Ws. NINTENDO SWITCH 2 Apex Legends is now available to download on Nintendo Switch 2! Log into Apex Legends on your Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2 before September 16, 2025 to automatically receive the “P.A.T.H.” Pathfinder skin!** Enjoy up to 60 FPS, depending on monitor/hardware capability and compatibility (1920x1080 docked, 1792x1008 undocked) When you login, you’ll be redirected to the eShop to download Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch 2. You’ll be able to delete “Apex Legends for Nintendo Switch” after you login to the updated version. **Requires EA account & all game updates. Applicable platform account &/or subscription may be required. Only available on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Must log in to Apex Legends (available separately) by September 16, 2025 to claim. Limit 1 per account. PATCH NOTES BALANCE UPDATES Care Package Peacekeeper returns to the floor Akimbo P2020 enters Gold Weapon Rotation EVA-8, Hemlok, RE-45: Burst, Sentinel, Wingman EVO Harvesters EVO rewarded by Harvesters increased to 425 (was 350) Overhauled placement to guarantee spawns closer to the geo-center and away from POIs cores Spawn rate reduced to 8 or 9 depending on Map size (was 17-20) Dev Note: EVO Harvesters haven’t seen many adjustments, so it’s time to shake things up. We’re removing spawns at the edges of playable space and preventing them from the center of POIs. This could lead to unfair starts where some levelled up quickly by chance, while others were left behind. Now intentional strategic moves will be needed to access Harvesters. With fewer of them, the chances of bumping into enemies is high, but the reward is too with nearly enough EVO to level up. GAMEPLAY UPDATES NEW: Amps Purple tier loot items Early game: fairly uncommon with a higher chance to spawn in high tier loot locations such as Care Packages, Vaults, and the Hot Zone After Bins Reset: all bins have a higher chance to spawn an Amp Mythic, Legendary, Extended, and Weapon supply bins guarantee one Five Amp types: Infinite Ammo Amp: gain infinite ammo for non-care package weapons Temporarily locks two inventory slots. These slots can hold ammo, but you cannot drop their contents. Bottomless Batteries Amp: Batteries are not consumed upon use Must have at least 2 Batteries in your inventory to activate Over Armor Amp: gain an additional 25 shield capacity Stacks with Ring Expert, but cannot exceed 125 total shields Heal Overflow Amp: after using a cell or syringe, the corresponding health bar will fully heal over time Taking damage stops the regeneration Power Booster Amp: reduces cooldown for Tac and Ult Refresh a Tactical charge when knocking an enemy Dev Note: Amps are a new vector to explore when creating and optimizing your loadout. Your choice could be influenced by playstyle, team composition, weapons, and the bedlam each match provides. The Amp you want in one match may not be the one you need in the next. NEW: Elite Weapons Limited-time standard-issue weapons are replaced with one from Ballistic's private collection Features devastating new mechanics from across the Outlands Showdown’s Elite Weapon is the RE-45: Burst Swaps Light ammo for Energy ammo New spin-up mechanic that fires 3-round bursts in rapid succession NEW: Locked Hop-Ups Hop-Ups removed from floor loot Now pre-equipped and locked to weapons, start as inactive Can’t be removed or transferred Gain Locked Hop-Up Points to activate by: Dealing damage to other players with the weapon (damage from any any other source grants partial credit) Upgrading at the appropriate Arsenal Picking up Hop-Up Boosters White, blue, and purple kitted weapons do not come with Locked Hop-Ups Gold kitted and Care Package weapons come with their Hop-Ups already unlocked Helmets Removed Gold and Mythic helmets from floor loot World’s Edge: Rampart’s Big Maude Paintball weapons are no longer offered at vending machines Blue and purple kitted weapons are now offered at vending machines Reduced time to unlock weapons by 2 seconds LOOT BINS Extended Supply Bins Top drawer contents now give support items to everyone Secret drawer and EVO value remain unchanged Removed icons from minimap and full-map Before Bin Reset: small chance of spawning an Amp and/or an Ult Accelerant After Bin Reset: guaranteed Amp and/or Ult Accelerant Weapon Supply Bins Top drawer contents now give assault items to everyone Secret drawer and EVO value remain unchanged Removed Icons from minimap and full-map Before Bin Reset: small chance of spawning Amp and/or Hop-Up Booster After Bin Reset: guaranteed Amp and/or Hop-Up Booster if a squadmate needs one Legendary Supply Bins Amps and Hop-Up Boosters added to the pool LEGENDS Controller Class Zone Overcharge: now continuously regenerates shields while in zone Taking damage stops this for 6s Ring Consoles: players can spawn a taller custom EVAC from Ring Consoles they have scanned Dev Note: Controllers should have priority when taking key spots and defending, so we’ve buffed their perks so they can get to zone early and fight with less loot. BANGALORE Abilities Passive: Double Time Speed increased by 5% Tactical: Smoke Launcher Canister breaks and travels through doors Projectile speed increased to 2900 (was 2500) Pull out time reduced to 0.25 (was 0.35) Cooldown reduced to 30s (was 35s) Gas now reactive: ordnance and abilities can disable it for 5s when used inside/nearby Ultimate: Rolling Thunder Cooldown reduced to 210s (was 270s) Reduced anim frame to fire projectile to 1 (was 5) Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown+ & Tactical Cooldown: removed Cover Me: moved to Level 2 Electric Smoke: electrifies Tac dealing 100 damage to enemy Ults and destroys Tacs Level 3 Refuge: removed, integrated into Cover Me NEW ECM Payload: electrifies Ult dealing 10 more damage, destroys enemy deployables NEW Medal of Honor: faster revives and passive triggers running towards knocked allies Dev Note: Bangalore is always fun to play, which also makes her a prime candidate to buff into a flex pick. We’ve updated her upgrades to give her more choices and be a stronger balancing force overall. Similar to how other Controllers are set to answer highly mobile Legends, Bangalore can now be the one to tackle slower, more defensive metas. CAUSTIC Nox Gas Damage Increased to 10-15 (was 4-10) Now causes aim punch to victims when causing damage Caustic’s Health Bar does not show while inside Increased visibility both outside and inside his own gas Green highlighting is still active Clouds now have threat indicators for victims Now Grounds enemies: slowing them once and draining them of movement cooldowns “Slow” changed: immediately drains velocity to the desired speed even if the target is moving at high velocity or in the air Gas now reactive: ordnance and abilities can disable it for 5s when used inside/nearby Abilities NEW Passive: Field Research (was Nox Vision) Gain research points from poisoning enemies, opening unique Death Boxes, and scanning ring consoles Unlock an upgrade point for every 100 research points (max 2) Can uniquely have all 4 upgrades unlocked at once Tactical: Nox Gas Trap Trap health increased to 225 (was 150) Trap can be activated earlier while inflating Reduced toss and stow by 0.1s Increased trap activation radius to 260 (was 140) Increased gas radius to 300 (was 282) Doubled lifetime to 22s (was 11s) Caustic traps take ring damage Increased activation delay to 0.8s (was 0.2s) Traps take bullet damage while inflating Traps take critical (1.4x) damage when hit in the o-ring/base Ultimate: Nox Gas Grenade Reduced cooldown to 2min (was 3m) Reduced toss and stow time by 0.05s Increased projectile speed to 1500 (was 1300) Increase duration to 20s (was 15s) Upgrades Level 2 Parabolic Force & Residual Toxins: removed (integrated into base kit) NEW Extra Traps: one additional charge, increased max in world by 2 Breathe It In: moved to Level 2 Level 3 NEW Gas Fighter: Tac recharges 300% faster while in gas Particle Diffuser: increases Ult radius by +50% Dev Note: At long last Nox Gas is powerful enough to be scary, even lethal again. To balance this out, we’ve made it reactive to explosions and player abilities. We hope this makes Caustic feel powerful and more relevant, while offering opponents a way to counterplay if they’re smart about using resources. AMMO & ATTACHMENTS NEW Hop-Up Booster Grants 100 Locked Hop-Up Points on pick-up Only found in Weapon and Legendary Supply Bins Can not be picked-up without a Locked Hop-Up weapon Does not appear in Loba’s Black Market LOCKED HOP-UPS Accelerator 150 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Peacekeeper, L-STAR, and Alternator Must have weapon in hand in order to receive additional Ult gain on knock Assist window reduced to 3s (was 10s) Ult gain on knock increased to 30% (was 20%) No longer comes pre-equipped to white, blue, and purple kitted weapons Dev Note: Accelerator has been a very powerful Hop-Up since its addition. We want to keep its power high while incentivizing you to use these weapons more, rather than just shoving them in your secondary slot or sling (looking at you Ballistic mains). Graffiti Mod 300 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Volt, Spitfire, and EVA-8 Greatly improves weapon handling Slightly increases magazine size Adds paintball rounds for some battlefield flair Gun Shield Generator 250 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Hemlok, R-301, and Rampage Selectfire Receiver 250 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Charge Rifle and Prowler Skull Piercer 400 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Wingman, Longbow, and 30-30 WEAPONS LMG Devotion LMG Widened reverse hipfire spread Removed improved scaling from high-tier barrels and stocks (Previous Hotfix) Mag size reduced to 48 (was 52) (Previous Hotfix) M600 Spitfire & Rampage LMG Widened reverse hipfire spread Dev Note: LMGs were feeling especially oppressive in close quarters combat and reverse hipfire contributes to a lot of that. They’re a strong and relevant weapon class, but recognize that we need to tamp down on some of that spray gameplay. PISTOL Akimbo P2020 (Care Package) Increased damage to 25 (was 24) Decreased reload time Improved hipfire accuracy Added Hop-Up: Kinetic Feeder RE-45 Burst Added to floor loot Also found on Energy Arsenals RE-45 Auto Removed from floor loot SHOTGUN EVA-8 Auto (Previous Hotfix) Damage per pellet increased to 7 (was 6) Reduced rate of fire Purple and Gold bolts now match other shotguns Mozambique Shotgun Slightly tightened blast pattern Increased rate of fire in akimbo and single fire modes Increased rate of fire when using a white or blue shotgun bolt Peacekeeper (Floor Loot) Increased magazine size to 6 (was 5) Increased choke time Widened blast patten Increased rechamber time No longer deals headshot damage MAPS NEW: E-District Daytime Lighting overhaul: now takes place during the day Lotus: new rotation added Added adjacent doorways to many shops for additional flow Removed some buildings and clutter to improve readability MAP ROTATIONS Unranked & Ranked Broken Moon E-District Storm Point Mixtape (August 5-September 15, 2025) TDM: Thunderdome, Fragment, Skull Town Control: Lava Siphon, Barometer, Production Yard Gun Run: Skull Town, Thunderdome, Zeus Station MODES Trios & Duos (August 5-September 15, 2025) Wildcard (August 5-18, 2025) Second Chance Revivals Legend stacking possible Self Revive Drop Kit Simplified Loot & Inventory Auto Looting EVO Orbs Level up weapons Reduce respawn timers Grant a percentage of shield & Ult charge Kickstart health regen Wildcard (September 9-15, 2025) Return to core Wildcard experience RANKED Drop Zones Details Match start: squads are randomly assigned a POI Pre-Legend Select: players are presented with a map preview of Drop Zone After Legend Select: players deploy via squad Dropship to assigned zone with nearby enemy POIs marked for imminent threat During landing: added warning for incoming threats if an enemy squad invades Drop Zone Dev Note: Ranked matches should allow you to get into the match before it’s over—bad drops can ruin that and lose you RP. Drop Zones means that all players will land at relatively the same time and have a shot at survival without waiting for the Dropship to unload. Contested drops are still possible, but limited and manageable: no more will half the lobby drop on the same POI. You’ll get the best chance at loot in your assigned Drop Zone, but efficient looting is still important in case enemies invade. Heat Shields Heat Shields are disabled in Ranked Dev Note: Stalling near the Ring and doing long out-of-Ring rotations will now be even riskier. You’ll need to rely on good positioning in order to survive into the late game. SCORING Challenger Bonus: reworked bonuses when eliminating higher-ranked opponents If the killer’s rank is 1 tier lower than the victim: KP +15% bonus If the gap is 2 tiers: +25% bonus If the gap is 3 tiers: +35% bonus If the gap is 4 tiers or more: +50% bonus Entry Cost Adjustment Bronze: 10 RP (was 0 RP) Gold: 38RP (was 35 RP) Platinum: 48 RP (was 45 RP) Kill Points Adjustment 1st: 20 RP (was 26 RP) 2nd: 18 RP (was 22 RP) 3rd: 16 RP (was 18 RP) 4th: 14 RP (was 16 RP) 5th: 12 RP (was 16 RP) 6th: 10 RP (was 16 RP) 7th: 10 RP (was 14 RP) 8th: 10 RP (was 14 RP) 9th: 8 RP (was 12 RP) 10th: 8 RP (was 12 RP) 11th-15th: 6 RP (was 10 RP) 16th-20th: 4 RP (was 10 RP) Placement Points Adjustment 2nd Place: 100 RP (was 95 RP) 3rd Place: 75 RP (was 70 RP) 6th Place: 40 RP (was 30 RP) SYSTEM Added report option for Wallhacking/Impossible Gamesense Dev Note: Based on your feedback and the Reddit AMA, the Wallhack report option is back! If you encounter impossible game sense, let us know by reporting them. BUG FIXES Burst weapon firing sounds now stop if the weapon overheated due to Ballistic's Tac Fixed inconsistent behavior when picking up some weapon attachments Fixed intermittent issues when predicting aim punches from ring damage Firing Range: fixed a few bugs that allowed other players in the server to impact your game Replicator: can no longer craft on a side with an item printing Ring visual effects now consistently show up in Kings Canyon Storm Point’s Northpad Tower drops sniper loot again Ziprails make a first person noise when attaching LEGENDS Wattson Corrected the used weapon name for eliminations from electrified door Dropping Gold Helmet no longer removes effects of Energized Healer upgrade (Previous Hotfix) Double doors no longer have one door electrified if the other breaks Ultimate Conductor no longer gives Ult charge from self damage (Previous Hotfix) Ultimate Conductor gives burst Ult charge correctly Bangalore: Ult missile no longer destroyed if it hits Newcastle Tac QUALITY OF LIFE Bots: improvements to behavior Lifeline: updated Halo’s enemy coloring to help differentiate against the ring Newcastle: Ult can now be targeted and placed over Alter’s Tac portals Replicator: updated color and associated assets to blue (was purple) Vantage: scanning an enemy will no longer show shield information if enemy’s eliminated. Previously, dead enemies would show if banner was active. (Previous Hotfix) Wattson: electrified doors no longer end if the fence placer dies or disconnects Updates and tuning to some VFX, primarily on 1P Impact FX revolving around Armor and Flesh Impacts Armor: 90% less smoke, 40% less debris Flesh: less lingering blood with shorter lifespan, smaller blood size debris AUDIO Reduced occlusion of roof footsteps for clarity and consistency Skydiving audio will be quieter in intended in certain situations Mic monitor in audio settings now displays for solo players in lobby GRAPHICS New tonemapping for a more natural appearance of highlights with very bright colors VFX: more consistent brightness regardless of in-game auto exposure, preventing extreme brightness in dark areas Apex Legends™: Showdown Patch Notes Play Apex Legends for free* now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. †Not available in all territories.
New Updates Coming with Apex Legends™: Showdown
It’s a whole new showdown this season, Legends. Try your hand at the new Wildcard mode: it’s faster gameplay, streamlined upgrades, and a whole lot of explosive loot. Caustic and Bangalore lead the buffs, with some updates to the Controller class as well. Mix things up with Amps, new game-changing passives available each match. Try your hand at Ballistic’s personal weapon collection with the Elite variant of the RE-45. And say goodbye to loot chasing Hop-Ups as they’re now locked to the weapons in your hand. Add in a fresh take on E-District, Ranked updates, and more, yeah, it's going to be a wild season. NEW PERMANENT MODE: WILDCARD Wildcard is just like it sounds—a wild time. Want a three stack of Mirages? Sure, stack Legends as much as you’d like. Gotta go fast? This remixed variant Kings Canyon has been super loaded with extra gravity cannons, ziplines, and even more toys. Dropped a little too hot to handle? Second chances are at play here with opportunities for revival even in the last ring. We’ve also simplified the loot and inventory, added in auto-looting, made some adjustments to EVO, and even more to make this a fast paced and fun addition to the Apex Games. It’s the experimental playground of every Legend’s dreams. Check out our dedicated blog here for everything you need to know before jumping in. LEGEND UPDATES We’ve got buffs a plenty for two Legends that have been hiding in some fog for a while: Dr. Alexander Nox and Ms Anita Williams. Lets see what you can do with these updates for Caustic, Bangalore, and more in this Showdown of a season. Get all of the details on these Legend changes and more meta updates in Patch Notes on August 4, 2025. ELITE WEAPONS: RE-45 BURST PISTOL Also being introduced this season are Elite Weapons: the firepower you know and love from Ballistic’s personal armory, so expect the unexpected with these variants. In the case of the RE-45, this little number becomes a pocket-sized mini-gun with its spin-up, three round bursts and the type of damage that only energy ammo can satisfy. Good things do come in small packages. LEGEND AMPS Amps are an all new way to switch-up your playstyle—amp it up, if you will. Available in Unranked and Ranked BR matches, you’ll be able to loot game-changing passives like bonus movement, better heals, more shields, and more. Amps will be tough to find until the first Bin reset, but they may just be the thing that helps you survive the next time you get third-partied. There are five different Amps and each comes with its own powerful ability; however, you can only hold one at a time so choose wisely. LOCKED HOP-UPS Hop-Ups are a tried and true way to add a little je ne sais quoi. This season we’re taking the RNG out of this boost and locking them to the weapons themselves. Deliver damage to fuel up your weapon’s Hop-Up ability and unlock it for the remainder of the match. If you pick-up a new weapon, then the fun begins again. All Hop-Ups currently available in-game will be a part of this change and we’ve added a new one to the mix too: Graffiti Mod. More on that one in Patch Notes on Monday, August 4, 2025. DAYTIME IN E-DISTRICT Good morrow, E-District! Reimagined under bright, overcast skies, this switch to daytime brings a fresh feel and dramatically improved gameplay clarity. Sunbeams slice through clouds and a light atmospheric fog helps separate foreground from background for cleaner visual reads. We’ve also run a full declutter pass across the map, removing everything from stray debris to entire buildings to sharpen awareness and open up key sightlines. Shops that once led to dead ends now connect through newly opened doorways, making rotations smoother and fights more dynamic. And for players dropping hot at Lotus, a brand new rotation has been carved straight through a wall of buildings, offering a much needed third option for repositioning under pressure. It’s clarity by design - and every fight feels better because of it. SEE YOU ON THE DROPSHIP The cards have been dealt and are in your hands. What will you drop in on first? The new, fast paced Wildcard mode? Maybe check out the Elite RE-45 or Locked Hop-Ups? Maybe you’ll check out the sights of E-District in the light. But don’t sleep on those Legend Amps. New Updates Coming with Apex Legends™: Showdown Play Apex Legends for free* now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases.
