Feel the holiday rush in the Merry Mayhem Event
AMPED OVERVIEW We’re starting the hype train for Season 27: Amped, right now, and this is your invitation to get on board! There’s plenty to be excited about this season: major changes to Olympus, Valkyrie retakes the skies, while Rampart and Horizon are getting tune ups, the meta is shifting to close range chaos with a new ‘Double Tap Alternator’ Hop-Up and Gold Laser Sight for pistols and SMGs, and we’re introducing fun updates to Tridents! Grab your friends, squad up and get ready to dive into Amped! For additional insights into some of Amped’s key updates, check out our highlights blog from last week and for details on all seasonal changes, please read on! ANTI-CHEAT Before we get into the nitty gritty of seasonal changes, a quick Anti-Cheat update for you all! As part of our continued efforts to combat cheaters in Apex Legends, we launched a new detection model, in early October, to assist us in investigating possible 3rd party bots in our game. In just two weeks, over 1,000 bot accounts were banned. We saw a majority of bans hit Windows PC (71%) and Switch (21%). Detected bot infection rates spiked after the rollout as expected - meaning the new tech is successfully identifying bots - then tapered off as we banned these accounts. As a result, we saw a meaningful decline of player reports (for AFK and abandoned match behavior) on Switch and reports per user over the subsequent 28 days decreased for both PC and Switch. Our team is continuing their hard work to establish and maintain competitive integrity and we will continue to provide updates when we have information to share! AUDIO UPDATES We've been developing many new audio systems to address community feedback and improve audio reliability.This season we’re adding a new "Focused" mix option, intended to give you control over how you prefer to hear the action. Our new threat system will add dynamic contextual awareness to the mix. Multiband sidechain compression will help enemy footstep audio be heard more clearly. Environmental audio improvements offer a smoother blend between indoor and outdoor spaces. Additionally, we’re now armed with improved telemetry to more accurately discover causes of audio failures. We will continue to monitor feedback in our community spaces as it helps us understand how these changes affect your gameplay experience as we continue to work on these systems. For more details, please check our audio-focused dev blog. GAME STABILITY We rolled out a profiling tool to our production servers to capture more information about instances of slow performance on servers. This tool (RProf) has commonly been used in our development environment to find slow segments of engine code and game script, but is now tuned for production use. From this, we have been able to examine and fix cases that are more unique to running the game at scale, and can more easily track degradations in performance over time. As always, game stability work is always happening behind the scenes and we will share updates when we have them! RANKED This season, we’re making balance adjustments to Kill Point values making eliminations more rewarding across all placements. We’re also making changes to loot distribution across Ranked Drop Zone POIs - there will still be some variance, obviously, but we’re hoping things feel a lot more even. We will continue to monitor player feedback on this change, and general sentiment surrounding drop zones. Additionally, we are reducing the requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail from 3 completions to 2 to simplify seasonal goals, reduce grind, and make the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. You’ll find all of the details about these changes later in this Patch Notes. NEW FEATURE: WISHLIST We want to give players some additional options for certain packs. Wishlist is a feature that will be enabled on select packs and will influence cosmetic drops for the Legends and loadouts you designate. Here’s how it works: Pick 5 Legends and 2 Weapons to add to your Wishlist Depending on the pack Wishlist may only impact items of a certain rarity (specific rarity tier will be noted) If the pack drops a Wishlist-enabled item you are guaranteed at least one item from your chosen Legends All selections must be valid for Wishlist to be Active. A selection is valid as long as you don't own 100% of the items for that Legend or Weapon Class from the Apex Pack Pool If a Wishlist is Inactive or Unavailable at the time of opening a Wishlist-enabled pack, the items will instead draw from the generic Apex Pack pool. You get 5 Wishlist edits per season (refreshed each new season). After that, you can keep editing anytime for 500 Legend Tokens per edit. See here for more specific details on how Wishlist functions and how our packs function. NEW: AMPED SEASONAL PACK This season, we're introducing the Amped Seasonal Pack, available all season long. This special pack is Wishlist-enabled and gives you a chance at unlocking: The new ‘Bird of Prey’ Mythic R-99 Weapon New Legendary cosmetics to change up your look Wishlist activation for Epic-tier drop, relevant to your chosen Legends or Weapons The Amped Seasonal Pack brings a new and more focused way to earn cosmetics all season long. You can earn up to 5 Amped Seasonal Packs throughout the season via challenges and the free Battle Pass Tracks. For full details and Amped Seasonal Pack probabilities, please view our Additional Pack Disclosures page (updates November 4, 2025). PATCH NOTES BALANCE UPDATES Care Package Rotation Triple Take return to the floor (details below) C.A.R. SMG enters the Care Package (details below) Gold Weapon Rotation Alternator SMG, G7 Scout, Havoc, Bocek Compound Bow, Akimbo Mozambique GAME UPDATES Extended Supply Bins & Weapon Supply Bins Added icons back to the minimap and full-map Arsenals Increased ammo bricks to give full stacks of the applicable ammo type Replicators New craftable item: Arrow Bundle Only obtainable when crafting Ammo when Bocek Compound Bow is in your loadout On pick-up, fully replenishes your arrow reserves on one Bocek weapon Can only be picked up if you are holding a Bocek and it is not full on arrows Mantle Boost Added Mantle Boost ability to all Legends, granting velocity on a timed input after a mantle Added options for customizing Mantle Boost input key or button Added option to remap character movement ability Added options for reducing the UI footprint on the HUD for Mantle Boost Dev Note: We were inspired to add Mantle Boost by our players’ exploration of the unique momentum-based movement of Apex Legends. This new official Mantle Boost will enable all players to perform an advanced movement technique. It will be accessible, but it still requires skill to learn to use it and to know when it’s the right time to Boost. Heat Shields Update Heat Shields removed from Core BR Modes (including Trios and Duos). Dev Note: We rolled out the removal of Heat Shields in Ranked with Season 26, focusing decision making for players around strong strategic plays and rotations. We have seen positive outcomes with that change so we’re expanding the change to all Core BR modes. Playing outside the Ring should be a risky endeavor that is only a last resort. Don’t wanna get burned? Get a move on, Legend. Tridents 2.0 Foundational Improvements: Updated model and textures Collision tightened for a smoother ride and to allow occupants to be hit Trident can now be damaged and destroyed – starts at 800 health Trident occupants and the vehicle can be damaged independently Tridents can now damage enemies if hitting them at high speeds Camera and controls tuned for more responsiveness and precision Boost Meter has replaced the single use Boost New Movement Features: Jump: Press Jump to jump from the ground Glide: Hold Jump to Glide when off the ground. While gliding: Trident will very slowly lose altitude Trident can be steered in any direction Trident can boost forward New Healing and Spawning Features Auto-Healing: If a Trident avoids damage for a period of time, it will slowly regenerate health and regress its damage state Auto-Respawn: A destroyed Trident will be replaced by a new one at its original spawning location after an indicated delay Improved UI to better indicate to driver and passengers Trident health and damage information Control mappings adjusted to account for new features Dev Note: The Tridents are receiving a tune-up this season with a number of redesigns to offer players a more interesting, responsive, and satisfying driving experience as well as provide exciting counter play options. Tridents no longer split damage between occupants which should make them feel like a safer tool to use when making large rotations. However, they'll no longer provide movable indestructible cover when being used more tactically during a firefight. LEGEND CHANGES VALKYRIE Dev note: Valkyrie’s pick rate has been up and down all year, and we feel she’s currently in a place where she’s not living up to her potential. This set of buffs should help to modernize this fan-favorite. VTOL Jets Jetpack cooldown and fly speed reworked Cooldown Recharge delay significantly reduced (8 → 2.5 sec) Recharge time significantly reduced (~10.9 → 3 sec) Fuel doesn’t start recharging until you touch ground EMP effects drain jetpack fuel Speed Horizontal fly speed and strafe amount significantly increased Vertical fly speed increased. Additional vertical speed when flying straight up Reduced initial speed boost for first 0.5 sec (~25% faster → ~5% slower) Total fuel reduced (8 → 6 sec) Initial fuel consumption slightly increased Dev note: Valkyrie’s Jetpack broke new ground when it was introduced to Apex, but over time we started to feel it wasn’t living up to the high-flying promise of a Jetpack character. This new change rewards longer burns of the jetpack, allowing you to cover distance faster. Learning to use the (largely forgotten) flight mode is one of the keys to success with the updated jetpack! Missile Swarm Removed self damage and stun effect Added short (1.5 sec) full body scan on hit Tac damage now puts movement passives on cooldown (like other EMP effects) Removed 5 seconds of cooldown (30 sec → 25 sec) Removed vertical clearance firing restriction Improved missile pathing to work better in some situations such as low clearance situations (firing indoors or at targets under a bridge) Increased max range (~100m → 125m) Dev note: Valkyrie’s tactical was one of her biggest pain points, with many situations where it was either was more likely to stun her than to hit the target (or just wasn’t allowed). We improved the reliability of her tactical, and also took the opportunity to lean a bit more into Valkyrie’s identity as a recon by adding a short scan to the missiles. Skyward Dive Increased launch height 15% (integrated Afterburners upgrade) Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3 min → 2.5 min) Reduced delay before takeoff (2 sec → 1.5 sec) Slightly reduced time slowly rising before takeoff (1.83 sec → 1.33 sec) Removed self cancel cooldown penalty Reduced damage cooldown penalty (54 sec → 30 sec) Skydive Improvements Allow tactical to be fired when skydiving (except from drop ship) Land faster when skydiving (spend less time slow falling near ground) Dev note: The skies belong to Valkyrie. Upgrades Level 2 Afterburners: Removed (included by default) Eyes in the Sky: Moved to Level 2 Full Coverage: Changes missile swarm pattern to 4x5 (was 3x5) Level 3 Full Tank: Removed (jetpack reworked) NEW Supersonic: Ultimate launch time reduced ~50% REWORKED: Aerial Expert: Improves jetpack horizontal speed, significantly improves handling, decreases initial fuel consumption, slightly reduces total fuel. Dev note: To top off Valk’s update, we added a few new premier upgrades, allowing you to push either her Ultimate or Passive to their final forms. RAMPART Dev note: Rampart’s effectiveness and pick rate have slipped to extremely low levels in recent months. We hope this refresh to her kit will enhance her survivability and make her more of a viable Controller pick. Battle Modder Adds additional effect to old passive (Modded Loader). Cover walls permanently gain health as Rampart gains Evo Levels. Amped Cover Adds amped shield roof to wall Walls can now be charged by doing damage through the amped shield or by having the wall be damaged by enemies. Wall charge is converted to a speed boost by going over the wall Wall can store up to 300 damage, which results in a 15 second speed boost at full charge. Speed boost time scales linearly with stored charge. Wall charge is only usable by teammates, and each teammate can use stored charge individually. Speed boost is automatically given to nearby teammates when the wall is destroyed. Damage to wall is stored at 25%, while damage through amped shield is stored at 100% Speed boost only applies when sprinting Battle Modder health increases: Wall health increase by 200 per Evo level (400 → 800 at max level) Shield health increased by 25 per Evo level (175 → 225 at max level) Health while wall building reduced (120 → 100 ) Amped shield arc star damage multiplier removed (1.5x → 1.0x) Wall frag grenade damage multiplier increased (1.0x → 2.0x) Dev note: Rampart’s walls are core to her identity and playstyle, but felt like they’d been left behind. With her new passive giving the walls more health and roof, the walls should keep you safer in more situations while the speed boost should help your team capitalize on the impact from the wall. We’ve also increased the damage walls take from grenades, and reduced their health while building to preserve counterplay. Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed Bandolier: Removed (replaced with Combat reserve) NEW: Combat reserve: Bigger ammo stacks, extra grenades slots, access red weapon supply bins NEW: Locked and Loaded: gain faster reloads and infinite ammo when behind amped cover and shield is in tact Level 3 Ramped up: Unchanged Amped Reloads: Removed (replaced with Locked and Loaded) NEW: Rebuild Module. Amped cover will regen health and rebuild shield section after not being damaged for a period of time Dev note: Rampart’s upgrades allow you to lean either into a more aggressive Assault playstyle or doubling down on her walls to hold space and apply constant pressure to opposing squads. HORIZON Dev note: Horizon has been in an interesting place in the meta. She is at her lowest pick rate ever, but maintaining a strong encounter win rate. We’re giving her back some of the power that’s been nerfed previously to make her a more attractive pick, and we are adding a few new fun upgrades to play with. We’ll continue monitoring to see how she performs in live. Gravity Lift Increased lift speed (300 → 375) Increased hover time at top of lift (0.5 sec → 1.5 sec) Cooldown reductions: Reduced cooldown by 5 seconds (25 sec → 20 sec) Reduced delay before cooldown starts 8 sec (10 sec → 2 sec) Effectively reduced cooldown from 35 sec → 22 sec Black Hole Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3.5 min → 3 min) Increased health (175 → 225) Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed (included by default) Tactical Cooldown: Removed (included by default) NEW: Gravity Boots: Press crouch while in the air to fall much more quickly NEW: Newt Scoot: Press jump after exiting gravity lift to glide Level 3 Conservation of Energy: Unchanged Combat Reserve: Removed NEW: Knock Expert: gain tactical charge on knocks. REVENANT Dev Note: We are seeing Revenant pull away from the rest of the roster in very high tier lobbies, and believe it's in part due to his ability to drop on enemies suddenly from very far away. Given how fast his 'weapons up' time is now, we felt reducing the maximum amount of distance he can travel in Shadow Pounce will reduce the frustration on the receiving end. We think this combined with the Valkyrie and Horizon changes will create a more even split between our most mobile characters. Reduced the maximum possible velocity of Revenants Shadow Pounce LOOT & ATTACHMENTS AMPS Reduced healing rate of Overflow Healer Added Infinite Ammo and Over Armor to early game floor loot Added Over Armor potential Assault Bin amps ATTACHMENTS Gold Laser Sight New laser tier added: usable with all SMG and Pistol weapons Greatly improves ground and aerial hipfire spread Adds reverse hipfire – Continuous firing tightens hipfire spread LOCKED HOP-UPS Double Tap Trigger 375 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Alternator Accelerator Accelerator removed from all compatible weapons G7 Scout, Flatline, and CAR Skull Piercer Skull Piercer removed from all compatible weapons 30-30, Wingman, and Longbow Graffiti Mod Removed from: Spitfire and EVA-8 Added to: Mozambique and Wingman Gun Shield Generator Removed from: Rampage Added to: Triple Take Selectfire Receiver Increased points to unlock to 450 on the Charge Rifle (Previous Hotfix) WEAPONS LMG All LMGs (Except L-STAR EMG) Removed Reverse Hipfire mechanic from LMGs Hipfire spread decreased to compensate Updated reticles to original plus design Dev Note: Reverse hipfire provides a lot of power in close quarters combat. This season, we want to give some room for our true close quarters weapons to shine, so we have removed this mechanic from LMGs. MARKSMAN All Marksmans Reduced projectile size and scaling Decreased projectile launch speed Reduced headshot damage multiplier Dev Note: The Marksman meta has been reigning strong for a few seasons now and the time has come for us to hit them with some more potent adjustments. We are hoping that these changes will hit their long range consistency, as well as remove the spikiness that can come with landing one or two headshots. 30-30 Repeater Headshot multiplier reduced (Previous Hotfix) Bocek Compound Bow Added 2x-4x AOG Scope as a compatible attachment Dev Note: We did it. Triple Take [Floor Loot] Damage reduced to 22 per bullet (was 23) Increased choke charge time Increased fire rate while hipfiring PISTOL P2020 [Care Package] Increased fire rate Increased magazine size to 26 (was 22) RE-45 Burst Horizontal and vertical recoil improvements (Previous hotfix) Purple mag size increased by 3 (Previous hotfix) SHOTGUN Peacekeeper Full burst damage reduced to 99 (was 108) Increased choke charge time Rechamber time decreased to 1.1 (Reverting a previous hotfix) Clip size reduced to 5 (was 6) (Previous Hotfix) Dev Note: The PK has been super dominant since coming out of the care package. While we have seen some good downward movement since our most recent set of hotfixes, we hear you, damage and range are the pain points here. We are giving back some of the handling we took away in a previous hotfix and hitting it accordingly. SMG Alternator SMG Damage increased to 19 (was 18) Magazine size adjustments: Blue magazine decreased to 26 (was 27) Purple and gold magazines increased to 30 (was 29) While using Double Tap Trigger: Shoots bullets out of each barrel, simultaneously Reduced fire rate Damage per bullet reduced to 15 C.A.R. SMG [Care Package] Added Hop-Up: Galvanic Gavel Allows the magazine to be swapped between Disruptor and Hammerpoint Rounds Upon first pick-up, begins on Disruptor Rounds Magazine size increased to 30 (was 28) Improved reload speed of the mag swap Prowler PDW While in burst fire mode, holding down the trigger now releases subsequent bursts Slightly increased burst delay Volt SMG Increased projectile size in close quarters SNIPER All Snipers Reduced projectile size Charge Rifle Maximum damage reduced to 99 (was 110) Damage reduced by 40% while using Select Fire mode (was 25%) (Previous Hotfix) Damage scaling minimum distance increased to 75 meters (was 50m) (Previous Hotfix) MAPS Olympus: Added Somers University POI (replacing Orbital Cannon) and moved Elysium nearby. Added Gravity Engine POI (replacing Energy Depot) Added Stabilizer POI (replacing Docks) Added Dockyard POI Added large amounts of additional cover in open rotation spaces around the following POIs: Phase Driver Oasis Clinic Hammond Labs Estates Hammond Labs: Transformed terrain and added tunnels to protect players and provide additional options to attack the waterfall high ground. Hammond Labs: Moved additional cover from Control mode into the base map, including the home base structures. Hammond Labs: Added jump tower behind Hammond Labs. Rift: Added new camp in the center of Rift to reduce open space. Added additional cover to open spaces in Rift. Rift: Replaced vacuum behavior of the Rift teleporter with a Horizon Lift to prevent players from entering accidentally. Rift: Added a large camp between Rift and Gardens to resolve the previously large open space and help players contest the high ground. Grow Towers: Replaced the third Grow Tower with buildings and tunnels to help players safely rotate through the POI when teams are holding the towers. Added jump tower. Turbine: Added a new camp underneath the highway between Turbine and Estates to prevent players from being gatekept at the ramp. Turbine: Added a new rotation from the east tunnel that connects directly to Gravity Engine (previously Energy Depot). Carrier: Added two additional doors at the central chokepoint to prevent the fight from stalling. Phase Driver: Increased Phase Driver loot cooldown from 45 seconds to 90 seconds. Added a camp in the circular pit between Hammond Labs and Somers University (previously Orbital Cannon). Bonsai Plaza: Added additional ziplines to access high walls around the POI. Removed a large amount of Trident barriers across the map. Dev Note: While Olympus has been a fan favorite for a while, we want to action on player feedback related to how to improve its competitive integrity. Keeping in mind both high-level matches and overall balance, we made some significant revisions to POIs like Energy Depot and Orbital Cannon to address anything from lopsided rotations to a distinct lack of cover in some of the more desolate areas. It was important to maintain the map’s identity during this process, so we wanted to only add to what makes Olympus so special while being very surgical and precise about anything that was removed or replaced. Pubs & Ranked Rotation Olympus Broken Moon World’s Edge Mixtape 11/04/25 - 1/5/26 Map Rotation TDM Skull Town, Thunderdome, Fragment, Estates CONTROL Barometer, Labs, Production Yard, Lava Siphon GUN RUN Estates, Skull Town, Zeus, Thunderdome WILDCARD Wildcard 11/04/25 - 11/18/25 Wildcard: Kings Canyon Wild Cards We’ve seen meaningful positive player sentiment surrounding Wild Cards in Wildcard, so: Wild Cards are now activated and here to stay, even when we don’t have an active event! Every match now features a range of Wild Cards, bringing extra chaos and surprises for more unpredictable and exciting gameplay. Wild Cards Extra Ordnance Drone Support Smoke Out High Velocity Status Report Speedy Charge Recharger Fast Draw Monstrous Strength Wildcard Gameplay Updates Highlight on Enemy Elimination balance tweaks Enemy highlights will no longer trigger on a team unless there is only one enemy still alive. Enemy highlights will no longer trigger if players choose to manually bleed out. Enemy highlight duration reduced 5 seconds -> 2.5 seconds. Dev Note: Currently in Wildcard, when you eliminate any enemy, their teammates are highlighted for a period of time. We are updating the rules of this system to reduce the benefits of thirsting as well as have more natural encounters without having enemy locations constantly revealed. Shield Cells Increased carrying capacity of shield cells from 12 -> 15 More shield cells spawn in loot, reduced ammo spawns to compensate. Dev Note: We’ve heard feedback that players were running low on healing items throughout a wildcard match, so we have increased carrying capacity and increased their loot spawns to make this pain point a little smaller. Gold 1x Digital Threat sight returns to loot as a rare spawn. Equippable on SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols. Dev Note: Similar to the 1x Holo, The Gold Digital Threat scope has been vaulted for some time, and we know it is a fan favorite for some. We are re-introducing it to the Wildcard loot pool for this season as a fun item to find and make your SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols even more deadly! Wild Cards balance Reduced shield recharge rate on Recharger wildcard when sprinting. Reduced initial speed gain when using the Wallruning wildcard. Dev Note: In Season 26, these wildcards were some of the strongest bunch in the pool and in some cases were becoming frustrating to play against. We are tuning them down a touch to bring them in line with some of the other wildcards coming in this season. New Mythic Weapon rotation. WEAPONS LEAVING L-STAR Devotion LMG Hemlok R-99 Peacekeeper WEAPONS RETURNING Kraber Triple Take Wingman Prowler P2020 Akimbo Rampage LMG Automatically Revved up when first being picked up. G7 Scout Double Tap and Sniper Scopes can be attached. NEW WEAPONS C.A.R. RANKED As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Ranked experience, we conducted a matchmaking test at the end of Season 26 (more on that here). We will return with the results of this test once the data has been compiled, so keep an eye out! Scoring Tuning Kill Points changes 1st: 22 RP (was 20 RP) 2nd: 20 RP (was 18 RP) 3rd: 18 RP (was 16 RP) 4th: 16 RP (was 14 RP) 5th: 16 RP (was 12 RP) 6th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 7th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 8th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 9th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 10th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 11th-15th: 8 RP (was 6 RP) 16th-20th: 6 RP (was 4 RP) Challenger Bonus changes If the killer’s rank is 1 tier lower than the victim: KP +20% bonus, was 15% If the gap is 2 tiers: +30% bonus, was 25% If the gap is 3 tiers: +40% bonus, was 35% Dev Note: Throughout Season 26, we consistently heard feedback that eliminations often felt undervalued compared to placement. Many players expressed that strong combat performance didn’t always translate into meaningful progression, especially in mid-to high-tier lobbies. In Season 27, we’ve adjusted Kill Point values to make eliminations more rewarding across all placements. This tuning increases the RP value earned from fights while keeping placement as a significant factor in final score calculation. Our goal is to better recognize player impact in every match — rewarding those who take risks and perform well in combat, without overshadowing strategic play and survival. Drop Zones Loot Overhaul Made the loot that spawns across all Drop Zone POIs more fair. There is still variance between POIs, but it is much less than previously. Maintains the same number of spawns across the map for each loot item, but changes where they are more likely to spawn, in order to avoid inflation/deflation. These loot changes are for Ranked only, not Unranked. Dev Note updated: Drop Zone has been a contentious topic within the community; while some praised how it improved the competitiveness of Ranked, others expressed concerns - primarily, the negative impact unbalanced POI loot levels have on the fairness of the mode. Our focus is to listen to those concerns to try to bring the feature to a satisfactory spot. As such, we did this loot overhaul to bring POIs in line with each other as far as we could without changing the maps or causing loot inflation/deflation. We'll continue to monitor your feedback as the season progresses. Ranked Ladders (coming later this split) Ranked Ladder Start Date End Date Ranked Ladder 1 11/13/2025 11/16/2025 Ranked Ladder 2 11/20/2025 11/23/2025 Ranked Ladder 3 11/27/2025 11/30/2025 Ranked Ladder 4 12/4/2025 12/7/2025 Ranked Ladder 5 12/11/2025 12/14/2025 Ranked Ladder 6 12/25/2025 12/28/2025 Ranked Ladder 7 1/1/2026 1/4/2026 Ranked Ladder 8 1/8/2026 1/11/2026 Ranked Ladder 9 1/15/2026 1/18/2026 Ranked Ladder 10 1/22/2026 1/25/2026 Ranked Ladder 11 1/29/2026 2/1/2026 Ranked Ladder 12 2/5/2026 2/8/2026 Ranked Challenges The requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail has been reduced from 3 completions to 2. Dev Note: This change simplifies seasonal goals, reduces grind, and makes the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. BUG FIXES Wildcard Fixed players being able to revive each other to stay alive in the ring longer than intended Locked Hop-Ups Fixed Locked Hop-Ups not working properly in the Firing Range Fixed some issues with Ballistic’s sling and Locked Hop-Up weapons Fixed some issues with the Locked Hop-Up UI Ranked Fixed issue where you could not remove map pings in the prematch preview Misc Fixed the infinite ammo amp sometimes causing the player to respawn with locked inventory slots Fixed retro packs in the store not updating the amount of packs already opened Fixed skydive emotes leaving a breadcrumb on the legend tab but not the specific legend which had the new unlock Fixed health bars sometimes not displaying properly when firing through windows Fixed a wall that could be seen through around Artillery LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Fixed issue where camera could jump around when walking into Amped Cover. Catalyst Enemies near her Piercing Spikes should no longer see two threat indicators for a single spike Gibraltar: Fixed incorrect damage flyout UI when shooting his passive arm shield Newcastle Fixed Castle Wall sometimes hitting enemies through floors and walls QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES Requeue, with Squad Requeue has been expanded to allow players outside of a party to opt-in to continuing to play together. Each Party Leader (including parties of 1, ie. solo queuers) has the option to either ‘play again’ and merge their party together with other parties that also want to play again, or they can requeue with only their existing party. This does not create any kind of Friends relationship – it only forms a new Party that can continue to play together without having to return to the Lobby. Designer’s Note: We want to remove as many barriers as possible to keeping a fun time going. When you do find that magical unicorn of a random player and everyone wants to keep playing into the next match, this is the solution. UX/UI Added a button prompt in the Legend Locker screen for Legend skins, Weapon skins, and Melee skins to show/hide the UI to get a better view of the cosmetic Standardized a number of square button widgets, mostly in the lobby menu, to achieve a more consistent interactivity and aesthetic across the game Misc. Added a new voice chat option to toggle your microphone. Ranked - Added announcer VO saying which Drop Zone your team is landing at. Note: The Core on Broken Moon and Trident on Storm Point do not currently have VO. LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Allow interactions such as looting while holding Sheila Added additional placement mode for walls. By pressing Aim Down Sights, you can place a single wall and then pull out your weapons (matching the launch behavior). Placing a wall with the Attack button is unchanged from the current behavior. Reduced size of ‘amped’ bullet tracers when shooting though amped cover Rampart Added voice lines when being summoned to the Void Nexus when knocked ENGINE PC: Improved the performance of loading models and textures on systems with integrated graphics, especially Intel Iris XE laptops. This improves map loading times and reduces issues with missing models in-game. Added PC support for Handheld/Compact UI which makes it easier to play Apex on PC Handheld devices. Players can toggle between Full, Compact or Auto UI in game Settings.
Apex Legends™: Matchmaking Test Update
Welcome back to the latest Apex Legends Matchmaking dev update! Grab a comfy chair, your favourite warm beverage, and settle in for our latest update. In this blog, we’re going to cover: A refresher of key matchmaking concepts Test Results: 26.1 Ranked matchmaking test Matchmaking health motivated Duos changes Things you can do to (possibly) improve your matchmaking experience What is next for matchmaking Matchmaking Key Concepts Refresher If you have been keeping up on our Matchmaking Blogs (links here), then you can probably skip this section, or use it as a refresher and read on. Apex Legends’ matchmaking systems try to balance two main criteria for an optimal player experience: filling a lobby with similarly skilled players and doing so within a certain amount of time. It can only fill a lobby from the pool of available players currently online, who are actively seeking a match, on a specific platform (unless you have crossplay enabled), in a specific region. The system has parameters for each mode that control the acceptable skill disparity between “similarly skilled players” thus allowing them into the same lobby. However, this also needs to be balanced with ensuring players aren’t waiting in queue for too long as a result of the available player population at that moment. Platforms and regions with higher overall active populations at key times will result in smaller skill variance in matches. Active player counts (depending on platform and region) have a “peak” and “valley” each 24 hour period, when they are at their highest and lowest counts, respectively. The above graph illustrates the peaks (typically between 7pm and 10pm, local time) and valleys (in the middle of the night) of the number of matches being made across different hours of the day for a single region and players can expect similar trends throughout each season. Population is the key to establishing matchmaking that is both fast and “tight.” In theory, the fastest and tightest skill lobby would result from there being 60 players all matchmaking for the same game mode, at the same time, on the same region server, playing on the same platform, AND having the same skill value. As that is simply not the norm, we attempt to find the best matches for you for when you’re playing, and that sometimes results in longer queue times. We're always looking to improve the overall quality of your experience, share what we're working on and give context based on your feedback. Test Results: 26.1 Ranked Matchmaking Test Now that we’re all caught up, let's review the matchmaking test and the result from 26.1. This was our second test attempting to remove Masters tier (which includes Apex Predators, as they are the top 750 Masters tier players, per platform) from matchmaking with Platinum players and below. In this test, which ran for just under two weeks at the end of Split 2, Masters players were only able to match with other Masters and any division of Diamond (I through IV). The goals of this test (and this blog) were to: Determine if we can safely restrict Masters to play against only other Masters players and Diamond tier Ensuring every player that searches for a match is able to find one eventually, even if the wait is much longer than it is without the restriction Improve our matchmaking parameters to adapt to tier populations shift over the course of a season Communicate transparently with the community to set expectations for the future of Ranked matchmaking TLDR: This test successfully limited Masters matchmaking as intended and did not negatively impact queue times or skill width. When the test was run, our queue times and skill width were already near our targets, so they did not move much as a result. We are optimistic about what we learned and are eager to make improvements that can impact the overall seasonal matchmaking experience, not just at the end. The Ranked tuning changes in Season 26 increased the effort required to achieve higher tiers, resulting in lower-than-previous populations in Diamond and Masters. These lower populations pushed matchmaking at these tiers to the upper limits of what we consider acceptable queue waits and match skill-width for an ideal player experience. As a result, players outside of Masters experienced similar matchmaking before and during the test. One big takeaway for us from the last two matchmaking tests is that our ability to more aggressively adapt matchmaking to shifting populations could create more consistent experiences over the course of a season. We’ll dive more deeply into this challenge and resulting opportunity below. The above graph shows the percentage of players in each Rank Tier, per day, over the course of Season 25. Diamond was hitting about 20% of total players near the end of Split 2; this population is what allowed us to more easily restrict Masters to play against only Diamond I players. When we compare this to the distribution across Season 26 below, there is a dramatic difference in populations in the higher Tiers. In Season 26, the population that achieved Masters was ⅓ the total seen in Season 25 due to RP tuning, as well as the introduction of Drop Zones. With fewer overall players achieving the higher ranks relative to the larger Apex playerbase, players experience longer wait times when matchmaking is restricted to only Masters and Diamond. Considering these populations start low, they must be mixed with lower-tiered players to be able to play at all. As a result of these learnings, we will be looking at how to better adapt matchmaking to maintain match consistency based on shifting populations and will keep you updated as we move forward with next steps. A Note About Solo Queueing A consistent request we hear from our community is the ask to address solo queue. There are two distinct flavors of the underlying frustrations that lead to this request, which are: “It feels unfair to be matched against a premade squad” “As a solo player, I don’t like the squadmates I get assigned” The typical solution proposed as part of these conversations is to have solo queue squads only be in matches with other solo queue squads, and premade squads to only be in matches with other premade squads. The suggestion is a good one, in a world where there are enough solo queue players and premade squad players to keep the matchmaking close to where it is now. The very rough, back-of-the-napkin math shows reducing a population by 50% by splitting solo and premade players (assuming 50/50 balance between the two) would double the queue wait times and skill width of matches for each population. Duos is living proof of this occurring, which we speak to next. So, in short, we are currently choosing to not split out premades and solo queuers into their own matching and matches, as we feel it would too dramatically increase queue waits and match skill-width. When looking at concerns surrounding squadmate quality, the matchmaking systems work to partner you with players of similar skill levels. What we’re seeing is that not everyone at a certain skill level plays the exact same way, or is even playing each match with the same goals in mind. As a simple example, some players of similar skill may be more aggressive while others may have a tendency to hang back. As these are all subjective qualities and personal playstyle preferences, any objective definition we attempt to create to leverage in matchmaking would be OURS, and therefore might be out of alignment with many players. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but we’ve got some folks working to crack it. We encourage you to think about what makes an ideal teammate. We’re always monitoring player feedback and look forward to seeing what the community has to say on the matter. In the meantime, we encourage solo queuers to take advantage of the Requeue with Squad feature and keep that great squad together for as long as you can. Duos BR & Matchmaking More context on the recent Duos changes has been highly requested, and we thought it would be most beneficial to explain the changes in the context of matchmaking and player populations. As a quick recap, the lobby size of Duos was reduced to 30 players and the rings on maps were adjusted to keep match pacing aligned with the 60 player experience. So, why was it done? Well, it comes down to population. When Wildcard launched, many players migrated to that mode and made it their new regular stomping ground. As a result, over half of the previously active Duos players stopped playing the mode and never came back. We have seen some theories that the drop is a result of UI changes, but we can confidently point to Wildcard’s introduction. This had a significant negative impact on the quality of matchmaking for the remaining Duos mains. In some cases it roughly doubled queue wait times, depending on region and time of day. After evaluating the data, the difficult decision was made to modify the mode’s maximum lobby size (and maps). This was the solution that provided the most confidence in how to rapidly and, with one focused change, restore the previous matchmaking quality in Duos. Duos population is now stable, as is the matchmaking width and queue wait times. Given the current stability, there are no current plans to revert Duos to a 60 player lobby. We have been gathering and sorting specific feedback around the current Duos experience, and will be evaluating it as part of our future plans for any opportunities to address concerns inside the 30-player experience. Can I Do Anything To Help My Matchmaking? While we continue to evolve solutions on our side, there are a few optional actions you can take to attempt to improve your matchmaking experience. Some of these we already see players doing, and they are worth sharing wider in case they align with how you play Apex. Play during peak hours for your chosen server. Each server region has peak hours, typically between 7pm and 11pm, and the highest quality matchmaking is most likely to occur during the peak. The opposite also applies — if you are playing during the valley, when population is lowest, the matchmaking will take longer and result in higher skill-width. Choose a different server to play on. You have the option to select a different region and server to play on. This can be done at the splash screen, before launching full into Apex. Changing servers may increase your latency beyond your acceptable level, so pay attention to the Ping value of your chosen region. Ensure Crossplay is enabled (if available on your platform) [https://help.ea.com/en/articles/apex-legends/add-friends-cross-play/] To find squadmates with similar skill level and play style, consider joining external Apex-focused social hubs where LFG threads are common. Also, leverage Requeue with Squad after the match if you want to keep a good time rolling! While these actions will not guarantee a better matchmaking experience, we hope these are things you can take advantage of and test your own success. Wrap Up & Next Up As we move forward into future seasons of Apex, we will continue our commitment to listen, evaluate and take action to address concerns from player feedback and from our data analysis. We always appreciate feedback and sharing of experiences, so please continue to engage with us on socials. For what is up next for matchmaking, we are looking to: Create more consistent matchmaking experiences in Ranked across the entire season, for all Rank Tiers Activate hard limits to prevent Masters from playing Platinum when Masters and Diamond reach the required population Increase maximum queue wait times for higher Rank Tiers, to increase the opportunity for them to match within their own Tier Faster and narrower matchmaking by testing merging of select populations, while minimizing performance impacts (latency) As we take these actions, expect more updates across our official channels. We hope you enjoy the current season and we’ll see you in the arena! 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 Apex Legends on X: "Apex Legends™: Matchmaking Test Update" / XApex Legends™: Amped Patch Notes
AMPED OVERVIEW We’re starting the hype train for Season 27: Amped, right now, and this is your invitation to get on board! There’s plenty to be excited about this season: major changes to Olympus, Valkyrie retakes the skies, while Rampart and Horizon are getting tune ups, the meta is shifting to close range chaos with a new ‘Double Tap Alternator’ Hop-Up and Gold Laser Sight for pistols and SMGs, and we’re introducing fun updates to Tridents! Grab your friends, squad up and get ready to dive into Amped! For additional insights into some of Amped’s key updates, check out our highlights blog from last week and for details on all seasonal changes, please read on! ANTI-CHEAT Before we get into the nitty gritty of seasonal changes, a quick Anti-Cheat update for you all! As part of our continued efforts to combat cheaters in Apex Legends, we launched a new detection model, in early October, to assist us in investigating possible 3rd party bots in our game. In just two weeks, over 1,000 bot accounts were banned. We saw a majority of bans hit Windows PC (71%) and Switch (21%). Detected bot infection rates spiked after the rollout as expected - meaning the new tech is successfully identifying bots - then tapered off as we banned these accounts. As a result, we saw a meaningful decline of player reports (for AFK and abandoned match behavior) on Switch and reports per user over the subsequent 28 days decreased for both PC and Switch. Our team is continuing their hard work to establish and maintain competitive integrity and we will continue to provide updates when we have information to share! AUDIO UPDATES We've been developing many new audio systems to address community feedback and improve audio reliability.This season we’re adding a new "Focused" mix option, intended to give you control over how you prefer to hear the action. Our new threat system will add dynamic contextual awareness to the mix. Multiband sidechain compression will help enemy footstep audio be heard more clearly. Environmental audio improvements offer a smoother blend between indoor and outdoor spaces. Additionally, we’re now armed with improved telemetry to more accurately discover causes of audio failures. We will continue to monitor feedback in our community spaces as it helps us understand how these changes affect your gameplay experience as we continue to work on these systems. For more details, please check our audio-focused dev blog. GAME STABILITY We rolled out a profiling tool to our production servers to capture more information about instances of slow performance on servers. This tool (RProf) has commonly been used in our development environment to find slow segments of engine code and game script, but is now tuned for production use. From this, we have been able to examine and fix cases that are more unique to running the game at scale, and can more easily track degradations in performance over time. As always, game stability work is always happening behind the scenes and we will share updates when we have them! RANKED This season, we’re making balance adjustments to Kill Point values making eliminations more rewarding across all placements. We’re also making changes to loot distribution across Ranked Drop Zone POIs - there will still be some variance, obviously, but we’re hoping things feel a lot more even. We will continue to monitor player feedback on this change, and general sentiment surrounding drop zones. Additionally, we are reducing the requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail from 3 completions to 2 to simplify seasonal goals, reduce grind, and make the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. You’ll find all of the details about these changes later in this Patch Notes. NEW FEATURE: WISHLIST We want to give players some additional options for certain packs. Wishlist is a feature that will be enabled on select packs and will influence cosmetic drops for the Legends and loadouts you designate. Here’s how it works: Pick 5 Legends and 2 Weapons to add to your Wishlist Depending on the pack Wishlist may only impact items of a certain rarity (specific rarity tier will be noted) If the pack drops a Wishlist-enabled item you are guaranteed at least one item from your chosen Legends All selections must be valid for Wishlist to be Active. A selection is valid as long as you don't own 100% of the items for that Legend or Weapon Class from the Apex Pack Pool If a Wishlist is Inactive or Unavailable at the time of opening a Wishlist-enabled pack, the items will instead draw from the generic Apex Pack pool. You get 5 Wishlist edits per season (refreshed each new season). After that, you can keep editing anytime for 500 Legend Tokens per edit. See here for more specific details on how Wishlist functions and how our packs function. NEW: AMPED SEASONAL PACK This season, we're introducing the Amped Seasonal Pack, available all season long. This special pack is Wishlist-enabled and gives you a chance at unlocking: The new ‘Bird of Prey’ Mythic R-99 Weapon New Legendary cosmetics to change up your look Wishlist activation for Epic-tier drop, relevant to your chosen Legends or Weapons The Amped Seasonal Pack brings a new and more focused way to earn cosmetics all season long. You can earn up to 5 Amped Seasonal Packs throughout the season via challenges and the free Battle Pass Tracks. For full details and Amped Seasonal Pack probabilities, please view our Additional Pack Disclosures page (updates November 4, 2025). PATCH NOTES BALANCE UPDATES Care Package Rotation Triple Take return to the floor (details below) C.A.R. SMG enters the Care Package (details below) Gold Weapon Rotation Alternator SMG, G7 Scout, Havoc, Bocek Compound Bow, Akimbo Mozambique GAME UPDATES Extended Supply Bins & Weapon Supply Bins Added icons back to the minimap and full-map Arsenals Increased ammo bricks to give full stacks of the applicable ammo type Replicators New craftable item: Arrow Bundle Only obtainable when crafting Ammo when Bocek Compound Bow is in your loadout On pick-up, fully replenishes your arrow reserves on one Bocek weapon Can only be picked up if you are holding a Bocek and it is not full on arrows Mantle Boost Added Mantle Boost ability to all Legends, granting velocity on a timed input after a mantle Added options for customizing Mantle Boost input key or button Added option to remap character movement ability Added options for reducing the UI footprint on the HUD for Mantle Boost Dev Note: We were inspired to add Mantle Boost by our players’ exploration of the unique momentum-based movement of Apex Legends. This new official Mantle Boost will enable all players to perform an advanced movement technique. It will be accessible, but it still requires skill to learn to use it and to know when it’s the right time to Boost. Heat Shields Update Heat Shields removed from Core BR Modes (including Trios and Duos). Dev Note: We rolled out the removal of Heat Shields in Ranked with Season 26, focusing decision making for players around strong strategic plays and rotations. We have seen positive outcomes with that change so we’re expanding the change to all Core BR modes. Playing outside the Ring should be a risky endeavor that is only a last resort. Don’t wanna get burned? Get a move on, Legend. Tridents 2.0 Foundational Improvements: Updated model and textures Collision tightened for a smoother ride and to allow occupants to be hit Trident can now be damaged and destroyed – starts at 800 health Trident occupants and the vehicle can be damaged independently Tridents can now damage enemies if hitting them at high speeds Camera and controls tuned for more responsiveness and precision Boost Meter has replaced the single use Boost New Movement Features: Jump: Press Jump to jump from the ground Glide: Hold Jump to Glide when off the ground. While gliding: Trident will very slowly lose altitude Trident can be steered in any direction Trident can boost forward New Healing and Spawning Features Auto-Healing: If a Trident avoids damage for a period of time, it will slowly regenerate health and regress its damage state Auto-Respawn: A destroyed Trident will be replaced by a new one at its original spawning location after an indicated delay Improved UI to better indicate to driver and passengers Trident health and damage information Control mappings adjusted to account for new features Dev Note: The Tridents are receiving a tune-up this season with a number of redesigns to offer players a more interesting, responsive, and satisfying driving experience as well as provide exciting counter play options. Tridents no longer split damage between occupants which should make them feel like a safer tool to use when making large rotations. However, they'll no longer provide movable indestructible cover when being used more tactically during a firefight. LEGEND CHANGES VALKYRIE Dev note: Valkyrie’s pick rate has been up and down all year, and we feel she’s currently in a place where she’s not living up to her potential. This set of buffs should help to modernize this fan-favorite. VTOL Jets Jetpack cooldown and fly speed reworked Cooldown Recharge delay significantly reduced (8 → 2.5 sec) Recharge time significantly reduced (~10.9 → 3 sec) Fuel doesn’t start recharging until you touch ground EMP effects drain jetpack fuel Speed Horizontal fly speed and strafe amount significantly increased Vertical fly speed increased. Additional vertical speed when flying straight up Reduced initial speed boost for first 0.5 sec (~25% faster → ~5% slower) Total fuel reduced (8 → 6 sec) Initial fuel consumption slightly increased Dev note: Valkyrie’s Jetpack broke new ground when it was introduced to Apex, but over time we started to feel it wasn’t living up to the high-flying promise of a Jetpack character. This new change rewards longer burns of the jetpack, allowing you to cover distance faster. Learning to use the (largely forgotten) flight mode is one of the keys to success with the updated jetpack! Missile Swarm Removed self damage and stun effect Added short (1.5 sec) full body scan on hit Tac damage now puts movement passives on cooldown (like other EMP effects) Removed 5 seconds of cooldown (30 sec → 25 sec) Removed vertical clearance firing restriction Improved missile pathing to work better in some situations such as low clearance situations (firing indoors or at targets under a bridge) Increased max range (~100m → 125m) Dev note: Valkyrie’s tactical was one of her biggest pain points, with many situations where it was either was more likely to stun her than to hit the target (or just wasn’t allowed). We improved the reliability of her tactical, and also took the opportunity to lean a bit more into Valkyrie’s identity as a recon by adding a short scan to the missiles. Skyward Dive Increased launch height 15% (integrated Afterburners upgrade) Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3 min → 2.5 min) Reduced delay before takeoff (2 sec → 1.5 sec) Slightly reduced time slowly rising before takeoff (1.83 sec → 1.33 sec) Removed self cancel cooldown penalty Reduced damage cooldown penalty (54 sec → 30 sec) Skydive Improvements Allow tactical to be fired when skydiving (except from drop ship) Land faster when skydiving (spend less time slow falling near ground) Dev note: The skies belong to Valkyrie. Upgrades Level 2 Afterburners: Removed (included by default) Eyes in the Sky: Moved to Level 2 Full Coverage: Changes missile swarm pattern to 4x5 (was 3x5) Level 3 Full Tank: Removed (jetpack reworked) NEW Supersonic: Ultimate launch time reduced ~50% REWORKED: Aerial Expert: Improves jetpack horizontal speed, significantly improves handling, decreases initial fuel consumption, slightly reduces total fuel. Dev note: To top off Valk’s update, we added a few new premier upgrades, allowing you to push either her Ultimate or Passive to their final forms. RAMPART Dev note: Rampart’s effectiveness and pick rate have slipped to extremely low levels in recent months. We hope this refresh to her kit will enhance her survivability and make her more of a viable Controller pick. Battle Modder Adds additional effect to old passive (Modded Loader). Cover walls permanently gain health as Rampart gains Evo Levels. Amped Cover Adds amped shield roof to wall Walls can now be charged by doing damage through the amped shield or by having the wall be damaged by enemies. Wall charge is converted to a speed boost by going over the wall Wall can store up to 300 damage, which results in a 15 second speed boost at full charge. Speed boost time scales linearly with stored charge. Wall charge is only usable by teammates, and each teammate can use stored charge individually. Speed boost is automatically given to nearby teammates when the wall is destroyed. Damage to wall is stored at 25%, while damage through amped shield is stored at 100% Speed boost only applies when sprinting Battle Modder health increases: Wall health increase by 200 per Evo level (400 → 800 at max level) Shield health increased by 25 per Evo level (175 → 225 at max level) Health while wall building reduced (120 → 100 ) Amped shield arc star damage multiplier removed (1.5x → 1.0x) Wall frag grenade damage multiplier increased (1.0x → 2.0x) Dev note: Rampart’s walls are core to her identity and playstyle, but felt like they’d been left behind. With her new passive giving the walls more health and roof, the walls should keep you safer in more situations while the speed boost should help your team capitalize on the impact from the wall. We’ve also increased the damage walls take from grenades, and reduced their health while building to preserve counterplay. Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed Bandolier: Removed (replaced with Combat reserve) NEW: Combat reserve: Bigger ammo stacks, extra grenades slots, access red weapon supply bins NEW: Locked and Loaded: gain faster reloads and infinite ammo when behind amped cover and shield is in tact Level 3 Ramped up: Unchanged Amped Reloads: Removed (replaced with Locked and Loaded) NEW: Rebuild Module. Amped cover will regen health and rebuild shield section after not being damaged for a period of time Dev note: Rampart’s upgrades allow you to lean either into a more aggressive Assault playstyle or doubling down on her walls to hold space and apply constant pressure to opposing squads. HORIZON Dev note: Horizon has been in an interesting place in the meta. She is at her lowest pick rate ever, but maintaining a strong encounter win rate. We’re giving her back some of the power that’s been nerfed previously to make her a more attractive pick, and we are adding a few new fun upgrades to play with. We’ll continue monitoring to see how she performs in live. Gravity Lift Increased lift speed (300 → 375) Increased hover time at top of lift (0.5 sec → 1.5 sec) Cooldown reductions: Reduced cooldown by 5 seconds (25 sec → 20 sec) Reduced delay before cooldown starts 8 sec (10 sec → 2 sec) Effectively reduced cooldown from 35 sec → 22 sec Black Hole Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3.5 min → 3 min) Increased health (175 → 225) Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed (included by default) Tactical Cooldown: Removed (included by default) NEW: Gravity Boots: Press crouch while in the air to fall much more quickly NEW: Newt Scoot: Press jump after exiting gravity lift to glide Level 3 Conservation of Energy: Unchanged Combat Reserve: Removed NEW: Knock Expert: gain tactical charge on knocks. REVENANT Dev Note: We are seeing Revenant pull away from the rest of the roster in very high tier lobbies, and believe it's in part due to his ability to drop on enemies suddenly from very far away. Given how fast his 'weapons up' time is now, we felt reducing the maximum amount of distance he can travel in Shadow Pounce will reduce the frustration on the receiving end. We think this combined with the Valkyrie and Horizon changes will create a more even split between our most mobile characters. Reduced the maximum possible velocity of Revenants Shadow Pounce LOOT & ATTACHMENTS AMPS Reduced healing rate of Overflow Healer Added Infinite Ammo and Over Armor to early game floor loot Added Over Armor potential Assault Bin amps ATTACHMENTS Gold Laser Sight New laser tier added: usable with all SMG and Pistol weapons Greatly improves ground and aerial hipfire spread Adds reverse hipfire – Continuous firing tightens hipfire spread LOCKED HOP-UPS Double Tap Trigger 375 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Alternator Accelerator Accelerator removed from all compatible weapons G7 Scout, Flatline, and CAR Skull Piercer Skull Piercer removed from all compatible weapons 30-30, Wingman, and Longbow Graffiti Mod Removed from: Spitfire and EVA-8 Added to: Mozambique and Wingman Gun Shield Generator Removed from: Rampage Added to: Triple Take Selectfire Receiver Increased points to unlock to 450 on the Charge Rifle (Previous Hotfix) WEAPONS LMG All LMGs (Except L-STAR EMG) Removed Reverse Hipfire mechanic from LMGs Hipfire spread decreased to compensate Updated reticles to original plus design Dev Note: Reverse hipfire provides a lot of power in close quarters combat. This season, we want to give some room for our true close quarters weapons to shine, so we have removed this mechanic from LMGs. MARKSMAN All Marksmans Reduced projectile size and scaling Decreased projectile launch speed Reduced headshot damage multiplier Dev Note: The Marksman meta has been reigning strong for a few seasons now and the time has come for us to hit them with some more potent adjustments. We are hoping that these changes will hit their long range consistency, as well as remove the spikiness that can come with landing one or two headshots. 30-30 Repeater Headshot multiplier reduced (Previous Hotfix) Bocek Compound Bow Added 2x-4x AOG Scope as a compatible attachment Dev Note: We did it. Triple Take [Floor Loot] Damage reduced to 22 per bullet (was 23) Increased choke charge time Increased fire rate while hipfiring PISTOL P2020 [Care Package] Increased fire rate Increased magazine size to 26 (was 22) RE-45 Burst Horizontal and vertical recoil improvements (Previous hotfix) Purple mag size increased by 3 (Previous hotfix) SHOTGUN Peacekeeper Full burst damage reduced to 99 (was 108) Increased choke charge time Rechamber time decreased to 1.1 (Reverting a previous hotfix) Clip size reduced to 5 (was 6) (Previous Hotfix) Dev Note: The PK has been super dominant since coming out of the care package. While we have seen some good downward movement since our most recent set of hotfixes, we hear you, damage and range are the pain points here. We are giving back some of the handling we took away in a previous hotfix and hitting it accordingly. SMG Alternator SMG Damage increased to 19 (was 18) Magazine size adjustments: Blue magazine decreased to 26 (was 27) Purple and gold magazines increased to 30 (was 29) While using Double Tap Trigger: Shoots bullets out of each barrel, simultaneously Reduced fire rate Damage per bullet reduced to 15 C.A.R. SMG [Care Package] Added Hop-Up: Galvanic Gavel Allows the magazine to be swapped between Disruptor and Hammerpoint Rounds Upon first pick-up, begins on Disruptor Rounds Magazine size increased to 30 (was 28) Improved reload speed of the mag swap Prowler PDW While in burst fire mode, holding down the trigger now releases subsequent bursts Slightly increased burst delay Volt SMG Increased projectile size in close quarters SNIPER All Snipers Reduced projectile size Charge Rifle Maximum damage reduced to 99 (was 110) Damage reduced by 40% while using Select Fire mode (was 25%) (Previous Hotfix) Damage scaling minimum distance increased to 75 meters (was 50m) (Previous Hotfix) MAPS Olympus: Added Somers University POI (replacing Orbital Cannon) and moved Elysium nearby. Added Gravity Engine POI (replacing Energy Depot) Added Stabilizer POI (replacing Docks) Added Dockyard POI Added large amounts of additional cover in open rotation spaces around the following POIs: Phase Driver Oasis Clinic Hammond Labs Estates Hammond Labs: Transformed terrain and added tunnels to protect players and provide additional options to attack the waterfall high ground. Hammond Labs: Moved additional cover from Control mode into the base map, including the home base structures. Hammond Labs: Added jump tower behind Hammond Labs. Rift: Added new camp in the center of Rift to reduce open space. Added additional cover to open spaces in Rift. Rift: Replaced vacuum behavior of the Rift teleporter with a Horizon Lift to prevent players from entering accidentally. Rift: Added a large camp between Rift and Gardens to resolve the previously large open space and help players contest the high ground. Grow Towers: Replaced the third Grow Tower with buildings and tunnels to help players safely rotate through the POI when teams are holding the towers. Added jump tower. Turbine: Added a new camp underneath the highway between Turbine and Estates to prevent players from being gatekept at the ramp. Turbine: Added a new rotation from the east tunnel that connects directly to Gravity Engine (previously Energy Depot). Carrier: Added two additional doors at the central chokepoint to prevent the fight from stalling. Phase Driver: Increased Phase Driver loot cooldown from 45 seconds to 90 seconds. Added a camp in the circular pit between Hammond Labs and Somers University (previously Orbital Cannon). Bonsai Plaza: Added additional ziplines to access high walls around the POI. Removed a large amount of Trident barriers across the map. Dev Note: While Olympus has been a fan favorite for a while, we want to action on player feedback related to how to improve its competitive integrity. Keeping in mind both high-level matches and overall balance, we made some significant revisions to POIs like Energy Depot and Orbital Cannon to address anything from lopsided rotations to a distinct lack of cover in some of the more desolate areas. It was important to maintain the map’s identity during this process, so we wanted to only add to what makes Olympus so special while being very surgical and precise about anything that was removed or replaced. Pubs & Ranked Rotation Olympus Broken Moon World’s Edge Mixtape 11/04/25 - 1/5/26 Map Rotation TDM Skull Town, Thunderdome, Fragment, Estates CONTROL Barometer, Labs, Production Yard, Lava Siphon GUN RUN Estates, Skull Town, Zeus, Thunderdome WILDCARD Wildcard 11/04/25 - 11/18/25 Wildcard: Kings Canyon Wild Cards We’ve seen meaningful positive player sentiment surrounding Wild Cards in Wildcard, so: Wild Cards are now activated and here to stay, even when we don’t have an active event! Every match now features a range of Wild Cards, bringing extra chaos and surprises for more unpredictable and exciting gameplay. Wild Cards Extra Ordnance Drone Support Smoke Out High Velocity Status Report Speedy Charge Recharger Fast Draw Monstrous Strength Wildcard Gameplay Updates Highlight on Enemy Elimination balance tweaks Enemy highlights will no longer trigger on a team unless there is only one enemy still alive. Enemy highlights will no longer trigger if players choose to manually bleed out. Enemy highlight duration reduced 5 seconds -> 2.5 seconds. Dev Note: Currently in Wildcard, when you eliminate any enemy, their teammates are highlighted for a period of time. We are updating the rules of this system to reduce the benefits of thirsting as well as have more natural encounters without having enemy locations constantly revealed. Shield Cells Increased carrying capacity of shield cells from 12 -> 15 More shield cells spawn in loot, reduced ammo spawns to compensate. Dev Note: We’ve heard feedback that players were running low on healing items throughout a wildcard match, so we have increased carrying capacity and increased their loot spawns to make this pain point a little smaller. Gold 1x Digital Threat sight returns to loot as a rare spawn. Equippable on SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols. Dev Note: Similar to the 1x Holo, The Gold Digital Threat scope has been vaulted for some time, and we know it is a fan favorite for some. We are re-introducing it to the Wildcard loot pool for this season as a fun item to find and make your SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols even more deadly! Wild Cards balance Reduced shield recharge rate on Recharger wildcard when sprinting. Reduced initial speed gain when using the Wallruning wildcard. Dev Note: In Season 26, these wildcards were some of the strongest bunch in the pool and in some cases were becoming frustrating to play against. We are tuning them down a touch to bring them in line with some of the other wildcards coming in this season. New Mythic Weapon rotation. WEAPONS LEAVING L-STAR Devotion LMG Hemlok R-99 Peacekeeper WEAPONS RETURNING Kraber Triple Take Wingman Prowler P2020 Akimbo Rampage LMG Automatically Revved up when first being picked up. G7 Scout Double Tap and Sniper Scopes can be attached. NEW WEAPONS C.A.R. RANKED As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Ranked experience, we conducted a matchmaking test at the end of Season 26 (more on that here). We will return with the results of this test once the data has been compiled, so keep an eye out! Scoring Tuning Kill Points changes 1st: 22 RP (was 20 RP) 2nd: 20 RP (was 18 RP) 3rd: 18 RP (was 16 RP) 4th: 16 RP (was 14 RP) 5th: 16 RP (was 12 RP) 6th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 7th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 8th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 9th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 10th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 11th-15th: 8 RP (was 6 RP) 16th-20th: 6 RP (was 4 RP) Challenger Bonus changes If the killer’s rank is 1 tier lower than the victim: KP +20% bonus, was 15% If the gap is 2 tiers: +30% bonus, was 25% If the gap is 3 tiers: +40% bonus, was 35% Dev Note: Throughout Season 26, we consistently heard feedback that eliminations often felt undervalued compared to placement. Many players expressed that strong combat performance didn’t always translate into meaningful progression, especially in mid-to high-tier lobbies. In Season 27, we’ve adjusted Kill Point values to make eliminations more rewarding across all placements. This tuning increases the RP value earned from fights while keeping placement as a significant factor in final score calculation. Our goal is to better recognize player impact in every match — rewarding those who take risks and perform well in combat, without overshadowing strategic play and survival. Drop Zones Loot Overhaul Made the loot that spawns across all Drop Zone POIs more fair. There is still variance between POIs, but it is much less than previously. Maintains the same number of spawns across the map for each loot item, but changes where they are more likely to spawn, in order to avoid inflation/deflation. These loot changes are for Ranked only, not Unranked. Dev Note updated: Drop Zone has been a contentious topic within the community; while some praised how it improved the competitiveness of Ranked, others expressed concerns - primarily, the negative impact unbalanced POI loot levels have on the fairness of the mode. Our focus is to listen to those concerns to try to bring the feature to a satisfactory spot. As such, we did this loot overhaul to bring POIs in line with each other as far as we could without changing the maps or causing loot inflation/deflation. We'll continue to monitor your feedback as the season progresses. Ranked Ladders (coming later this split) Ranked Ladder Start Date End Date Ranked Ladder 1 11/13/2025 11/16/2025 Ranked Ladder 2 11/20/2025 11/23/2025 Ranked Ladder 3 11/27/2025 11/30/2025 Ranked Ladder 4 12/4/2025 12/7/2025 Ranked Ladder 5 12/11/2025 12/14/2025 Ranked Ladder 6 12/25/2025 12/28/2025 Ranked Ladder 7 1/1/2026 1/4/2026 Ranked Ladder 8 1/8/2026 1/11/2026 Ranked Ladder 9 1/15/2026 1/18/2026 Ranked Ladder 10 1/22/2026 1/25/2026 Ranked Ladder 11 1/29/2026 2/1/2026 Ranked Ladder 12 2/5/2026 2/8/2026 Ranked Challenges The requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail has been reduced from 3 completions to 2. Dev Note: This change simplifies seasonal goals, reduces grind, and makes the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. BUG FIXES Wildcard Fixed players being able to revive each other to stay alive in the ring longer than intended Locked Hop-Ups Fixed Locked Hop-Ups not working properly in the Firing Range Fixed some issues with Ballistic’s sling and Locked Hop-Up weapons Fixed some issues with the Locked Hop-Up UI Ranked Fixed issue where you could not remove map pings in the prematch preview Misc Fixed the infinite ammo amp sometimes causing the player to respawn with locked inventory slots Fixed retro packs in the store not updating the amount of packs already opened Fixed skydive emotes leaving a breadcrumb on the legend tab but not the specific legend which had the new unlock Fixed health bars sometimes not displaying properly when firing through windows Fixed a wall that could be seen through around Artillery LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Fixed issue where camera could jump around when walking into Amped Cover. Catalyst Enemies near her Piercing Spikes should no longer see two threat indicators for a single spike Gibraltar: Fixed incorrect damage flyout UI when shooting his passive arm shield Newcastle Fixed Castle Wall sometimes hitting enemies through floors and walls QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES Requeue, with Squad Requeue has been expanded to allow players outside of a party to opt-in to continuing to play together. Each Party Leader (including parties of 1, ie. solo queuers) has the option to either ‘play again’ and merge their party together with other parties that also want to play again, or they can requeue with only their existing party. This does not create any kind of Friends relationship – it only forms a new Party that can continue to play together without having to return to the Lobby. Designer’s Note: We want to remove as many barriers as possible to keeping a fun time going. When you do find that magical unicorn of a random player and everyone wants to keep playing into the next match, this is the solution. UX/UI Added a button prompt in the Legend Locker screen for Legend skins, Weapon skins, and Melee skins to show/hide the UI to get a better view of the cosmetic Standardized a number of square button widgets, mostly in the lobby menu, to achieve a more consistent interactivity and aesthetic across the game Misc. Added a new voice chat option to toggle your microphone. Ranked - Added announcer VO saying which Drop Zone your team is landing at. Note: The Core on Broken Moon and Trident on Storm Point do not currently have VO. LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Allow interactions such as looting while holding Sheila Added additional placement mode for walls. By pressing Aim Down Sights, you can place a single wall and then pull out your weapons (matching the launch behavior). Placing a wall with the Attack button is unchanged from the current behavior. Reduced size of ‘amped’ bullet tracers when shooting though amped cover Rampart Added voice lines when being summoned to the Void Nexus when knocked ENGINE PC: Improved the performance of loading models and textures on systems with integrated graphics, especially Intel Iris XE laptops. This improves map loading times and reduces issues with missing models in-game. Added PC support for Handheld/Compact UI which makes it easier to play Apex on PC Handheld devices. Players can toggle between Full, Compact or Auto UI in game Settings.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 UpdateRev 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.
