It might be hard to believe, but this month marks four years that Apex Legends has been around and four years that I’ve managed to avoid playing it. However, this might be the year that changes as Respawn Entertainment, the game’s developer, promises to shake things up for the upcoming 16th season set to release this February 14th.
One of the more significant changes coming to the game is something players have been begging for since launch. This Valentine’s day, players will be able to o queue for team deathmatch games for a limited time. In a nutshell, this new mode will see two teams of six players a side vie for supremacy. The first team to secure 30 kills wins the round, and teams will need to win two rounds to take the victory.
However, Deathmatch doesn’t come without a cost, and Respawn Entertainment has announced that following the release of Deathmatch, players should say goodbye to Arenas. According to Respawn, the 3v3 game mode wasn’t meeting its goal of being an excellent place to master Apex’s combat mechanics.
On March 7th, players will be introduced to Mixtape, a set of permanently rotating limited-time game modes. Mixtape will allow players to play fan favourites like Control, Gun Run and Deathmatch after its limited time runs out.
Another notable change coming to Season 16 includes a new energy weapon called the Nemesis. This assault rifle fires a four-round burst and will continue firing if the trigger is held down. Season 16 won’t see the introduction of a new playable character, as Respawn will spend this season tweaking and updating the current rotation first.
There will also be a new orientation match system that will see new players face off against bots to make the game more approachable for brand-new players and allow them to grow comfortable in a low-pressure environment.