EA and Respawn Entertainment have announced and revealed details for the next season of Apex Legends. Season 16 is called Revelry and is set to go live next Tuesday, February 14. This season is going to be a little different from previous seasons. Typically, a new season of Apex Legends introduces a new Legend for players to choose from but that is not the case for Revelry. “This year we’re going to shake things up and reset the playing field, making Apex Legends more accessible than ever whether you’re coming back or playing Apex for the first time,” Game Director Steven Ferreira and Design Director Evan Nikolich said. “There’s something for everyone. Nothing is safe and there are going to be some pretty significant changes that we’ve been working on for a while.”
Instead of introducing a new Legend into the mix, Respawn opted to take a look and the core Legends and see how they can evolve the ways players have been using them. This is where a reworked class system called Remastered Legends Classes comes in. There will be 5 classes: Assault, Recon, Skirmisher, Controller, and Support. Each class will have a meaningful, unique perk – whether that be the way a Legend interacts with loot bins or new ways to revive teammates. A few buffs and nerfs across several Legends will be coming including Lifeline, Seer, and Wraith. The full details on Legend changes will be released with the patch notes closer to launch.
Team Deathmatch is coming to the Apex Games when Revelry launches on February 14. “Available for the first 3 weeks of the season, TDM has been our community’s most requested mode and we’re excited to be delivering this at launch,” Ferreira and Nikolich said. Another community request has been a permanent modes playlist. Players will be getting that in early March with Mixtape. Mixtape will feature a rotation of TDM, Gun Run, and Control. The new weapon coming into the Apex Games is the new energy weapon: The Nemesis. Respawn says that they hope that this new energy weapon can unseat some of the other favorites like the R-301 and the Flatline.
Respawn has also announced that they are overhauling everything for the first-time player experience. This includes improvements to the Firing Range, adding in Dummy strafing and stat tracking. Bots will be added to matches for new players so they can get their feet underneath them. This goes hand in hand with the new Orientation Match system. Orientation matches create a lower-pressure environment where new players can get their bearings, learn the core mechanics, and have a little more space to breathe while they learn how to play the game. New players can play solo, or bring along friends, to play a handful of Orientation Matches primarily against bots before being put into the normal matchmaking queues.
This month marks the 4th anniversary of Apex Legends which means the return of the Anniversary Collection event featuring an all-new community content reward track and lots of celebrations happening in the game. During the first two weeks, players who log in will have Crypto unlocked and one Crypto Thematic pack in week one. Week two unlocks Ash plus one Ash thematic pack for all players who log in. Every map in the rotation will have special decorations and a return of a fan favorite which will be revealed closer to the launch.
“We are so excited about this year of Apex Legends and want to take a moment to thank all the players and creators that have supported us over the last four years. We make this stuff for you and we can’t wait to try to surprise you again when Revelry launches on February 14th,” Ferreira and Nikolich said.