Respawn Entertainment has proven over the past few seasons ofApex Legendsthat it is more than willing to experiment with the formula. This has resulted in near-unpredictablechanges toApex Legends, such as the return of Solos and the introduction of Quads, at various points over the past year.
Now,Apex Legendsand Respawn Entertainment are doing it again with a brand new game mode, legend buffs, new items for the loot pool, and more in Season 26. Ahead of its release, Game Rant sat down with a couple of devs to discuss all the content coming in the new season, including its new permanent game mode: Wildcard.The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Apex Legends' Brand New Game Mode: Wildcard
Game Rant:Where did the original idea for Wildcard come from?
Wolski: The original idea for Wildcard spawned from a couple of things. First, the previous success of Revival modes as well as fan feedback for a more permanent revival mode. Second, we wanted to have a space where we could freely experiment with brand new game mechanics that were more on the side of casual than competitive without sacrificing the competitive integrity of the regular Trios/Duos modes. And third, we wanted a battle royale mode that is a little bit more laid-back and forgiving, allowing newer or returning players to have a space where they can learn and engage with the basics. We wanted a Battle Royale experience that focused on movement, shooting, and legends without the more complex mechanics found in the regular Battle Royale mode.
Thus, Wildcard was born as a permanent revival mode that is geared towards more intense action, revivals, and a place where fun limited-time modes can change up the gameplay with each season.
Game Rant: How did pastLTMs for Apex Legendsinfluence Wildcard’s overall design?
Ruvolo: We saw a lot of positivity around modes that allowed players to get back into the fight more often (Revivals, Second Chance Tokens, Three-Strikes) so we knew we wanted to start Wildcard with that kind of rules set. We have also heard that PUBS/Unranked Takeovers would sometimes ruin the experience for those players who enjoy the Core Apex modes. We still want to have the opportunity to try new and interesting ways to play Apex Legends, and Wildcard will be your mode to experience LTM-style events containing those powerful weapons and interesting gameplay changes.
Game Rant:Announcing it as a permanent mode is coming out pretty strong. What are your general expectations for it once it is out in the world when a lot ofApex modesare naturally temporary?
Ruvolo: Wildcard has a dedicated team behind it that will be working season after season to keep Wildcard feeling fresh and those knobs turned to 11. You should expect to see new events, introducing new ways to play with Wild Cards, Weapons and Gameplay, along with updated maps.
Game Rant:Legend Stacking sounds so fun. Wildcard is obviously a bit more of a lax experience, but how do you think this impacts player behavior in a squad and theApex Legends meta?
Wolski: There are definitely some strong combos now that players can play multiple of the same legend! Even in internal playtests, everyone has started to form their favorites. Three Ramparts set up with Sheilas was definitely one of the first ones that emerged and was running rampant - pun definitely intended.
One of the main reasons we introduced this mechanic was to try and allow players to not get blocked from playing a legend they enjoy if someone on their squad already picked them. We also saw the opportunities for brand new emergent gameplay to form from having multiple of the same legend in a squad that we really haven’t seen before. So overall, we are very excited to see what the players come up with in this mode. We have a few ideas about which combinations are strong, but it will be interesting to see what the players come up with once the mode goes live! We don’t believe this will have any effect on the meta of Ranked and Unranked, but Wildcard will surely have their own meta Legend picks due to Legend Stacking.
Game Rant:How did you approach designing thenew Apex Legends perks and abilitiesthat are in Wildcard?
Wolski: I think the main goal here with the Wild Cards is Fun with a capital F! We really wanted to have abilities that push a specific playstyle. For example, the WallRun or Recharger (recharge shields while sprinting) caters towards the more movement-oriented player. Other Wild Cards such as Status Report, which reveals enemy locations on knock, are geared towards the more strategic type of
player. So throughout the match, each player has a miniature Rogue-like experience to pick the Wild Cards that suit their playstyle or maybe even try out other playstyles entirely. And most importantly the main design driver is, how much fun are we having with it?
Looking forward a bit to future seasons, we will be adding new Wild Cards into the mix over time with each new set of Wild Cards being designed around the theme of each season, and we will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible within the Wildcard mode and even Apex as a whole.
Game Rant: Can you talk a little bit about the visual design of the cards? Are they static or specifically designed to represent key things?
Ruvolo: Each of our Wild Cards is given unique imagery to assist in communicating their gameplay functionality. With the team looking to create new Wild Cards with each event there may be similar themes to the images, like displaying a fist when a Wild Card will affect Melee attacks or actions.
Game Rant:It was also mentioned that, with Wildcard, you’ve focused on reducing cognitive load on players. Can you talk a little bit about that and how it impacts players differently fromthe normal Battle Royale mode?
Ruvolo: Reducing cognitive load was one of our main goals when developing Wildcard. We want players to spend more time playing and enjoying the core gameplay of Apex’s Legends, weapons, and movement systems and less time worrying about inventory management and healing. With the Wildcard AutoLoot and Simplified Inventory systems, players no longer need to decide between an Ordnance or another stack of Ammo. Instead, all loot (sans weapons and scopes) will automatically be picked up off the ground and loot bins, and placed into the player’s inventory where every item has their own dedicated slot. When a player is eliminated, all of their AutoLootable items will pinata out of their Deathbox, while their weapons and scopes remain within, eliminating the need to inspect every Deathbox for supplies.
With regards to healing, the Shield Cell is the only healing item in Wildcard. All players are given Health Regeneration. All players start and stay at Blue Armor throughout the match. Our new Wildcard loot item, the EVO Orb, will not only grant a small amount of EVO XP, but also some shields and immediately kickstart your health regeneration. So when you eliminate a player, snag their loot, pop a Shield Cell or two and move on to the next fight!
Apex Legends New Season 26 Content
Game Rant:With the buffs to Caustic and Bangalore, I do have to ask if last year’s"can’t see sh*t" metawas brought up in any discussions about how to buff these two characters?
Berryhill: That was a concern of ours as well! One of the reasons it took longer for us to get back to these two was that anytime we buffed Bang and Caustic internally, and they were meta, the amount of vision blockers was too much to play the game! We realized we needed to take a risk and give some counterplay to smoke/gas so that we can buff them in other ways that help them live up to their fantasy. We added a system we called “Reactive Smoke & Gas” where volumes can be thinned and even dispersed by ordnance and legend abilities. This allows us to tune just how present vision blockers are by allowing clouds to either be temporarily or permanently dispersed by gameplay. We’re going to be very vigilant about tweaking the numbers when the season launches to make sure there’s value for both Caustic and Bang and counterplay from their victims, so please share your feedback!
Game Rant:Controller Class perksare also getting a little stronger. What were the goals there?
Berryhill: Controllers perks were among the weakest class perks in terms of combat performance. Compared to the value that either assault, skirmisher, or support perks can give, they felt like they had lagged behind. Additionally, we realized that Controllers were okay in the ring but were struggling to get into the ring and set up. We are hoping these changes will let controllers safely get to ring and feel stronger in long-entrenched fights where their class fantasy can play out.
Game Rant:How would you describe the general direction ofthe Apex Legends weapon metachanges this season?
Canavese: Our weapon and loot meta is really shaking up this season, but we’re doing it in a new way. It’s not just buffs and nerfs on individual weapons; with the Locked Hop-Up system and Amps, we’re trying to streamline power and turn up the heat. We’re hoping that giving players access to the right hop-ups makes them a much more reliable part of a player’s loadout and decision-making. Amps provide the player with incredible strength, especially when they find ones that complement their playstyle. We’re making big splashes this season, and we’re stoked to see how the players use all these new tools to dominate the outlands.
Game Rant: Where did the original idea for Elite Weapons come from?
Canavese: We’ve got a large roster of weapons and naturally some settle to the bottom. We look at this as an opportunity. Sure, we could just buff them, but we thought it would be an exciting opportunity to approach them in a completely different way. This angle provides players with completely new gameplay and allows us to experiment with new weaponry while also giving underused or underpowered weapons their moment in the spotlight. We can get really radical with the ideas, beyond what we would normally do with a hop-up or baseline buff.
Game Rant:Amps look incredibly powerful. How did you approach balancing these but also making sure that they are still as impressive as they are?
Odell: You’re exactly right, we want amps to be a powerful new tool players have for strategizing and creating exciting loadouts. In terms of balancing the amps against each other, we aimed to create abilities that touch a variety of places in the game so that each amp has a clear use and a time when a player would want that amp over all others. This avoids there being a single “best” amp. As for balancing amps to make them a fair addition to the game, we did a couple of things.
First, most of the abilities are things that opponents don’t necessarily need to know you have. This means we can give you cool, powerful abilities, but it shouldn’t feel frustrating to fight against someone with an amp. Infinite Ammo is a good example of this, as it makes a big difference when you have it, but enemies have no idea how much ammo you have so it doesn’t impact them.
Second, we made amps fairly rare in the early game but much easier to find after bins reset. The idea here is that it isn’t until the mid/late game that players are finalizing their loadout, and teams will generally reach this point at about the same time. This keeps the balance of power fair while inducing an interesting power spike towards the end of the match.
Game Rant:The Ranked Auras look incredible. I’ve got to know if there’s a relationship between adding these Auras to the game with theGen Z/Gen Alpha “Aura Farming”?
Arshad: Could be a happy coincidence or brilliant designer; you can be the judge of that! I think aura farming definitely fits within the framework of what we think ranked rewards should be: a flex of your achievements. Bringing back dive trails with ranked ladders was our first step. Introducing Auras is our next one in this continued expansion rewards that give players the ability to express and flex. One of the things I personally love about Auras is the fact that they react immediately to my rank promotions—makes those moments feel even more special!
Game Rant: Could you give us a couple examples of the new Accolades?
Arshad: Oooh, we have a ton of accolades, and they come in all shapes and sizes across all game modes. We’ve got tiered ones like Kills, Knocks, Revives that set a more difficult target as you achieve tiers. We’ve got single-tiered ones where the tier indicates the difficulty of achieving the goal - like reaching the top 5 or downing a player while sliding! One of my favorite ones is definitely saying thank you or welcome to your teammate - it speaks to the essence of recognizing a lot of the actions that previously went unrecognized by the game. Similarly, we have one called “Clutch Respawn” where you pull off a respawn after being the last member of your squad standing. I know pulling that off normally in the game is so rewarding, seeing the game recognize that moment has made it feel extra awesome.
I can’t wait for players to get their hands on the system, see if people can accomplish some of the most challenging ones like getting 20 kills in a game, or perform an inspect and kill a player with a no-scope Kraber all while in the air! The best part is you can see all the accolades in the lobby—see how many times you’ve each one and see the ones you’ve yet to achieve!
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