The growing cast of Apex Legends will not grow this season. Respawn Entertainment is not bringing a new playable character to the shooter for season 16—but the team will introduce a slew of ambitious changes to the game in the next season.
Apex‘s 16th season, named Revelry, is bringing in far-reaching adjustments to some of the core systems in Apex. “Because of all these changes, we’re actually putting a pause in adding a new legend this season so everyone can learn and master the new meta,” design director Evan Nikolich said. He clarified the hiatus in character launches is only temporary, though: “That doesn’t mean we’re done shipping legends. We have more legends coming in the future seasons, so just hang in there for a new legend next season.”
This will be the first time in the shooter’s history that a new legend isn’t added with a new season. “Season zero” (the period between launch and season one) added the original legends, as well as Caustic and Mirage, who were locked behind Legend Tokens. Since then, every season has added a new name to the cast, from Octane in March 2019 to Catalyst in November 2022.
“We wanted to use Revelry as a chance to really dig deep and focus our attention on enhancing the experience that kept Apex coming back for the last four years,” Nikolich said. To lean into Apex‘s strength, players will experience one of the most transformative seasons in Apex history.
Respawn will rework the game’s class system to better categorize the legends into five different types (as opposed to the four divisions it has had since launch). Most legends will go under the knife as part of the class adjustments, and players should be on the lookout for the new high-powered Nemesis energy AR, which fires in a four-round burst.
Fans can also dive into the six-vs-six Team Deathmatch mode endlessly for the first three weeks of the season. And once that stint is up, they can try the new Mixtape playlist, which allows players to dive into popular limited-time modes like Gun Run, Control, and Team Deathmatch in an almost permanent fashion. The new playlist comes at the expense of the Arenas game mode, though, which has dwindled in popularity since its launch and will be removed from the game.
Between rediscovering the legends they already know, diving into the new Team Deathmatch mode and the Mixtape playlist, the anniversary celebrations, and trying out the Nemesis, Apex players have plenty in stock for season 16—and they might not even notice the lack of a new face in the new legend selection screen.
