Apex Legends game modes – What modes can you play right now?

How many Apex Legends game modes are there? It’s a fair question, as Respawn Entertainment’s flagship battle royale has expanded greatly since its inception and release. Although BR still dominates as the go-to game mode for many, Apex has seen plenty of smaller modes, LTMs, and collection events come and go over the years.

Here, we’re going to break down all the currently available Apex Legends game modes, as well as cover a few of those which have passed on. Make sure you’ve picked up the best weapons and best Legends if you want to boost your chances of winning. On the other end of the spectrum, why not have a look at the Apex Legends voice actors list, and see who you recognise?

All game modes in Apex Legends that you can currently play

Here’s a full list of all the game modes currently in Apex Legends.

• Unranked Battle Royale, including Duos and Trios.
• Ranked Battle Royale.
• Gun Run.
• Control.
• Death Match.
• Final Fantasy 7 Takeover
• Practice.
• Firing Range.

Let’s go through each one and explain how they work.

Unranked Battle Royale

The main game mode for Apex Legends is its battle royale. This mode sees about 60 players drop into enormous maps to engage in a violent free-for-all between teams. Duos sees teams of two, and trios sees teams of three compete for the title of Apex Champion.

The mode revolves on a well-known formula. Players will drop in and have to scavenge for loot, upgrades, and consumables to help them survive and win in combat. As this happens the map shrinks, with a deadly storm approaching from all sides forcing the ring in which players can safely compete to grow smaller and smaller in increments as a timer counts down. Note that regular Unranked BR will be unavailable while the Final Fantasy 7 crossover event is live.

Ranked Battle Royale

Ranked BR is the same as Unranked BR, only, obviously, it’s ranked. This is the queue you’ll want to join for competitive play to showcase your skills in-game, with higher squad placements and earning you more progress towards ranking up.

As of the Season 19 start time, players looking to rank up here will also need to complete placement challenges as they approach the cusp of ascending. Just like the matches themselves, these challenges become tougher and tougher the higher you climb.

Gun Run

One of the three Mixtape modes which rotate from the game mode selection menu every ten minutes, Gun Run sees players compete in team death matches. The catch is that each squad starts with the same guns, and each kill progresses you to a new gun in a randomised sequence of weapons. The aim is to be the first team to complete that sequence by racking up kills the fastest with a variety of weapons, always ending with a throwing knife. Typically, the higher up the chain you get, the more challenging the guns you need to score kills are.

Control

Control is your capture-the-points game mode. Teams will spawn onto large cut-out maps from the BR arenas at opposite ends, with a total of three capture zones available. Holding a capture zone generates points over time, and of course holding two or more gives your team the advantage. Zones are fast to take, hard to keep, and the distance between them make organisation and coordination game-changing strategies.

Death Match

A pretty self-explanatory Mixtape game mode, Death Match simply sees two teams of nine compete to score the most kills. The match ends when either one team reaches 50 kills total, or the timer runs out. Players can select from one of five loadouts at the start of the match, each geared for a different combat style like long range, close quarters, or mid-range.

Final Fantasy 7 Takeover

As of the Apex Legends Final Fantasy 7 crossover start time, Takeover is an active game mode, available for three weeks. This mode works just like regular Battle Royale, hence why Unranked BR is closing for its duration. The two major differences are the presence of the Buster Sword R2R5, and Materia orbs you can collect for powerful bonuses. We’ve broken down both in-depth, but here’s an overview.

The Buster Sword will have two attacks, a block which reduces incoming damage and a forward lunge which can close distance. Players will be able to pick it up like any other weapon around the map. Materia comes in five flavours, which act like weapon attachments and do the following things.

• Blue Materia – Damaging enemies heals you.
• Red Materia – Summons a Nessie to fight with you.
• Green Materia – Sends out an AOE attack when you reload.
• Yellow Materia – Shows the remaining health of any enemy you hit until they’re knocked.
• Purple Materia – Enables random crit chances when shooting an enemy.

Playing this mode will unlock various new rewards, potentially including some of the Apex Legends x Final Fantasy skins on offer with the event.

Practice

Practice is your starting tutorial mode for Apex Legends, helping you come to grips with or get a refresher on the basics. It allows you to test out some of the fundamentals and come to grips with the essential skills you’ll need to learn to succeed.

Firing Range

Firing Range is effectively a free-form testing ground. Here, you’ll encounter targets, bots, every weapon in the game, and the option to switch out Legends at a button press. This is the perfect place to hone your skills or test new ideas in a controlled environment. You can train your aim, try out new movement techs, and generally mess around as you see fit. There’s no set objective here, and you can come and go as you please.

What game modes have left Apex most recently?

The most recent game mode to go was Revenant Uprising. It’s unknown if it’ll return, though unlikely. The mode saw mixed reception. Here’s a breakdown of how it worked.

Revenant Uprising was the second most recent limited-time mode available with the Uprising collection event. It came with a variety of new skins and even some new Apex Legends perks which can be unlocked through play and challenge completions.

The mode itself was akin to a zombie-survival. It’s a massive 30v30 fight, pitching a simulacrum horde of Revenants against a team of surviving Legends.

If you were in the Revenant army, your goal was to stop the Legends from escaping on Evac ships before the time ran out. Most of the time, you’d spawn as a drone with a powerful jump, deadly speed, and a potent melee attack, but very little health and no armor. You’d respawn on death. One player on this side would play as the real, Red-Eyed Revenant, armed with powerful red shields and rare weapons. When this player died, the Red-Eye was reincarnated at random to another Revenant player.

The Legends meanwhile were aiming for escape. Their goal was to reach the Evac point while being mindful of the closing rings. To this end, you’d find weapons scattered around, all of which had infinite ammo and most of which were at least blue or purple grade. Scavenge, stick by your teammates, and fight through the horde was the main aim. If your squad wiped however, you’d change sides, becoming part of the Revenant army.

How to change game modes in Apex Legends

Changing game modes is a straightforward process. From the main lobby screen, navigate to the bottom left. Above the large Ready button will be a small thumbnail telling you the current mode, map, and state of crossplay. In the bottom right of this thumbnail is a cog symbol. Hover over it and click. This will bring up the game modes menu, from which you can select your chosen game mode.

Will old game modes come back to Apex Legends?

It’s a difficult question to answer, but doubtless one that plenty of veteran players will have asked themselves at one point or another. Contrary to how the modes menu might look now, there have been plenty of bygone game modes in Apex Legends, many of which remain popular enough for fans to hope for a comeback.

We can’t say with any certainty if any modes will return, but there are a handful we think are likely to show up again sooner or later.

Limited Time modes for collection events don’t often come back, but popular ideas sometimes return. The current Revenant Uprising mode for example is very similar to another, older gamemode called Shadowhunter. This mode itself was a Halloween event mode. Certainly, where the holidays are concerned, LTM modes are likely to return in some form, even if they’re not always identical to the previous year.

Another strong contender for returning is the Apex Legends Arenas game mode. This 3v3 survival mode was a staple of the game’s earlier attempts to branch out and try new things. With dedicated maps, a ranked mode, and more, it’s quite unlikely that we’ll never see it again. Whether it comes back as it was, reworked, or in a limited capacity as part of the Mixtape modes we can’t say, but it’s unlikely that we’ve seen the end of it.

That covers everything we’ve got for you on the many Apex Legends game modes, what they are, and what they can offer. If you’re thinking of downloading Apex again now that Apex cross progression is finally live, or already have it but needed a refresher, be sure to check out the latest Apex codes too.

Apex Legends game modes FAQ

How many game modes are currently in Apex Legends?

There are currently eight game modes available to play in Apex Legends, if counting unranked and ranked BR as separate modes.

Will the Apex Legends arenas game mode come back?

We don’t currently know if Arenas will come back to Apex Legends, but it seems a likely possibility that it could return in a time-limited fashion one day.