Huge Apex Legends Season 24 update buffs “every single weapon”, but devs promise “Apex is still Apex”

Apex Legends Season 24 has been officially announced, bringing massive changes to the game that aim to stop cheaters and refresh the experience for old and new players alike. Alongside changes to ranked mode, the addition of Arsenals and more, the long-running live-service game is buffing every single weapon in the game, massively decreasing the time-to-kill and offering a new pace for players.

Apex Legends devs promise weapon buffs won’t change everything

In a roundtable interview, VideoGamer asked Respawn whether or not the change in damage output across the game’s entire arsenal of weapons will change the feeling of Apex Legends as well as worries of live-service instability. As a long-running live-service game, fans of the title have fallen in love with the specific feeling of Respawn’s shooter, and the team doesn’t want to change that.

In Apex Legends Season 24, every weapon has increased damage and altered headshot multipliers. Additionally, specific weapons have seen tweaks to their magazine sizes, reload speeds, and other weapons now have lasers when they didn’t before. However, for the team, it was important that the core gameplay still feels “like Apex”.

Apex Legends lead BR designer Eric Canavese explained that “a lot, a lot of effort is put into making sure that the DNA of Apex is sort of retained through such wild and wide sweeping shifts in the meta”. While differences are expected, the team has aimed to make sure that Apex Legends’ most dedicated players feel at home with the new gameplay. Just like when the team rebalances characters after their overpowered launch, every change must be made with the soul of Apex in mind.

“You’re still playing Apex at the end of the day and that’s never gonna change.”

APEX LEGENDS LEAD BATTLE ROYALE DESIGNER ERIC CANAVESE

“The good thing about Apex and the content that we’ve released you over a year is that when we’re building stuff for Apex, it’s really ingrained into how it works and the ecosystem that we’ve built,” the designer explained. “So, when we adjust, you know, numbers for damage and headshots and stuff, and even adjust recoil and mag sizes, the guns still feel like their personality.”

Canavese explained that Respawn has a mantra to make sure that every aspect of an update has a “real purpose in the game”, and that also applies to sweeping balance patches. If one aspect of the game is tweaked, everything else needs to slot into place.

“Apex is still Apex,” the designer explained. “This is just going to be a different, you know, feel of how you’re getting those kills and how often you’re getting those kills, and maybe the length of combat [encounters], but you’re still playing Apex at the end of the day and that’s never gonna change.”

Respawn explained that the massive weapon buffs weren’t a quick decision, and months of testing and iteration has occurred to kick off Season 24 with a bang. However, only time will tell if players gel with the massive changes.

For more VideoGamer coverage, check out our interview with Marvel Rivals lead game designer Thaddeus Sasser, or read about how that game’s most impressive trick was a true pain to create.