Apex Legends devs address hopes of adding Throwing Knife permanently

Respawn has added a new weapon as part of Apex Legends’ Gun Run LTM in the Beast of Prey collection event, the Throwing Knife. The fresh addition to the game has players hoping it’ll be a permanent feature, but developers aren’t keen just yet.

The new Gun Run LTM in Apex Legends is a throwback to gun games and arms races of old in other titles. You start with one weapon, and progress through the tiers as you get kills. It gets increasingly harder with worse guns too, making for a fun challenge.

Players are already loving the game mode, but one thing has captured intrigue and that’s the Throwing Knife. A new weapon exclusive to the Gun Run LTM, it’s what you need to use to end the game and get a win.

While Respawn put a lot of effort into bringing Throwing Knives to Apex Legends though, players shouldn’t expect it to be a permanent addition any time soon. If they were ever to do it, developer Robert West said there’d need to be some serious finetuning.

“The throwing knife was designed as the final weapon in Gun Run and is tuned to be quite lethal,” he said on September 20. “Even if we make it an air drop weapon, it would probably need some changes when considering battle royale.”

The idea of adding the Throwing Knife in the first place came out of necessity. Just ending the Gun Run LTM on a regular melee didn’t fit Apex Legends’ gameplay, so the developers had to think of something new.

It was spawned off the Arc Star, funnily enough: “We wanted something difficult but achievable, with some range but optimal at short range. Throwing Knives fit the bill and was prototyped really early on in development. [A developer] took the arc star, removed the explosion and upped the initial hit. We loved it right away and started concepting the final visual design.”

Despite all that effort though, it won’t be a permanent addition yet.

Respawn has been slowing down weapon releases in Apex Legends for some time, and while they’ve added features from LTMs in the past ⁠— like Evo Armor ⁠— Throwing Knives are unlikely to be one of them for some time. Never say never, though.