Apex Legends dev explains how characters and weapons become overpowered
Respawn/EAApex Legends dev Jason McCord has explained how characters and weapons end up being overpowered in-game once a new update drops or new season releases.
Anytime Apex Legends gets an update and a previously underused weapon or character starts to become a bit more popular, players can often be found complaining about them being overpowered.
Whether those complaints are valid or not, Respawn will usually take the feedback on board and make changes if the situation demands it – take the Charge Rifle from season four as an example. Jason McCord, Design Director at Respawn Entertainment, has now offered up an answer for why things can get a little out of whack.
Respawn/EAResponding to a fan who was asking questions about what goes into the thought process behind the changes, McCord noted that because Apex needs to be kept fresh, things are going to change for better or worse.
“A live game needs to push power around to make each season feel different. Ideally, all Legends are balanced but that’s very hard while still keeping them interesting,” McCord tweeted.
[jwplayer UQowmNq2]
The way I see it, a live game needs to push power around to make each season feel different. Ideally all Legends are balanced but that’s very hard while still keeping them interesting. So we do our best to buff/nerf legends and that naturally shifts the meta and I think that’s ok
— Jason McCord (@MonsterclipRSPN) June 13, 2020
The design director followed up with an answer for why weapons can also feel a bit unbalanced at times, saying that they “are not made to be balanced equally” in the first place.
“That doesn’t mean some don’t get overpowered when we try to push power around to change the meta,” McCord added, noting that the Apex team “appreciate” the feedback from fans as it does help with their decision making.
Weapons are not made to be balanced equally, but that doesn’t mean some dont get overpowered when we try to push power around to change the meta. We appreciate people posting suggestions when they think something is unfair. It helps in our decisions.
— Jason McCord (@MonsterclipRSPN) June 13, 2020
In recent weeks, the devs have alluded to changes coming to legends like Crypto and Lifeline, noting that they test things quite a bit before they go live. Obviously, fans can change things if they deem it to be overpowered or even underrated.
As Apex Legends season five continues to progress, we’ll just have to wait and see as to what the Respawn team does about the calls for changes from the community.