Apex Legends won’t get a new weapon every season to preserve game health

Respawn used to add weapons to Apex Legends with great haste. The early seasons of the battle royale saw new guns dropping every release. However, the developers are pulling back on the number of weapon releases to preserve the game’s healthy meta.

Apex Legends players were treated to many big seasons full of new characters and weapons early on in the game’s existence.

The game started with a decent variety of weapons, but over time, new releases have warped the meta ⁠— from the Charge Rifle to the Bocek, to the Volt and the C.A.R. SMG.

However, now the game is getting quite full with weapons catering to every ammo type and every range of fight. There’s 28 to be precise, and Respawn thinks that’s a good enough number to balance the game around right now.

Therefore, don’t expect new weapons every Apex Legends season from here on out ⁠— only when they see it as necessary.

“We serve what’s right and healthy for the game,” senior game designer Eric Canavese said during a Season 14 press event. “I can’t talk about future plans, future weapons, or anything like that, but know that we’re always thinking about what’s right for the game, what does the game need, and is the meta healthy.”

“Our goal is not to just shove content in the game to checkbox a seasonal delivery list, our goal is to make the game the best it can possibly be, and if that means the game needs another weapon, then we’ll make another weapon for it, but that will happen at the time it needs to happen, and not just on a seasonal cadence.”

True to this philosophy, there won’t be a new weapon in Apex Legends Season 14. However, there’ll be plenty of changes to the game’s existing arsenal. The EVA-8 Auto shotgun is being reworked, the Wingman and Spitfire are changing ammo types, and the Bocek plus the Rampage LMG are being vaulted.

There are also some smaller balance changes here and there to try and keep things interesting, even if there’s no new gun to truly spice things up.

As for when the next new weapon will launch in Apex Legends? Players will have to wait and see what Respawn are cooking up when that time comes.