Apex Legends Breach isn't "forcing a meta" with its close-quarters push, but playing it safe would be "a worse outcome"

The Apex Legends Breach update marks seven years of Respawn’s battle royale game. It’s become such a regular fixture since its surprise shadow-drop launch that you can easily forget it remains one of Steam’s most-played games, even holding its own against newer challengers like Arc Raiders. In an attempt to ensure it doesn’t grow stale, the new Apex Legends season is making some heavy shakeups to legend and weapon balance, along with the introduction of a new tactical element in Hardlight Mesh. The developer also addresses why it prefers to be a little heavy-handed with changes, rather than play it safe.

Respawn is targeting “way more intense” close-quarters action in Apex Legends Breach. The most immediately obvious change is the introduction of Hardlight Mesh, which acts as a see-through, destructible barrier and will be found in many formerly open window spaces across Broken Moon, World’s Edge, and E-District. It blocks attacks, but can be broken, and will take increased damage from specific weapon classes and abilities. Controller legends are able to rebuild and reinforce it, however, offering you a new way to secure a location as a defensive outpost.

Alongside this, the new update does away with the controlled drop zones in ranked, returning to the classic dropship. It also introduces Bot Royale Evolved, a mode with “one to five full human squads and a sea of our newly updated Apex Bots,” with no more restrictions on XP gains and challenge progression. Respawn has even overhauled its audio customization, with more granular options to adjust the likes of dialogue for legends, pings, and the announcer independently.

On the balance side, you can look forward to a Fuse rework, complete with a new ultimate, and upgrades to Bloodhound and Catalyst. Then there are nerfs to marksman weapons and buffs to shotguns, all of which should help emphasize that more close-quarters vibe for Breach. Finding a perfect sweet spot is a lifelong task, however, and Respawn admits “it’s challenging to hit the nail exactly on the head.” However, it stresses that it’s not about “forcing a meta,” but making sure that players actually respond to the adjustments.

“We have found that if we under-tune, players do not engage with those changes at all,” it explains. “Making changes that don’t move the needle and keep the meta stale and unchanged is a worse outcome than if we were to over-tune and create a hot meta focused in one particular area. So we lean on impactful swings, which can sometimes go further in the other direction.”

The developer admits that such ‘hot metas’ – like Ash’s long-standing dominance throughout 2025, or the reign of the Peacekeeper – can quickly become frustrating. But it claims it’s learned “valuable lessons” in responding to these more quickly, even within the first few days following major updates. “The aim is to have more pieces of the combat sandbox be viable for each split,” it remarks.

“Metas naturally emerge and coalesce around a subset of weapons and legends. If anything has a slight advantage in the sandbox, it will rise to the top. Our goal is to have the entire meta pool be dynamic and exciting to play. We are not there yet, we still occasionally experience metas that are too concentrated, but thanks to your feedback we are improving each and every split.”

Finally, Respawn touches on time to kill, which was lowered through weapon buffs and the removal of helmets back in Season 24. It explains that the slow drift towards a higher average TTK had “resulted in players valuing mobility too much over tactical positioning,” adding, “mobility will always be core to Apex, but we do not want it to be the only measure of success and skill.” A year on, the developer says it thinks “TTK is in a good spot,” but that it will continue to monitor and adjust this aspect as it deems necessary.

Apex Legends Breach launches on Tuesday February 10. You can play for free via Steam, the Epic Games Store, or the EA App. A seven-year anniversary rewards track will be available for free from February 10 through March 10 to celebrate the milestone.