Apex Legends devs explain why bomb mode was cut from Arenas
Arenas mode is one of the most popular additions in Apex Legends Season 9, Legacy, but it turns out that Respawn also had plans for a bomb mode to be included before they scrapped the idea.
There are plenty of neat additions in Apex Legends Season 9, but the real standout is the 3v3 Arenas mode that deviates from the battle royale aspect of the game. This has won over many fans, but some of them have a few issues.
Various players have called for an abandonment penalty to help teams who lose a player. Respawn has addressed many of the issues players have while also bringing up a scrapped idea that would’ve made Arenas very different.
Respawn EntertainmentRespawn held an AMA for the Legacy update on the official Apex Legends Reddit page. Here, they addressed many of the suggestions and demands that fans have for Arenas mode while also revealing some unused plans.
Lead Game Designer Carlos Pineda explained that they were initially going to include a bomb mode in Arenas. Still, this idea was eventually scrapped since it didn’t fit what they wanted to achieve with the new 3v3 mode.
“We definitely playtested a bomb mode early in Arenas development,” he wrote. “It was… not as good as you think it would be… it creates a weird situation where you start looking at characters in context of the objective, and it really exposes how many of the characters aren’t built for a bomb mode.”
While it would be interesting to see how Apex Legends characters would perform in a bomb mode, it wouldn’t be much fun when only a handful of them could shine in it.
“At the end of the day, it was really important for Arenas that character abilities feel valuable,” the dev explained. “Now I get that not EVERY ability is valuable in Arenas, but 90% is way better than 25%.”
We probably won’t see the arrival of a bomb-style mode Apex Legends anytime soon, but there might be other exciting additions on the horizon.
Image credits: Respawn Entertainment