What you need to know
- Apex Legends Season 15 is titled Apex Legends: Eclipse.
- Apex Legends: Eclipse is adding a new character named Catalyst, as well as a new map called Broken Moon.
- The developers at Respawn Entertainment are also introducing item gifting and stickers, the latter allowing extra customization.
- Apex Legends: Eclipse is slated to launch on Nov. 1, 2022.
The next season of Apex Legends is on the way, and there are some big changes coming with some widely-requested features, as well as a new place for Legends to fight.
Apex Legends: Eclipse is introducing the Broken Moon map, which was designed to break up the normal flow of combat across the other maps in rotation. Respawn Entertainment notes that the points of interest are much larger here, allowing squads to explore and relax for longer before breaking out in fights.
Broken Moon is slightly larger than World’s Edge, but due to some of the more unique systems in play, it “really is its own animal,” per Jeff Shaw, level designer at Respawn Entertainment. The moon as been partially terraformed, and the map is set on the light side of the moon, with structures and imagery inspired by Monet paintings.
“We wanted to make sure it was something people could spend hours in but that wouldn’t become oppressive or depressing,” notes Ed Agostini, world director on Apex Legends at Respawn Entertainment.
With Apex Legends widely being seen as one of the best Xbox games for multiplayer and battle royale fans, a new map is a huge event. Completely new maps — not updated versions of older maps — take a long time to build for Apex Legends, with Respawn Entertainment saying that the total process is around a year and a half, with the first six months being pre-production.
“We don’t want to put out anything that isn’t ready for prime time,” says Agostini.
Outside of the new map, the fifteenth season of Apex Legends is bringing some widely requested features. Players will be able to start giving each other gifts, allowing someone to purchase items or bundles for a friend who might not have played as long and hasn’t earned a lot yet.
Players will also be able to further customize their Legends through stickers, which can be applied to equipment. Looking ahead, Respawn Entertainment is continuing to look into cross-progression, though there’s no release window for when this feature might become available.
Apex Legends: Eclipse launches on Nov. 1, 2022 across all platforms.
