Apex Legends teases new permanent game mode and weapon rework in Season 26

Apex Legends is back. Steam's fifth most-played game never really went away, but the hit battle royale just teased Season 26, Showdown. It's around this time of year when hype starts building, player counts start rising, and ranked matches get an influx of rusty casuals to boost you to your season best placement. It's me, I'm the rusty casuals. While it seems unlikely that we'll get another new Legend in Season 26 so soon after Sparrow's Legolas-esque release last season, developer Respawn has still left us plenty of tantalising teasers to terrify our trigger-fingers in preparation for what will go down next month.

The headline of Apex Legends Season 26 is a brand new permanent game mode. The official site says this will involve, "more shooting, less looting," which suggests fully-kitted weapons may return. They have been a staple in LTMs in recent years, including the recent Rift Relics game mode. On the other hand, it could foreshadow the return of Apex's 3v3 mode, Arenas, that nobody played but still complained about when it got removed. That seems unlikely, though.

Respawn also says that Season 26 will begin with a "new experiment" to switch up the meta in the battle royale game. This is accompanied by an image of Caustic and Bangalore, two Legends with smoke-based abilities. Perhaps we'll see smoke buffs take the pair to new heights? The return of the can't-see-shit meta is nigh.

Ballistic also promises a "re-energized weapon" from his private arsenal this season. From the description on the teaser and the pistol pictured, I'd wager that one of the game's pistols will be reworked to take energy ammo. This is pure speculation on my part, but Respawn chooses its words carefully. With the Wingman a sniper-ammo staple and the P2020 recently receiving the akimbo buff, I'd wager the RE-45 is next in line for some love.

As always, there will be ranked updates and a new battle pass to obtain. Perhaps we'll finally see Respawn remove the dropship, like it has in Apex Legends' esports arm, the ALGS? I'm not sure how a POI draft would work in ranked, but I'd be curious to see.

If you can't get enough battle royale action before Season 26 arrives, make sure your PC hits the Apex Legends system requirements to give you the best chance of clutching that win. If your computer isn't quite up to scratch, you can always tweak things to make sure you're running the best Apex Legends settings for your device.

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