Apex Legends is getting a new permanent mode in season 26, Showdown. The new Wildcard game mode brings more condensed, 30-person matches perfect for making high-risk plays, trying new strategies, and fueling your gameplay with unique power-ups. As if the Apex Games couldn't get more frantic.
Wild Card condenses the thrill of an Apex match into a shorter, high-voltage package. Looting and reviving are streamlined in this 30-person mode, so there's less downtime and more combat, and the titular Wild Cards create room for bigger, bolder plays.
Wild Card principal designer JJ Williams called the mode "an experimental playground" in a press event ahead of release. It's meant to be a lower-stakes environment where you can try out strategies and compositions you normally wouldn't use in a match while still keeping it somewhat competitive. It's goofy enough to let you bring three of the same legend to a team (which is allowed in the mode)—but that doesn't make it any less hard-fought.
Each match, a set of Wild Card items is available in Replicators. These extra modifiers "allow you to experiment with speed, agility, and combat tactics," according to Williams. You unlock one Wild Card slot on rounds one, two, and three, for a maximum of three per match.
One of the Wild Cards, for instance, lets you wallrun. But before you start getting your hopes up for Titanfall 3, you can only run for about five meters before dropping down. Another one revives downed teammates upon getting a kill, so there are plenty of effects to tinker with.
To keep in tune with the mode's nature, Respawn is adding a new melee weapon: a baseball bat. No barbed wire or anything; just a plain, hyper-technological baseball bat. Its charged attack can send enemies flying long distances, and it's available within care packages in the mode, though "only for season 26," Williams said. Your teammates are safe, however.
With a compressed ring, squads must be ready to fight off the drop. Every player gets a self-revive kit right off the dropship, and they can revive as long as one member of the team is still in the fight, so keep that in mind before abandoning a downed enemy to help an ally.
Looting is considerably simpler: in the mode, each item has a dedicated slot, and you can find pre-kitted weapons around the map. Supply bins will also contain pre-kitted weapons, with their quality increasing at the end of each round. You don't have to wait until the ring closes to get better gear, though: you can level up your weapons by obtaining the new Evo Orbs.
After finishing off an enemy, you'll get a "loot explosion" containing ammo, shield cells, and Evo Orbs. This new pickup does a lot more than fits the label: it levels up your weapons, reduces respawn timers, grants a little bit of shield charge, kickstarts your health regeneration, and gives you a "sliver" of ult charge, according to Williams.
Respawn is also introducing an auto-looting system to Wild Card. You'll vacuum up any drops from enemies just by going over them. Death Boxes will still exist, but for weapons and scopes. This also clears up a lot of items from the pool.
The action kicks off in Apex's first map, the infamous Kings Canyon, which has been retrofitted with a slew of map toys—like gravity cannons, ziplines, and jump pads—for this occasion. You can jump into Wild Card when Showdown releases on Aug. 5.
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