Apex Legends: Upheaval - Map Update

World Direction
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After the launch of Broken Moon, the team took its time to truly reflect on the map and its potential. From level design to art, we knew we wanted to do substantial changes that would elevate the sentiment of the map from both casual and competitive players as well as carve out a stronger identity for it against the other maps in our library.

The set up for our change came when mysterious appearances of Olympus began appearing throughout the Outlands. The tease had lots of chatter and theories which was exactly what we intended. While we still haven’t revealed where THAT Olympus came from, it did momentarily blink into existence at the precise location of Cleo’s Stasis Net satellite. While Olympus disappeared again, debris from the satellite and the asteroids being held back from the net were now free to fall onto Cleo. The result was a massive crater where Promenade once was; and the entire colony of Hope detached from the rest of the moon. Some POIs were lost while others were caught before drifting away and reattached through Cleo’s own superglue - the ferrofluid that is processed exclusively at the Foundry. Now floating in space, caught between a stunning skybox featuring Boreas and Cleo, our Broken Moon is more shattered than ever, and you can see ferrofluid reinforcing several areas around the map playing into its “broken” reputation.

With the sudden change in the core density of the land mass, the Terraformer needed to recalculate and recalibrate its formulas. This resulted in several mutations around the map. Colors became more vibrant, plants and trees mutated, and everything took on a more alien appearance…far from the familiar Earth-like biomes and atmosphere originally programmed into the Terraformer. Adding to this alien landscape, is the discovery of unknown, biological material amongst the satellite debris found at the impact site. A Quarantine Zone was set up as quickly as possible to study and assess the risk these specimens might have to Cleo and Boreas itself. The purple dome is an instant visual cue that big changes have taken place on this map, and we truly believe we achieved our goal of FEELING the map update in every corner of the map, no matter if you land somewhere old or new.

Leaning into a colder color palette to reflect the alien nature of outer space. Diversifying our biomes and building styles by bringing the bleaker surroundings of Breaker Wharf over to the other side of the map. Adding to our lunar building style by introducing a new building and creating more camps and POIs featuring this style. These were all meant to evoke the feelings of a space expedition on a strange, alien landscape. Throughout production, I stressed the desire to mutate the map so that even in areas that were relatively untouched by gameplay, the visuals would help sell the narrative behind our changes.

I’m incredibly proud of how the team delivered on the vision. During playtests I found myself having to reorient myself so many times as there are so many nooks and crannies to discover and sights to behold. It honestly felt like a new map to experience.

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Season 21 Maps Team
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Environment Art:
https://www.artstation.com/khsu
https://www.artstation.com/aleonati
https://www.artstation.com/ireneha
https://www.artstation.com/akulovdenis
https://www.artstation.com/zane-st
https://www.artstation.com/anveshtandon
https://www.artstation.com/ctgonzal
Jim Gusa
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Skybox Artists:
https://www.artstation.com/mshih
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Lighting Artists:
https://www.artstation.com/austin_arnett
https://www.artstation.com/tomdidier
https://www.artstation.com/nuleelit
https://www.artstation.com/rhiannon_catton
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Concept Artists:

https://www.artstation.com/jensh11
https://www.artstation.com/kellym
https://www.artstation.com/laynejohnson
https://www.artstation.com/vmokry
https://www.artstation.com/scrubbyyy
https://www.artstation.com/victoriagao
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Respawn External Development:
Jericho Green
Adam Yeager
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Level Designers:
https://www.artstation.com/aaronstump
Lyubo Kubadinov
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FX Artist:
Casey Robinson