Battle Royale

**Battle Royale**, also called **Play Apex**, is the standard structure for game modes in Apex Legends. Until the introduction of Arenas in  Season 9, nearly all game modes were variants of Battle Royale.

## Overview

Battle Royale features a total of 60 players in each match. In **Trios**, this is divided into twenty squads of three, and in **Duos**, this is thirty squads of two. The objective of each match is to be the last squad standing; if one player makes it to the end, the whole squad shares the win.

The match begins with all players inside a dropship, flying in a straight path over the map. Players are then allowed to skydive onto the map as they please, lead by their squad's automatically-chosen Jumpmaster. All players are given a starter kit of a Level 1  Helmet,  Evo Shield, and  Knockdown Shield, as well as two  Shield Cells and two  Syringes. All other items must be looted off the ground, from inside Supply Bins, or other map-specific sources of higher-tier loot. Optionally, they can also collect  Materials for use in Crafting.

After being eliminated, players drop a Death Box containing all items they had in their inventory. After their death, their squadmates have 90 seconds to grab that player's Banner Card, which they can then use to respawn them using a Respawn Beacon. If this timer runs out, or if all players on the squad are eliminated, there is no way to respawn them.

Players are forced to constantly move closer to each other thanks to pressure from the Ring, which becomes narrower as the match progresses. Each match also has four Care Packages and two Replicators that are dropped into the ring in random locations. Overall, each match last a maximum of 21 minutes.

## Maps

Battle Royale has four maps made for the mode. Only one map is available at a time, but it rotates between the two maps available during a given season. Maps rotate every one to two hours.

* Supply ships
* Loot ticks
* Flyers
* Charge towers
* Observation towers
* Explosive holds
* ~~Loot bunkers~~

* Octane's Gauntlet
* Singh Labs
* Crypto's Map Room
* Caustic Treatment

* Geysers
* Cargo bots
* Loot vaults
* Lava fissures
* Rising blast walls
* ~~Train~~

* Bloodhound's Trials
* Rampart's Big Maude

* Phase Runner
* Loot MRVNs
* Icarus Bridge

* Pathfinder's Fight Night
* Lifeline's Clinic

* Gravity Cannons
* Wildlife

Every map has many Out of Bounds zones. If a player stays out of bounds for more than 15 seconds, they are instantly killed.

## Lore

The Apex Games are a televised blood sport organized by the Mercenary Syndicate under its Apex Games Commission headed by Kuben Blisk. A goal of the Apex Games is to give those living in Outlands hope.

### Structure

Anyone hoping to enter the Games is put through a series of qualifying matches to prove their skill. A few contestants have been allowed to skip this step and immediately enter into the Games; some are invited for proving their prowess in other sporting events (Octane, Forge, Fuse, Seer), some are personally invited by commissioner Kuben Blisk (Wattson, Rampart, Valkyrie) or other Syndicate executives (Loba), some are placed in the Games as a containment measure (Revenant), some gain entry through blackmail or threats of violence (Ballistic), and some are court mandated to participate as a sort of indirect death sentence (Mad Maggie).

Contestants do not need to die to lose; a contestant can be eliminated with only a couple broken ribs, so long as it's enough to put them out of the fight. Medical technology of the 28th century allows injured contestants to survive all kinds of life-threatening wounds. Despite this, it's still common for contestants to be killed in the Games, especially if they go up against certain legends.

Anyone who wins at least one match is granted the title of Apex Legend. With this accomplishment comes a large cash sum, a custom-made trophy, media publicity, and the invitation to return to the Games anytime. Every playable character is someone who has made a career out of competing. One can additionally become a Legend through an application process, though it is not clear if this is a replacement for, or in addition to, completing a qualifying match.

An official rulebook is distributed to participants, with a new edition published every year.. This rulebook covers most aspects of the Apex Games, including the eligibility of participants and which peripherals and equipment can be brought into a match, with classifications for the latter including "pet" and "non-combatant technology." Rulings from the Commission based on the text can be appealed.

The Apex Commission reserve exclusive rights to retain, use, recreate, copy, publish, and distribute the Legends likeness as needed, which includes, but is not limited to, promotional materials, marketing and advertising, merchandise and collectibles, holograms, statues and monuments, and more.

### Story

A successor of sorts to the "Thunderdome" that was organized by the IMC personnel stationed on Kings Canyon, it's creation was planned as early as 2723, after the signing of the Mercenary Syndicate Treaty and the end of the Outlands Civil War. The preparations for the games took a couple of years and only started sometime between 2728 and 2731 and has been running for more than 120 seasons. This new incarnation of the Thunderdome was named after Blisk's former mercenary outfit, the Apex Predators.

The 124th Season of the games was notable for the inclusion of Silva Pharmaceuticals' daredevil heir Octavio Silva and the daughter of the Game's lead electrical engineer, Natalie Paquette. The games were suspended for a long period after a mysterious figure detonated an EMP blast on the main arena of Kings Canyon's Repulsor Tower. This led to the invasion of wildlife into the arena and the temporary suspension of the games. The Syndicate has used this setback to upgrade the arena with new structures, including a tall maze-like tower called The Cage and a sponsored area of the arena for Octane. While initially successful, more attacks from the mysterious figure have made reconstructing Kings Canyon more effort than it's worth. It was then decided that the games be temporarily moved to a new arena at World's Edge on the planet of Talos.

A partnership between the new Hammond Robotics and the Mercenary Syndicate was struck after the move to World's Edge. A competitor sponsored by Hammond, Forge, was supposed to compete in the games after passing the qualifying rounds but was murdered during an interview with local media outlet Outlands TV's Lisa Stone. Supposedly because of this partnership with Hammond, a Planetary Harvester was deployed on World's Edge which devastated a few areas of the arena.

After the addition of the arena at Talos, three more arenas were introduced - one on Psamathe (Olympus) one on Gaea (Storm Point), and another on Cleo, the moon of Boreas (Broken Moon).

## History

* Renamed 'Play Apex' gamemodes to Battle Royale.
* Added Starter Kits. Players will now begin with a Level 1  Helmet,  Evo Shield, and  Knockdown Shield, as well as two  Shield Cells and two  Syringes.
* Challenges will now distinguish between Battle Royale challenges and Arenas challenges.

March 09, 2021 Patch* Ran the Ring Fury game mode as a Takeover of Trios and Duos. (Ran Mar 09 to Mar 23)
* Added No-Fill Matchmaking as an option when queueing.

February 02, 2021 Patch* Re-added Kings Canyon to rotation.
* Removed World's Edge from rotation.

January 05, 2021 Patch* Ran the Airdrop Escalation Takeover game mode as a Takeover of Trios and Duos. (Ran Jan 05 to Jan 19)

November 04, 2020 Patch* Added Olympus to rotation.
* Removed Kings Canyon from rotation.

October 06, 2020 Patch* Out of Bounds - The out of bounds timer no longer refreshes each time you enter a new out of bounds area. The timer is now a fixed amount of time: 30 seconds. If you enter new out of bounds areas, the timer will steadily decrease. However, if you only have 5 seconds left, the timer will keep refreshing up to that 5-second mark.

August 18, 2020 Patch* Added Crafting, Replicators, and Materials.

June 23, 2020 Patch* Map rotation times are now even between Kings Canyon and World's Edge.

April 07, 2020 Patch* Duos is now a permanent mode alongside Trios.
* Added map rotation; Battle Royale will now rotate between World's Edge and Kings Canyon.

February 12, 2020 - February 19, 2020* Ran Duos as a limited-time mode again as part of  Valentine's Day Rendezvous.

November 05, 2019 Patch* Added Duos for the first time as a limited-time mode. (Ran Nov 05 - Nov 19)

October 01, 2019 Patch* Removed Kings Canyon from rotation, added World's Edge in its place.

August 13, 2019 Patch* Added Solos as a limited-time mode. (Ran Aug 13 - Aug 27)

April 16, 2019 Patch* Increased the speed of the jump ship by about 50%.

## References

1. ↑ PlayApex on Twitter
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/frozenfroh/status/1486740107625316356
3. ↑ Apex Legends on Twitter
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayApex/status/1519379871239180288
5. ↑ Apex Legends on Twitter
6. ↑ [1]
7. ↑  Transition -  King's Canyon - Classic
8. ↑ Pathfinder's Quest - Chapter 03