As complaints mount up about the viability of Kings Canyon as a competitive map in Apex Legends, Respawn are looking to “address” the issue, as the game now looks forward to its seventh season.
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Kings Canyon is the original map in Apex Legends, though it was replaced totally in Season 3 by World’s Edge. Thanks to high demand, KC was brought back in Season 4, but on a rotation, meaning for set periods, each map will be available.
To avoid splitting the player base however, it’s not possible to simply select which map you want to play on; everyone either plays World’s Edge, or plays Kings Canyon.
For the casual modes, this has generally worked well. World’s Edge is arguably a better map in terms of loot and balance, but players love the original map and its iconic locations too.
However, for more competitive players, who spend the majority of their time in the Ranked playlist, there is a different feeling. Due to the balancing and loot issues, most competitive players much prefer playing on World’s Edge.
So much so that they have repeatedly asked to have Kings Canyon totally removed from the Ranked rotations going forward.
Streamer NiceWigg summed up the community’s feeling on Twitter, arguing: “Kings Canyon needs to be removed from Apex legends ranked and competitive. As a community we have outgrown the map in skill level and it’s no longer a good map to play on.”
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dont get me wrong kings canyon is a well designed map, but at higher levels of gameplay and even some pubs its too easy to move throughout it.
I love the way kings canyon looks but the way it plays right now doesnt feel right.
— 100T NiceWigg (@NiceWigg) October 18, 2020
There was some debate about this point of view, but among ranked players exclusively, there does appear to be a general consensus on the issue.
Respawn will address Kings Canyon “problem”
Responding to a thread from streamer and pro player Diegosaurs, referring to becoming more “tilted” while playing Apex, producer Josh Medina said that “if the problem is KC we hear y’all loud and clear and it’ll be addressed.”
We don’t know what exactly that will entail at this point. The obvious answer would be to totally remove it from ranked rotation altogether.
However, although this is exactly what some are asking for, it might still be an extreme measure. It’s possible that more map changes are planned for Kings Canyon in Season 7, possibly with a view to making it more viable competitively.
An improved loot pool, POI changes and more could make a significant change to the way the map plays, and ensure variety is kept, rather than just one map.
The other alternative, is that a new map will release in the next season, as has been rumored for some time. The rumors and leaks point to “Olympus” being the new map, so perhaps it will just replace Kings Canyon totally in Ranked, while ensuring there’s still two maps in play for variety. However, these leaks also suggested we might get the new map in Season 6, and we know how that turned out.
