A recent AMA hosted by Apex Legends developers revealed that the team takes player perception into account when adjusting game balance.
As a live service game, Apex Legends is subject to plenty of balance updates to adjust and refine the ongoing meta.
However, fans have long questioned whether or not developer Respawn actually takes into account community opinion and perception following balance updates.
Now, members of the Apex Legends development team confirmed that player perception is “absolutely considered” when adding buffs and nerfs to the battle royale.
Apex Legends devs confirm balance detail
The confirmation came from an AMA on the Apex Legends subreddit, where fans specifically asked the team about weapons and Legends.
One fan asked if “player perception has a decent effect” on game balance and how much is it considered in the balancing process.
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Lead Game Designer Devan McGuire gave an in-depth and confirmed that “A community’s perception can mold trends and influence behaviours on mass.”
McGuire used Seer’s addition at the start of Season 10 as a prime example of this in action. McGuire said, “We made a balance update early in Season 10 after his launch, and the community perceived him dead to rights, he fell off the map, and his power went unnoticed for three seasons.”
McGuire referenced how many pro Apex Legends players have changed their opinions on Seer as of Season 13 and 14, even going as far as to call the Recon legend “game-breaking” thanks to his power.
The developer goes on to explain that the team has to “weigh the impact of perception constantly against the healthy changes needed for the game formed by design insights, discussion, playtesting, and analytical data.”
So while Respawn gathers and uses data from Apex Legends players across entire seasons to influence balance updates, player perception still plays a big part in what changes actually make it through to the final patch.
