We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Apex Legends finally adds TDM mode in Season 16, but sunsets Arenas

An Apex Legends TDM mode is being added in Season 16 of Respawn’s FPS battle royale, but in a sad case of equivalent exchange, Arenas is being shut down.

Apex Legends finally adds TDM mode in Season 16, but sunsets Arenas: three people at a party standing side by side

An Apex Legends Team Deathmatch mode is coming in Season 16: Revelry when the FPS game updates next week, on February 14. Those vocal fans can finally rest now that TDM is coming to the game, but it’ll arrive at the cost of the 3v3 Arenas mode, which is being sunsetted. We’ll no longer be able to play those small-team skirmishes, however, a new Mixtape mode with rotating LTMs will also arrive shortly after TDM to ease the pain.

Design director Evan Nikolich and game mode designer Marty Wong both spoke about the TDM and Mixtape modes in a press event last week. But before speaking about that upcoming content, Nikolich addressed the decision to do away with Arenas. 

 

“It was not an easy decision, but it wasn’t hitting our goal of being a good place to practice the core combat loop in a less pressure situation,” Nikolich said. “We have the BR as a high-stakes competitive space and Arenas overlaps a bit too much with that.”

Team Deathmatch is, essentially, being used to properly fill that more casual role. Unlike Arenas, TDM won’t have any ranked options in the foreseeable future – the goal isn’t to hop in for sweaty matches, but to make players feel like dying and losing are okay in this mode. This will be the fully casual mode that some players have been asking for, and it’ll launch with the Party Crasher, Habitat, and Skulltown maps, which should all be familiar from Arenas.

Apex Legends TDM will be 6v6, and the objective is to win two rounds before the opposing team does. To win a round, a team needs 30 kills. You’ll choose your Legend and a prepared loadout before entering a match. Legends can use their abilities for free and will also have an unlimited supply of syringes and med kits for healing – shields will regenerate automatically if no damage is taken for a short period of time.

Apex Legends finally adds TDM mode in Season 16, but sunsets Arenas: four people with weapons charging at enemies in an open field

The rotating LTM Mixtape mode will be added to the game three weeks after Revelry goes live, giving players a chance to try out TDM while getting used to the multitude of buffs, nerfs, and class overhauls coming to the roster.

Mixtape will be a permanent mode that’ll offer Control, Gun Run, and Team Deathmatch when it goes live. “We want this to be a place where people can take a break from the BR mode,” said Wong, explaining how Mixtape should be taking the pressure off of players. He also goes on to say that the team wants Mixtape to evolve over time, guaranteeing that new modes will be added.

TDM and Mixtape will be the perfect places to safely try out the new Nemesis burst AR that’s also coming when Apex Legends Season 16 releases next week.