Apex Legends Solos Returns in Season 21, Despite Respawn Saying It Would Never Happen

Solos was a limited-time mode (LTM) that first appeared in Season 2, way back in July 2019. The mode has never reappeared, even though fans have continued to lobby for it to come back as a permanent addition to the game. Fast-forward five years, and now, Apex Legends Solos mode is finally returning in Season 21.

Events lead Mike Button recently spoke about the community's vocal desire to see Solos return during a press event attended by GameSpot, explaining, "We still feel strongly that the core Apex experience revolves around team play, and specifically, Trios… The return of Solos doesn't signify a departure from that core belief, but we wanted to acknowledge the growing interest in Solos from our players, and the fact that many are looking for additional ways to play. The team also wanted to see what we could do with Solos in a version of Apex that has evolved a lot since that first appearance all the way back in Season 2."

Apex Legends has introduced 15 new legends and several different game modes since Season 2, including Control, Gun Run, and even Team Deathmatch. Those three--along with the 3v3 Arenas mode that was sunset at the end of Season 15--brought new life to the battle royale shooter in the form of the Mixtape playlist. Now, the team wants to use those experiences to bring back Solos in a brand-new way.

Solos mode is returning as an LTM takeover event that'll replace Duos for six weeks in the first half of Season 21, but this won't be the same old Solos from the early days of Apex. New features have been added, including auto-healing on kills, a respawn token that can be used before round four, and a Battle Sense mechanic that notifies you when enemies are within 50 meters.

"Player feedback is really why we've returned to Solos and made some unique adjustments to the mode for this limited-time takeover," Button said. "We'll be tracking player sentiment about Solos closely for the duration of the event and after the event ends midway through the season. We can't wait to see what everybody thinks."

Solos will follow the same map rotations as Trios for the duration of the event, and the player count for each match has been cut to 50 at a time to allow for safer landings. And, while the event only lasts six weeks, Solos might even become an option in custom servers if there's enough demand.

"I do think, based on feedback… if there's a huge desire for that in the future that [it's something] we might be able to entertain and make happen," said Button when answering a question about Solos in custom tournament servers. So, essentially, you can help shape the future of Solos mode by sharing your opinions this season.

The return of Solos comes as a real surprise. Respawn lead legend designer Devan McGuire spoke to Game Informer just earlier this year and said Solos mode would never return, saying, "This is a squad-based game, and that's why you don't see Solos. We had that experiment a long time ago, and we're not bringing it back. A single character should never be the answer to every problem. They should be part of that team dynamic. That's what creates interesting strategies in the game."

This season of Apex also brings a new legend named Alter, along with significant changes to the Broken Moon map. There's also a new battle pass for Season 21.