Apex Legends Mobile launched on Android this past May, and it's still on its first season (as this is a live service battle royale, after all), but today marks the announcement of a new legend, though they won't be officially available until Thursday, June 16th. Today's mid-season update also signals the arrival of a new battle pass with new rewards, along with a unique game feature that freezes its surrounding area, offering frozen loot boxes with a special currency that can be spent on loot in the Seasonal Shop. Plus, there are some bug fixes to go around, addressing player frustrations with the game's matchmaking.
You can watch the Cold Snap gameplay trailer above, and it introduces Loba, an existing character in the PC/console games but all new to Apex Legends Mobile. She will be unlockable once you've reached Battle Pass level 25, or you can purchase the character outright, but she doesn't arrive until Thursday despite the Cold Snap update launching today. You can also see that there is some sort of winter theme, with a big 'ol object known as a climatizer dumping snow on the ground, which just so happens to change regular loot boxes into Frosted loot boxes, which award Diamonds, a currency that can be used to purchase rare items in the Seasonal Shop.
What's new
- New legend: Loba
- New Mode: Town Takeover - Winter Warfare game mode
- New weapon, Battle Pass, and seasonal shop
- Optimization and bug fix
As with all live service game updates, bug fixes are expected, and some have been implemented, addressing issues with matchmaking. Electronic Arts even detailed how it plans to further improve the game in today's post from the developers.
We really appreciate you all being vocal and sharing your feedback with us. This is how we’ll continue to make the game better: with your continued feedback, be it good or critical. Some of the things we’ve heard from the community as urgent fixes are:
- Frustrations around the Ranked System
- How Bans are handled in Normal Matches
- Matchmaking optimizations
- Performance optimizations for devices and servers
As you can see, EA has big plans moving forward, acknowledging player concerns. Sadly no answers have been provided today as to how all of these issues will be addressed, though it is reassuring to see the company out in front of these complaints.
All in all, today's update looks to be a welcome one, bringing new content and a new character. Sure, it would be nice to see the update land on the same day as the new character, but I suppose needing to wait two more days to play as Loba isn't a dealbreaker by any means. Plus, EA does appear to be working on balance and performance, which is always great to see, as Apex Legends Mobile did launch a month ago with a few rough spots. So if you'd like to see the recent improvements to the game's matchmaking or want to work on your Battle Pass level to reach 25 before Loba launches on Thursday, you can install/update the game by clicking the Play Store widget below.