There’s map updates, and then there’s changes to an Apex Legends battleground that make it feel like an entirely new experience. And if the launch trailer for season 19 is anything to go by, Storm Point will feel like a different map next season.
Season 19, titled Ignite, will feature new legend Conduit and the rest of the Apex cast duking it out on a freshly razed and rebuilt Storm Point. The storm teasers around the map at the end of season 17 certainly seemed to come to fruition, with some POIs gone entirely, others nearly unrecognizable, and at least one full building suspended high in the air by a giant crane. Because Respawn knows Apex players, and those players like to land on stuff that’s suspended high up.
It’s difficult to tell everything that’s changed on Storm Point with just a cinematic trailer, but there’s a whole host of options. Gale Station and Fish Farms look like the most likely culprits for a big overhaul, with some of the old tell-tail turbine structures still standing amidst a new watery playground.
There also looks to be new POIs further north amid Storm Point’s mountains, as well as plenty of rubble. It’s unclear just how much the storm has changed the map’s terrain, but there’s a chance Respawn took the opportunity of a big map update to create a little bit less of a height disparity between certain sections of the map. The big height differences were one of Storm Point’s hallmarks, but they also could be frustrating to play one the low ground with little recourse to challenge teams above you.
Near the end of the trailer, players got a glimpse at the full, new Storm Point.
In addition to the obvious work around Gale Station and Fish Farms, a few other POIs look different as well. The Mill looks like it’s either gone or completely transformed on the left hand side, and there’s little sign of the buildings that used to surround Downed Beast.
This is a more artistic rendering of Storm Point for the purposes of a trailer, so there could be artistic license taken here, but Cenote Caves also look like they’ve had tweaks, there seems to be less of a ship and more buildings where Shipfall used to be, and it looks like there’s a completely new POI wedged between Checkpoint and Cascade Falls, where the previously unnamed group of buildings once stood (you can see it’s marked as a hot zone with a blue beam in the screenshot above).
What actually changes on Storm Point will likely be detailed in an upcoming blog post from Respawn, but until then, there are plenty of good images for Apex players to sink their teeth into.
Season 19 of Apex Legends, Ignite, launches on Oct. 31. The gameplay trailer for the season will be unveiled in just a couple of days, on Oct. 26.
