Server Issues And Other Bugs Cause Mayhem In Apex Legends Season 8
Apex Legends has been a massive commercial success. In less than two years, Apex Legends made $1 Billion dollars. With Switch and mobile releases on the horizon, that number is just going to grow. Additionally, the game’s player count is exploding with growth. Apex Legends broke 130,000 concurrent players on Steam before Season 8’s release, and the record was smashed again on launch day.
All the love and positive reception being thrown Apex Legends’ way has allowed some truly frustrating flaws to fly under the radar. Season 8’s moniker “Mayhem” is appropriate in more ways than one. Despite all the positives of Season 8, it’s been a disaster in the backend. Server issues, infinite loading screens, and more bugs are plaguing the game.
So what are the problems exactly? Let’s go over each issue and whether or not we can expect fixes anytime soon.
Slo-Mo Servers
One of the most glaring issues plaguing Season 8 is the slo-mo servers. By now, most players have probably hopped in a match that felt like it was going in slow motion. At first, the player may have thought it was a personal problem on their end. However, EVERYONE in these servers is moving at the same speed. It’s possible for entire battles to go on in slow motion. Players have taken to Reddit to share clips of slow-motion finishers they’ve performed and other wacky results of these slowed down servers.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if it happened just once or twice, but slow-mo servers are a frequent problem. Usually, this slow-motion gameplay will go on until about half the lobby is eliminated. Apex Legends just can’t handle a full server load. Unfortunately, slow-mo servers are just the first of many backend problems facing the game right now.
Infinite Loading Screen
Even more frustrating than the slow-mo servers, many players are reporting infinite loading screens. Players with this problem literally cannot log in to Apex Legends. The opening loading screen simply says “loading…” forever. This has been going on since day one of Season 8. This issue has resulted in some players claiming that despite attempt after attempt, they’ve been unable to play a single game of Season 8.
This problem is not platform-specific either. It can occur on Xbox, PlayStation, and/or PC. The scariest part for players suffering from the bug is EA and Respawn’s delayed response. It took weeks for them to even acknowledge the problem - much to the disdain of the suffering players. It appears that the bug has finally been listed on the Apex Legends Trello, but a fix has yet to be implemented.
Click to enlargeAudio, Hit Registration, and More Bugs
Have you ever had an enemy player appear on top of you seemingly out of nowhere? No, you didn’t miss the footstep or climbing noise — there was no noise. Apex Legends has long struggled with audio. Players constantly report Pathfinder grappling on them with no audio or Horizon lifting up next to them silently. In a game so reliant on positioning and awareness, it feels awful to get snuck up on by an enemy you can’t hear. Lack of audio cues has been an issue for many seasons, and it’s only got worse as more sounds have been added to the game.
There are reports that the dreaded hit registration issues are back in full force. Season 5 was cursed with a no-reg bug. Shots would sail through enemies or make contact but deal no damage. This bug ran unchecked for a while but was eventually fixed. Now, some players claim that the issue has once again reared its ugly head.
We’ve covered the most glaring of bugs, but there’s still more that have flown under the radar. Currently, there’s a strange bug where you can’t loot enemy death boxes. You can open the box and try to claim an item, but it will be sent right back into the box. This is a pretty big deal when trying to quickly grab ammo or heals.
Another bug posted on Reddit shows a player healing while sprinting, sliding, and using abilities. While healing, players are supposed to be locked into a slowed animation. With this bug, players face no penalty while healing and can move around as one would normally.
Most of these issues aren’t “game-breaking” and their occurrences are few and far between. Still, the plethora of them really puts a damper on an otherwise great game.
Why Won’t The Developers Fix These Problems?
During an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit, the developers said they would not be upgrading the servers based on a cost-benefit analysis. When Apex Legends releases a new season or a new collection event, it brings in money. The time and money put into these new additions are well spent. However, something like upgrading the servers doesn’t net the same profits. Better servers don't bring in new players or put money into the developers' pockets.
Additionally, the developers may be expecting the hype to die down as Season 8 progresses. There’s no point in upgrading the servers now if what they currently have will be suitable down the line. Apex Legends’ player count exploded to new heights with the launch of Season 8, but it may baseline as the season goes on. With fewer players, issues like slow-mo servers may disappear on their own.
As for the other bugs, it's hard to say for sure why it’s taking the developers so long to address these issues. In EA and Respawn’s defence, many of these issues are probably not as quick and easy a fix as the playerbase would like them to be. But, stuff like the audio problem has been around for over a year, so it’s obviously not a priority of theirs.
Right now, slow-mo servers and the infinite loading screen bug are listed as being “investigated” on the official Trello board. Now that these problems have officially been acknowledged, all we can do is wait and hope for a fix.
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Images via Respawn Entertainment