Kings Canyon was notably absent fromApex Legends' twelfth season, Saviors. As has become a tradition in the battle royale game, one map is removed from theApex Legends' map rotation every season (probably so that the in-game organizers of The Syndicate can repair the damage done by the legends). Regardless of the reason, players have had a long enough break fromApex Legends' first map that they are ready to come back and wreak havoc in it once again.
As seen in the trailers for the game’s upcoming season, Hunted, the legends are indeed coming back toa revamped Kings Canyon. New map rotations, updated points of interest (POIs), and most shocking of all, the spiritual return of the map’s infamous Skull Town will await players this coming August 9. But before anyone can drop into Relic, the new POI that will replace Skull Town, it pays to look back at what made the original location so notorious.
RELATED:Armor Swapping Is A Small But Important Part of Apex Legends' Gameplay
The ‘Fun’ Never Stopped in Skull Town
Skull Town was a POI introduced in the original Kings Canyon map. Nestled between Marketplace and Thunderdome, it was the place most players would drop upon starting a match. There wasrarely a time when Skull Town wasn’t populatedwith players, as the POI was made up of various loot-filled buildings nestled under the skeleton of a large beast. The layout and overall size of Skull Town allowed for multiple close and mid-range battles to take place.
Players could run into each other as they were traveling between buildings, making for some nice, reaction-based, close-range battles akin tothose found in aCall of Dutygame. They could also take to the rooftops and catch opponents by surprise. Those looking for the ultimate height advantage would reposition themselves on top of one of the two giant towers at the center of the POI or atop the skeleton overlooking the town. Even if players survived the initial drop fights, Skull Town’s location made it an ideal rotation for third parties to take place - contributing to the notion that the fun never stopped in Skull Town.
Skull Town Hurt Kings Canyons' Longevity
With so much going on in the POI so often,Skull Town garnered the attention of almost every squadin the lobby. Regardless of how far Skull Town was from the dropship’s path, most jumpmasters would make a beeline for the place as soon as they got the chance. This created an overpopulation of squads in Skull Town at the start of a match, which in turn contributed to the POI’s notoriety. While this may be good for players who are looking for a quick fight, not everyone wants to drop in Skull Town immediately. The influx of players means that everyone in the area will be fighting for loot to gain an advantage. Dropping into Skull Town only to have nothing to fight with other than fists is not everyone’s idea of a fun time.
Skull Town also wasn’t healthy for the longevity of matches. By the time the intial dust settled on the POI, there would be 10 or even fewer squads remaining in the game. It wasn’tuncommon for Kings Canyon matches to endby the first or second round because most players saw Skull Town as a quick Team Deathmatch location. Survivors of Skull Town would most likely find themselves short on loot, as most of it would be used or taken within the first few minutes.
Despite its popularity, Respawn Entertainment made the right call indestroying Skull Town inApex Legends' fifth season, Fortune’s Favor. With the POI gone, players were forced to drop to other less populated locations. This allowed the developer to see where it could improve the map further and allow it to compete with the newer maps in the game. But as time went on and Kings Canyon got smaller and smaller, Respawn Entertainment must have seen that the time to reintroduce a revamped Skull Town was nigh.
Only time will tell if Relic lives up to or becomes a shadow of Skull Town. The new POI retains some of the elements that made Skull Town infamous (the close-knit buildings and giant skull, for instance) but it doesn’t look as big as its older brother. This was deliberate, however, as the smaller POI would attract fewer squads and promote gameplay in the map’s other locations. And with thenumber of changesApex Legendsis makingin the new season, players definitely don’t want to stay in one place for long.
Apex Legendsis available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
