Apex match starts without a map, turns into a gigantic fistfight

Apex Legends’ maps are obviously a pretty vital part of its gameplay, but a bug simply removed one from the picture.

Due to a glitch, characters spawned in an empty map without any weapons and had to melee their way to victory. A player posted footage of the error on Reddit.

The video shows legends dropping onto an empty rectangle instead of World’s Edge. The arena is just an opaque, straight floor like a slab of glass, and is considerably smaller than Apex’s original maps. Characters are shown with a heavy visual bug that displayed several copies of them in quick succession, like a long-exposure photograph.

Apart from the lack of terrain and visual bugs, players could drop and land normally. Legends could still use their abilities and attack others, but the arena was empty and no weapons spawned. Instead of trying to investigate, players did what they do best: started frantically meleeing each other.

The visual clutter made aiming a bit more awkward than usual, but a map-wide fistfight ensued. The video cut off before a winner emerged.

Some players thought that an official version of the mode without the bugs could prove to be fun. Users suggested a mode inspired by Titanfall 2’s Coliseum, which pits two players against each other using the same loadouts.

Players also speculated about the reasons behind the bug.

 “We know that players preload into the training range before legend selection,” a user said. “My guess is that this glitch is due to people loading into the training range but then for some reason the server doesn’t switch into the actual map.”

Apex is hosting its Art Deco-themed event, the Grand Soirée, starting on Jan. 14. The celebration will feature seven new LTMs, including the return of King’s Canyon, but players can rest assured: a mapless mode isn’t scheduled for it.