Respawn will ‘lean away’ from using battle royale maps as Arenas locations, promises more ‘custom-built’ Arenas maps

Apex Legends introduced the new Arenas game mode during its ninth season, bringing a plethora of locations from battle royale maps to the three-vs-three mode. Going forward, though, players can expect to see more maps tailored for Arenas and fewer locations from battle royale maps, according to level designer Rodney Reece.

“Now that Arenas has had a little more time, going forward you’re gonna see more specifically built for location Arenas maps,” Reece told Dot Esports in an interview. “So we’re gonna lean away from using the battle royale locations because we don’t necessarily need to.”

This doesn’t mean players won’t ever drop into Oasis or Artillery in Arenas again, but Respawn Entertainment is working on “more custom-built stuff” for Arenas, according to Reece. In Escape, for instance, players won’t have any of the battle royale locations available in the rotation, according to today’s patch notes.

When Arenas released in season nine, Respawn had two maps designed for the game mode: Phase Runner and Party Crasher. For that season and its successor, Respawn imported areas from battle royale locations—such as Olympus’ Gardens or Kings Canyon’s Hillside Outpost—to shore up the map rotation.

Since Arenas launched, however, Respawn has introduced two new Arenas-exclusive maps, Overflow and Encore. Those maps take into account the needs and format of the mode, instead of being a replica of a battle royale location. With the release of Encore earlier this month, this brought Respawn’s tally to four unique maps in total without the need to borrow from other places of the Frontier.