Apex Legends devs explain why they didn’t buff snipers in Season 7

While snipers might be universally some of the most popular weapons in shooter games, some Apex Legends players were disappointed to not see them get a buff for Season 7 — but now a dev has explained why.

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Snipers are iconic in FPS games, be it Modern Warfare 2’s Intervention or the AWP in Counter-Strike, but they’ve always somewhat struggled for relevancy within the Apex Legends meta, with it not quite as easy to take long-range engagements and win without pushing the opposing team.

For those who have always been prone to sniping, this can be somewhat disappointing, and players have hoped to see some kind of buff for snipers to better equip them to take out enemies at a distance.

As it goes, that hasn’t exactly happened with the launch of Season 7, and now a dev has explained why.

Discussing the Season 7 patch notes on Reddit, Respawn designer David Bocek explained why, despite the Sentinel getting a slight buff with an improved energized ability, snipers won’t be getting a buff across the board.

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In a long, detailed comment, Bocek explained that “in season 2 with the DMR buff and season 3/4 with double sniper releases and World’s Edge being more sniper friendly, we were pushing to add more depth and long-range combat to the game,” but that “the execution definitely was not perfect.”

That made them rethink how sniper rifles could work in Apex, settling on the notion that “the secret is to stop trying to make snipers strong enough to meaningfully have a negative impact on an enemy team.” Instead, they want to “focus on how to make using snipers more beneficial to the using team.”

Bocek adds that what really helped snipers was Evo Armor everywhere, “getting a meaningful advantage that makes snipers more worth it, but you aren’t doing it at the direct expense of another player and making them frustrated.”

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As the dev concluded, it’s about balancing the wishes of players who are sniping, and players who are being sniped at: “Ideally the people who want to snipe because they like that gameplay can enjoy it and feel rewarded enough without making the broader community angry.”

This won’t be the news some players want to hear, but it’s hard to argue with the logic behind Respawn’s reluctance to make snipers more effective in Apex. Snipers can and should still be used situationally, but you probably shouldn’t be expecting to be wiping entire lobbies with them any time soon.