Apex Legends To Bring Back Control Mode, Add New Seer Heirloom, And Private Matches In "Spellbound" Collection Event

Apex Legends will launch its "Spellbound" Collection Event on January 10th, bringing back the limited-time Control mode and adding a new Seer Heirloom called the "Showstoppers." Respawn is also finally debuting private matches into the game to let players host their own heated tourneys with friends or competitors.

Players will experience the returning 9v9 Control mode on three zones: Storm Point: Barometer, World's Edge: Lava Siphon, and Olympus: Hammond Labs. Each will have control points that teams must hold, but it'll be tough to maintain since players can infinitely respawn - making for a thrilling, hectic gameplay loop of shifting priorities.

The Spellbound Collection Event will debut 24 enchanting limited-time cosmetics and Legendary skins for Vantage, Mad Maggie, Mirage, Seer, and others. Players could purchase all 24 items directly or through Spellbound packs during the event. And by unlocking all items before Spellbound ends on January 24th, players will receive Seer's Showstoppers Heirloom for the trouble.

Enchant your opponents in the Spellbound Collection Event when it arrives on Jan 10 🔮

Battle for victory in Control, unlock new rewards, and earn the ultimate prize: Seer's Heirloom. pic.twitter.com/QEmmhOv0xp

— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) January 4, 2023

Speaking of trouble, players have had to jump through many hoops with Respawn to host private matches in Apex Legends. After sending an email to the developers, players had to pass EA's rules on hosting community tournaments and wait for an admin code to share with other tourney participants. That's all changing now that Respawn will add a player-led private matches feature during the Spellbound event.

All players will soon be able to host custom matches with up to 20 teams, and no longer will they have to go through Respawn or EA for tournament codes. Official details on the feature are currently limited, but the dev team will share further deets in a written FAQ as the event patch gets closer.

Aside from the new stuff, Apex Legends will see some tweaks to the player experience. Mainly, "Join In Progress" will get extended into a match to fill empty slots until a team has 625 score points or a score difference of 300 between teams. Joining players will gain helpful boosts on their first spawn for in-progress matches, allowing them to skip the first spawn wave and spawn with a set of purple equipment.

If you want to learn more about the event patch details, check out the Apex Legends website!