For a long time, Apex Legends players have been very vocal about one thing: footsteps aren’t reliable. The audio cues have often been wrong or not there at all, whether you’re sneaking around corners or getting shot from behind. That’s why Respawn Entertainment’s new announcement is so important: they’re finally going to fix footstep and overall audio clarity in a huge manner with the upcoming Season 27 update.
What’s Changing: The Audio Overhaul
Respawn recently published an audio update blog for the game, detailing several major changes coming in Season 27, dropping on November 4, 2025. Here’s the breakdown:
New Mix Options:
Players can now pick between the “Original” mix, which the game has been using so far, and a brand-new “Focused” mix. The Focused mix makes your weapons and abilities quieter, takes away the sound of your squadmates’ footsteps, and makes the sound of your enemies’ footsteps louder and clearer.
Threat System:
The game will evaluate factors like enemy proximity, line of sight, and bullets to create a “threat value” for each player. That value will dynamically adjust what audio you hear and how you hear it. For example, louder footsteps if the threat is close.
Multiband Sidechain Compression:
A technical audio tool that lets an “active sound” temporarily reduce other sounds. In this case, Respawn says they’ve isolated primary frequencies of enemy footsteps so that when footsteps occur, other sounds like explosions, abilities, etc will briefly lower, making footsteps more audible.
Environmental Audio & Occlusion Improvements:
Footsteps will better reflect their context. Like inside/outside, doorway transitions, reverb, etc. Rather than sound cues just switching instantly, they’ll now blend more naturally based on location.
Telemetry & Observability:
Respawn is now tracking every time a footstep event is adjusted, or possibly culled by the engine. This means they’re building data on when and why footsteps aren’t heard, to better diagnose and fix persistent issues.
The Apex community has been unhappy with Footstep Audio for a long time. Many postings on Steam, Reddit, and other forums have said that in some matches, you could plainly hear the footsteps of your enemies, while in others, you wouldn’t hear anything at all.
The update is a clear step forward after years of community discontent with inconsistent footsteps in Apex Legends. Respawn Entertainment is now paying attention to the small details in competitive audio that the game has needed for a long time. They are doing this by providing players more control, getting rid of unwanted noise sources, such as teammates’ footstep sound, and adding smart audio tools, including threat-system evaluation and sidechain compression.
