Apex Legends’ broken Flatline skin was destined for a nerf all along

Respawn Entertainment has fixed Apex Legends' broken Splash Zone Flatline skin, but concept art seems to suggest that it was always going to be a busted skin.

Kyle Wilson

Published: Apr 4, 2023

We all know Respawn Entertainment's battle royale shooter Apex Legends isn't the perfect FPS game, but it's a damn fine one and there's so much to look forward to when it comes to booting up this game and sitting down to play – or, you know, standing up if you’re into that. When something is introduced that's a little broken, though, it changes the experience. A recent example of this is the Splash Zone Flatline weapon skin; this AR cosmetic was updated to fix it's iron sights, which were allegedly "smaller than it should be". If you’re not sure why smaller iron sights are an issue, they improve visibility and target acquisition – offering whoever's using it an unfair advantage. However, it's looking like Apex Legends’ Splash Zone Flatline skin was always destined to be busted.

Now, we know that's a big claim, but there's evidence – of which was shared on the Apex Legends Uncovered subreddit by ‘RaizTheOne‘. As you can see for yourself below, this Apex Legends fan has found some apparent concept art for the Splash Zone Flatline skin online – something that seems to show the original iron sights design for the weapon.

The concept art, which has been shared on ArtStation by Respawn Entertainment concept artist Yinan Wei, clearly shows fairly open iron sights not dissimilar to how the Flatline weapon skin looked in-game when it was introduced – the image on the left below.

However, as you can see for yourself, Respawn Entertainment has since claimed that "the Splash Zone Flatline skin [was missing] a piece from its iron sights, making it appear smaller than it should be". This, as you may know already, has since resulted in the Apex Legends developer updating the skin to add more pronounced iron sights which makes visibility worse and the skin, we suppose, more balanced.

The concept art of flatline beach skin has clear ironsight, so it was not a ‘mistake’ by respawn. by u/RaizTheOne in ApexUncovered

We don't want to call out Respawn Entertainment for something it might not have done, but it certainly looks like the original plan for the Splash Zone Flatline weapon skin was something more similar to the original appearance of the skin, not the update which deemed the original release a mistake.

As you might imagine, this change has since frustrated quite a few fans – most of which have more pressing problesm they wish to see addressed. However, this isn't the only controversial thing Respawn Entertainment has done with Apex Legends recently. This sneaky Apex Legends change is driving FPS’ players up the wall, for example.

But, the Apex Legends Season 17 release date is almost here and we’re expecting big things; these Apex Legends Season 17 teasers are doubling down on the Rumble LTM leaks, too. What should you take away from this, though? Well, nothing is as good as it seems in Apex Legends. If something is over-powered, the chances are that it won't stay that way for long.