Kings Canyon
Once a simple settlement on the planet Solace, the island known as Kings Canyon didn't thrive until the IMC chose it as a hub for research and development. It housed an airbase, a water treatment plant, and a plethora of other facilities to support the IMC’s operations - like a highly classified project on the function of Phase tech, or a radical program to create a simulacra army powered by a single brain. But on the surface, Kings Canyon seemed like a simple IMC installation that, for all its faults, brought stability and jobs to Solace.
To blow off steam, IMC soldiers stationed here would compete in gladiator-esque combat in an area they nicknamed 'Thunderdome'. Years later, when the Syndicate chose Kings Canyon as the site of their newest bloodsport, Thunderdome remained untouched - a tribute to the earliest known predecessor of the Apex Games. The island has undergone many changes since then - the Repulsor Tower was brought down by an unknown assailant, an underground explosion caused Thunderdome and Skulltown to collapse, and a ship crash obliterated the cliffs on the area’s northern edge. But no matter how it changes, it will always be the first home of the Apex Games.
Olympus
Olympus was a city built on dreams. A utopia floating in clouds above Psamathe, it was once a place where the brightest minds in the Outlands could gather and exchange ideas, leading to breakthroughs in the sciences and arts. However, all dreams come to an end, and this one ended explosively: an accident in an experimental research facility led to the creation of the Phase Rift (a massive bubble of Phase energy), and the Outlands’ best and brightest quickly abandoned the city.
However, Olympus itself was maintained by advanced computer systems, so it quickly found new buyers in the Outlands’ elite. For 40 years, it served as a lavish vacation spot with the Rift as a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the Rift grew unstable overtime, and Olympus was fully evacuated. Not long after, Hammond Robotics, with the support of the Mercenary Syndicate, transformed Olympus into a new stage for the Apex Games – though why is anyone’s guess.
Worlds Edge
A harsh planet beset by intense volcanic activity, Talos was once deemed uninhabitable, and only small luddite settlements took root there. However, it became a hotbed of IMC activity when a rare mineral compound was discovered beneath its surface. Heat-reducing towers were built to super-cool its natural lava flows and allow resource extraction - the facility that housed them was optimistically dubbed “New Dawn”, and the town of World’s Edge grew around it.
Decades ago, an explosion in one of the towers covered the surrounding area in a lethal flash freeze. World’s Edge was abandoned, its only remaining inhabitants a small community of hunters who once spurned modern technology (but tentatively accepted it again under the guidance of their beloved local hero, Bloodhound). However, its ruins and the planet’s energy-rich soil drew the attention of two critical groups: the Mercenary Syndicate and Hammond Robotics. Today, World’s Edge is the second home of the Apex Games and a key operational center for Hammond Robotics, which installed the latest in modern mining technology - the Planet Harvester - to begin its own resource extraction.
