Changelog

Everything added, changed or removed in ApexMidnight, newest first. The game is built and updated by hand, and this is the record.

Last update: 21 August 2026

  1. Leaderboards, achievements and car comparisons, now open to everyone

    • Added

      Leaderboards are now public: the global rankings by rating, wins and driver level, plus the current lap record on every circuit, are visible without signing in. Signed-in players still get the friends filter and their own standing.

    • Added

      A public achievements page listing every milestone, what it pays in Apexons and XP, and how rare it is across the whole grid.

    • Added

      A public championships page explaining how a series works: rounds, points, the completion bonus and the full pool with each series' circuits.

    • Added

      Head-to-head car comparison pages: two cars of the same class side by side, with the winner of every stat marked and how many drivers actually race each one.

    • Added

      Circuit pages now show the lap-record board for that track, how many races have been run there, the average recorded lap and the car taken to its grid most often.

    • Added

      Car pages now show where a car ranks in the catalogue by Performance Index, class, top speed and handling, how many drivers own one, and links to its comparison pages.

    • Added

      Every racing guide is now fully translated into Italian, Spanish, German and French, not just the menus around it.

    • Changed

      The changelog is now public, so anyone can see what has shipped without signing in.

    • Changed

      Leaderboards, championships, achievements and the changelog are now reachable from the header and footer menus.

    • Changed

      Pages load lighter: the realtime multiplayer code is now fetched only when you actually join a lobby or a race, instead of on every page.

  2. Bienvenue: the site now speaks French

    • Added

      The whole site is now available in French under /fr, alongside English, Italian, Spanish and German. Switch language from the globe menu in the header.

  3. Willkommen: the site now speaks German

    • Added

      The whole site is now available in German under /de, alongside English, Italian and Spanish. Switch language from the globe menu in the header.

  4. Your language, everywhere, and sharper bots

    • Added

      The site now picks your language automatically from your browser the first time you visit, so you land on the right one without hunting for the menu.

    • Changed

      Every date and time across the site now reads in your own language and local format.

    • Changed

      Credits are now called Apexons everywhere, matching the name used in the shop.

    • Changed

      AI drivers race cleaner: better lines, and less bumping into each other on the lap.

    • Changed

      Fixed share images failing to generate.

  5. New race types, modifiers and smarter bots

    • Added

      New Checkpoint Rush race type: your timer drains as you drive and tops up each time you complete a lap. Hit zero and you are out.

    • Added

      Pre-race modifiers: mix and match low grip, double weapons, no nitro and a mirrored circuit to shake up the lap.

    • Added

      Hazards: oil slicks and destructible barrels now litter the track, and clipping one costs you grip and pace.

    • Added

      Optional race objectives worth bonus Apexons: bank a big skill score, finish without a crash, or rack up drifts.

    • Added

      Races now go fullscreen on their own when they start.

    • Added

      Your controller now rumbles in more situations on track.

    • Added

      Tooltips across the dashboard, garage and car catalogue explain what each stat, tier and level requirement means.

    • Added

      Bots now bring their own cars to the grid: the field is a proper mix of different cars, and how closely a bot's car matches yours depends on its level.

    • Added

      Bots now play by the same rules as you: they can crash and explode, run out of guzzoline, and be knocked out in Guzzoline mode.

    • Added

      Trees and other trackside objects now have collisions, so you can no longer drive straight through them.

    • Added

      Car wheels now visibly turn as you drive.

    • Changed

      Smarter AI drivers that race the track better.

    • Changed

      Power-ups on track now change as the race goes on, lap by lap.

    • Changed

      Run out of guzzoline and you can no longer keep racing.

    • Changed

      When the lobby creator leaves mid-race, the race now ends for everyone.

    • Changed

      Tuning and upgrading a car now happens in its own dialog, so the garage stays tidy.

    • Changed

      Your cars are now listed in a consistent order on the dashboard and in the shop.

    • Changed

      Tighter anti-cheat on lap records and on race results, so impossible times can no longer be banked.

    • Changed

      Fixed spectated racers appearing frozen instead of moving around the track.

  6. Spectating, fairer races and privacy-friendly analytics

    • Added

      Finish a race early? You can now spectate the other players still on track instead of just waiting.

    • Added

      Poles now have collisions, so you can no longer drive straight through them.

    • Added

      Homepage cars now link through to their own pages, and their on-page 3D models have more detailed geometry.

    • Changed

      You can now only bet against a ghost for up to half of your money.

    • Changed

      Guzzoline mode in reverse can no longer be won on an empty tank.

    • Changed

      Other players' underglow is now visible to everyone during a race.

    • Changed

      Fixed leaderboard calculations on the oval circuit, and dead players are now correctly shown as dead.

    • Changed

      Elimination races now validate lap and player counts before starting.

    • Changed

      Fixed a 404 when setting players ready in lobbies, spectated cars that appeared frozen, window flickering on buildings, a rematch incorrectly marking everyone ready, and the "invite to lobby" notification not showing on every dashboard page.

    • Added

      We now measure how the game is used with analytics, so we can see what to improve. Analytics cookies are only ever set if you accept them in the cookie banner, and you can change your mind at any time.

    • Changed

      Updated our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy to explain the analytics we use and the choices you have.

  7. Underglow, NOS upgrades and garage sorting

    • Added

      Light up your ride with underglow, and pick from a wider range of paint colours in the shop, shown on your car both in the garage and out on track.

    • Added

      Nitro can now be upgraded with Apexons, just like your car's other stats.

    • Added

      New upgrade guide walking through how to spend Apexons to make your car faster.

    • Changed

      Sort your garage to find the car you want faster.

    • Changed

      Car tiles now spell out what each finish and finals tier gives you.

    • Changed

      Flash messages are now translated into your language.

  8. Cosmetics, feedback and fairer progression

    • Added

      Paint finishes: dress your car in new finishes bought with Apexons and show them off in the garage and in-race.

    • Added

      New feedback button in the header: send the team a message straight from any dashboard page.

    • Changed

      Race payouts and driver XP rebalanced so wins and clean racing pay off more.

    • Changed

      The lobby now makes clear that solo races do not change your rating.

    • Changed

      Your dashboard now lists your newest cars first.

  9. Play in your language

    • Added

      The whole site is now available in Italian and Spanish as well as English.

    • Added

      Switch language any time from the new language menu in the header and inside your dashboard.

    • Added

      Follow Apex Midnight on our social channels, now shown as icons in the footer, including our new YouTube channel.

  10. Accessibility and mobile polish

    • Changed

      Accessibility improvements across the dashboard pages, following WCAG guidelines.

    • Changed

      A smoother mobile experience: fixed race and leaderboard layouts, a swipeable image slider, and the menu now closes after you tap a link.

  11. Cars shown as their 3D models

    • Changed

      Cars across the site (the shop, your garage, the catalogue and guides) now show their actual in-game 3D model, rendered from the car's own shape and paint, instead of a photo.

  12. Horns, smarter bots and time driven

    • Added

      New "How to play" page walking through a race step by step, with the full keyboard and gamepad control map, drift and nitro tips, and every race type and modifier explained.

    • Added

      Holding the horn now lights your car up with a pulsing ring on the minimap, and every other racer sees it too, so a honk actually flags where you are.

    • Added

      Player profiles now show your total time driven, summed across every race you have finished.

    • Added

      Twelve new achievements for time behind the wheel, from a 30-minute Shakedown all the way to the 2000-hour Eternal Driver.

    • Changed

      AI drivers now read the track ahead and shed speed before a corner instead of barrelling in, so bots hold the racing line and stop running wide off the track.

    • Changed

      Tighter anti-cheat on race results: a finishing time is now rejected unless enough real time has actually passed to have driven it, so payouts and podiums can no longer be claimed with an impossibly early finish.

  13. Garage slots, ghost wagers and smoother opponents

    • Added

      The achievement roster now numbers a full 100. On top of the new endgame milestones (win 500 or 1000 races, finish 1000 races, reach level 100, own 50 or 100 cars, splatter 1000 animals), dozens more tiers fill in every ladder: intermediate win, finish, level, rating, garage and circuit goals, plus deeper drift, pickup, collision, EMP, respawn, wrong-way and per-species hunting targets.

    • Added

      Your garage now has a limited number of slots (you start with 5). Buy more slots with Apexons in the shop when you want room for a bigger collection, with each extra slot costing a little more than the last.

    • Added

      Optional Apexon wagers on ghost challenges: stake Apexons when you race a rival's ghost and win double if you beat their lap, or lose your stake if you fall short. Racing a ghost with no stake works exactly as before.

    • Changed

      Rival cars now move far more smoothly in multiplayer: they follow the curve of the racing line through corners instead of cutting across it, dead-reckon cleanly when a packet is late, and glide across any correction rather than snapping.

    • Changed

      Rival cars now move far more smoothly in multiplayer: they follow the curve of the racing line through corners instead of cutting across it, dead-reckon cleanly when a packet is late, and glide across any correction rather than snapping.

    • Added

      Over 30 new achievements to chase, including higher win, level and rating tiers, deeper car and circuit milestones, per-species animal hunts, and rewards for drifting, near misses, EMPs, collisions, respawns and more chaos.

    • Added

      Hover a driver title to see how it is earned.

    • Changed

      A profile now shows "Request sent" or "Wants to be friends" instead of the Add friend button when a request is already pending.

    • Changed

      When the lobby host leaves and later rejoins their own lobby, they get ownership back.

    • Changed

      Driver XP rebalanced: winning and clean, skilful driving now earn noticeably more than just finishing.

  14. Contact page

    • Added

      New public Contact page with a form that sends your message straight to the team.

  15. Ghost cursor and car geometry

    • Added

      More detailed car geometry on track.

    • Changed

      The ghost indicator is now shown as a cursor.

  16. Changelog page

    • Added

      New Changelog page, linked in the sidebar, listing everything that has been added, changed, or removed.

  17. Apexon top-ups and driver titles

    • Added

      Buy Apexons with a card via Stripe Checkout (instant grant on staging and local).

    • Added

      Driver titles: a persona earned from your lifetime racing behaviour, shown on your profile.

  18. Competitive meta

    • Added

      Elo ratings, global leaderboards, achievements, ghost challenges, and championship mode.

  19. Progression and social

    • Added

      Driver XP and levels, daily challenges, post-race rematches, friends, and lobby invites.

    • Added

      Public player profile pages, reachable by username.

  20. Lobby badge

    • Added

      Open-lobby count shown as a badge in the menu.

  21. Mobile and lobbies

    • Added

      Mobile navigation during races.

    • Changed

      Paginated the lobby list and optimised the mobile race HUD.

    • Added

      More detailed car geometry.

    • Removed

      Lobbies inactive for more than 24 hours are now auto-deleted.

  22. Passwordless login and mobile menu

    • Added

      Passwordless ("magic code") sign-in.

    • Added

      Mobile header menu.

    • Changed

      Accessibility fixes and homepage optimisations.

  23. Circuits, branding, and account safety

    • Added

      New circuits: Le Mans, Monte Carlo, Laguna Seca, and Silverstone.

    • Added

      Dynamic OG share images, disable-user and last-login tracking, and new lobby name suggestions.

    • Changed

      Renamed circuits to fantasy Japanese names, refreshed favicons and the app logo, and standardised dialogs (delete your account by typing DELETE).

    • Changed

      Registration is now rate limited, and car colours only show once unlocked.

  24. Guides, racing feel, and the Nurburgring

    • Added

      Editorial Guides cluster and broader SEO work.

    • Added

      Nurburgring track, a "wrong way" indicator, a Suggest-a-car dialog, and an animals modifier.

    • Changed

      Power-ups became a modifier, animals and power-ups now sync between players, and multiplayer/socket performance improved.

    • Changed

      Security fixes and stricter validation rules.

  25. Race modes

    • Added

      Guzzoline, spectator, and elimination race modes, plus lap records.

    • Added

      Page links in the menu.

    • Changed

      In-game notifications are now shared between all players and moved to the bottom-left.

  26. Public catalogue, depth, and polish

    • Added

      Public car and circuit pages, dynamic sitemap and robots, legal pages, and a cookie-consent banner.

    • Added

      Paint shop and liveries, car affinity / mastery XP, weather and time-of-day per circuit, handicap starts, and new pickup types.

    • Added

      Filament admin panel, admin scripted races, and private / password-protected lobbies.

    • Changed

      Car shape now changes dynamically based on stats; homepage and login/register pages redesigned; image compression and a sticky header added.

  27. Shop, cars, and Filament

    • Added

      Rebuilt lobby system, Apexon purchases, the in-shop Apexon balance, solo-race payouts, and on-track bonuses and maluses.

    • Added

      Filament admin with resources for every model, car tiers (new players get three starter cars), a handbrake, and real car images with filtering and sorting.

    • Added

      Country and role on players, leaderboard ping, race sounds, and a user menu.

    • Changed

      Renamed Garage to Shop, moved races to their own page, and switched to showing usernames instead of full names.

  28. Lobby controls and Horizon

    • Added

      In-game horn, new circuits, and a queued password-reset mailer.

    • Added

      Players choose lap count and their own car in the lobby; the rebuilt "create a lobby" modal.

    • Changed

      Movement interpolation smoothed, NOS is no longer an infinite boost, and the game ends when the lobby creator leaves.

  29. Realtime backbone

    • Added

      Installed Laravel Horizon for queue processing.

    • Changed

      Game events now broadcast immediately.

  30. Nitro and controls

    • Added

      Nitro boost, gamepad controller support, graphic settings, and more cars in the seeder.

  31. Economy and rivals

    • Added

      Buy and upgrade cars, earn money from races, plus rivals and ghosts.

  32. Google login and AI

    • Added

      Google social login, fullscreen mode, UUIDs, and car class / drivetrain enums (a car is assigned on registration).

    • Changed

      Rebuilt the homepage and improved the bot driving AI.

    • Removed

      Dropped the light/dark appearance system in favour of a single dark theme.

  33. Initial build

    • Added

      First playable version: the 3D racing game, lobbies, leaderboard, dashboard, a race-finished screen, respawn with R, and a mini-map lap marker.