New files found within this week’s Apex Legends update appear to have leaked the game’s next character ahead of schedule.
Punctual as always, prolific data miner That1MiningGuy has wasted no time in pulling apart this week’s patch which, besides adding the battle royale’s massive Grand Soirée event (more on that over here), seems to be laying the groundwork for future seasons. As of writing, Season 3 – which introduced Crypto and new map World’s Edge – is just over three months old, meaning, should Respawn be following the same format as last year, Season 4 should be right around the corner. We have no way of knowing, of course, if the developer plans to increase the size of Apex‘s roster yet again with Metldown’s successor, but judging by today’s developments, that’s looking incredibly likely.
Check out the concept art discovered by That1MiningGuy below:
Given his impressive bulk and gauntlet, fans believe this handsome fellow to be either Rampart or Forge. Both names have been mentioned several times in previous leaks and certainly fit the bill for what appears to be a new defensive hero. Gibraltar, Caustic and Wattson are currently the only playable members of the archetype and, given that the first two consistently rank as some of the least-used characters, Respawn will perhaps be hoping to boost the role’s popularity with Season 4’s newcomer.
All speculation at this point, of course, and while there’s a chance that the preview art above is for a scrapped character, such an outcome is unlikely. Not only does the design look finalized, but I can’t imagine the studio would go through the effort of adding unused character concepts just to throw data miners off.
In any case, with Grand Soirée due to conclude on January 28th, it’s likely then that we’ll learn more of Apex Legends‘ mysterious newcomer. Stay tuned.