What The Confirmed Leaks Have Revealed About Apex Legends

No matter what gaming forum you frequent, you'll probably find something related to Apex Legends on a daily basis. The community caught onto the battle royale like the flu. At the very least, we can say 50 million people have played it, which is a respectable achievement.

Considering the live-service nature of Apex Legends, continuous updates form the backbone of its long-term success. While it initially struck gold upon launch, it can't afford to stagnate. Players always look out for the next big update, whether it's new characters or new maps.

After the lackluster Season 1 Battle Pass, some players might already be looking to the horizon for the next update from Respawn. Luckily, thanks to some dedicated data miners, there's no shortage of leaks to go through. The hidden files in Apex Legends' data hint at a lot of possible changes for the battle royale's future.

Of course, this all comes with a disclaimer. Respawn doesn't give any of these leaks any credit, meaning that their validity can't be determined. However, previous leaks have pointed players in the right direction, eventually being confirmed by Respawn itself.

Read on to see what leaks are out there right now, and judge for yourself whether they hold any merit.

If you have been keeping an eye on leaks since the game's launch, you've probably been expecting Octane since a month before he joined the roster. In mid-February, just two weeks after the game's launch, a Twitter user going by the handle @Shrugtal found the Legend's name in the game's files. Specifically, he tweeted out a list of audio files associated with Octane. To drive the point home, he found files that specifically mentioned "stim_inject" and "stim_release." As we now know, Stim is his tactical ability, and he indeed injects himself with it then removes it from his body.

Clearly, Shrugtal found a meaningful leak in Octane. But in more exciting news, he found another Legend at the same time. This new character, going by the name Wattson, also had a slew of audio files in the game. This character's abilities mention a variable called "wattson_teslatrap_damage," implying some sort of electrical trap acts as Wattson's core mechanic.

While Respawn has yet to officially confirm or deny Wattson's existence, Shrugtal was right on the money with Octane. Additionally, we got a semi-confirmation from another source. Twitch streamer Shroud, who has played a lot of Apex Legends since February, claimed that he was a playtester for the game a year ago. During that time, he got the opportunity to play early builds of Octane and Wattson because Respawn knew they would be the first two characters to release post-launch.

Soon after Shrugtal unearthed Octane and Wattson in the files of Apex Legends, another Twitter user, @ApexLeaksNews, tweeted out a list of even more names. The list included Octane and Wattson, but it also had eight others: Crypto, Husaria, Jericho, Nomad, Prophet, Rampart, Rosie, and Skunner. All these names came from variables that mentioned their Legend Frames. The eight original characters had the exact same variables.

However, after the Season 1 patch dropped, data miners could find very little involving these unannounced characters. Shrugtal noticed that the concept art and 3D renders of all the hidden Legends except one were wiped from the game's files. Even then, all that currently remains is a model of a character's head and shoulders. The model lacks a lot of texture work, but people suspect she's a Legend called Rose.

This radical shift in Apex Legends' files could mean a number of things. For example, maybe Respawn is onto the rabid data mining community, and they're trying to keep their plans hidden. Alternatively, the removal of all those files could be deliberate, implying an internal change regarding the future Legends. We can't say for sure what this means, but take any leak regarding Legends beyond Wattson with a grain of salt.

Around the same time Octane and Wattson were found in the game's files, folks found two guns hidden in the data. They went far enough to find the most minute details about these guns, including things like fire rate, damage, and reload speed. These guns were an energy rifle named Havoc and an energy machine gun called the L-STAR.

Titanfall fans likely know about these guns, and even those who have only played Apex Legends should now be familiar with the Havoc. Since one of the two guns found in February launched officially, there's a good chance the L-STAR will make its way to live servers.

To bolster this hypothesis, Shrugtal dug into the code after the Season 1 patch. In it, he found what looks to be in-game promotional images of the L-STAR, including some skins for the gun. At the very least, it sounds a lot like Respawn is preparing to debut the weapon some time soon, perhaps during this first season. It would be a welcome addition, considering there are only two machine guns in Apex Legends right now. A third one would add more variety to the loot.

After the second update for Apex Legends, data miners found some evidence that points to a possible future including wall running and double jumping. Considering the battle royale owes a lot to the Titanfall franchise, it isn't a stretch to imagine those mobility mechanics becoming a reality. However, on launch, Respawn adamantly defended their decision to not include that level of mobility. The studio's executive producer, Drew McCoy, revealed that they tested it internally before launch. After seeing how the game would shape up, they determined it ruined the sense of strategy and skill they aimed for.

So why would some variables implying wall running and double jumping suddenly show up? It's indeed possible that Respawn reconsidered their decision, or alternatively, this could hint at a new game mode. On the other hand, Shrugtal shows a lot of skepticism regarding those variables. He claims that these variables are likely just remnants of Titanfall 2's code. Apex Legends uses the exact same engine, after all. Respawn copying large chunks of code from Titanfall isn't out of the question, implying that we really might never run on walls or jump twice in Apex.

In the same vein of Apex Legends using data from Titanfall 2, it looks like a variety of weapons and models have been copied to the battle royale thanks to the Season 1 patch. Again, this might not mean anything important, so don't expect a whole host of new guns to come out soon. Nevertheless, one weapon sticks out in particular as a possible newcomer to the game.

Of all the weapons that came from Titanfall 2, one of them was rebalanced, having its damage and explosion radius values altered. That weapon is the autonomous crawling bomb known as the Tick. We can't definitively say that a minor change in values for a weapon means anything. But it's suspicious that it was the only one in the flood of Titanfall 2 models to be tinkered with.

If the Tick makes its way to Apex, it would be interesting to see how it would fit into the landscape. Would it act as a fourth throwable weapon, along with the frag grenade, thermite grenade, and arc star? Or are there plans to make it a tactical or ultimate ability for an unrevealed Legend?

If you've played the previous Titanfall games, you're probably familiar with Flyers. These giant beasts fly through the sky, as you probably guessed from their name, and they are killable for some XP on certain maps in Titanfall's multiplayer modes. As for Apex Legends, the only prominent creatures in Kings Canyon are the Leviathans that hang out in the sea.

But that might change, if some recent leaks come true. Both ApexLeaksNews and Shrugtal found promotional images that suggest Flyers might migrate to Kings Canyon soon. The game's data also makes mention of Flyers in multiple instances. To add some more credit to these leaks, you can actually see a sky full of what looks like Flyers in the official Season 1 trailer. If that isn't a tacit admission from the developers at Respawn, then who knows what it is.

Even if these giant creatures show up in Apex Legends, it likely won't be worth getting excited about it. Keep in mind, the towering Leviathans have been in the game since day one, but they provide nothing more than interesting background scenery. You can't even reach the creatures after jumping off your ship. There's a chance that if Flyers do show up, they'll be relegated to a similar position.

All the marketing surrounding the Battle Pass pitched it as a reward system based on your pass level. Once you hit Level 100, you earn all the prizes the pass has to offer — or so we thought. When you reach Level 100, you're rewarded with the Silver Storm legendary skin for the Havoc. This skin changes its effects after you kill an opponent. After your fifth kill, the skin's effect will reach its highest point.

But to brings things to new heights, Shrugtal found an asset in the game's code that looks like a badge depicting Battle Pass Level 200. Could there be more rewards beyond that legendary Havoc skin? No other leaks or information have come in regarding extra prizes except for the Golden Idol Havoc skin. According to Twinfinite, you need to reach level 110 with your Battle Pass to earn it. You can see the gun in action in the game's Battle Pass trailer.

If that's the case, what about the other 90 levels before 200? Furthermore, does that 200 badge even mean anything? It could be a throwaway asset left from internal tests. That badge may not even show up in Apex Legends at all. Alternatively, perhaps when the second season kicks off in June, we'll see it in action after Respawn determines a new approach to seasonal rewards.

If you've scoured the Apex Legends subreddit since Wild Frontier's launch, you'll likely have seen many fans express their disappointment with the Battle Pass. Frankly, when compared to Fortnite's recent seasons, it's a little dull. Furthermore, the way you earn rewards doesn't really change the way you play the game. Fortnite has daily and weekly challenges, inherently changing the way you approach each match.

Apex Legends has nothing like challenges, but that could change. According to Twitter user @RealApexLeaks, some files were added after the Season 1 patch that imply missions or objectives could come to the game. To be fair, these could be more leftover code from Titanfall 2, which had a single-player campaign built around completing missions.

However, a recent post by lead product manager Lee Horn gives these missions a little more meaning. They didn't want the game to be about pulling off "a 720 backflip off of Watchtower Artemis and get two Wingman headshots before hitting the ground." Instead, he wanted players to focus on learning the game, which makes sense for the first season. But, he also wrote that they "think there's really cool design space in quests and challenges for future Battle Passes." Perhaps these files that mention missions and objectives could see some use starting in June.

Of course, everyone knows Apex Legends didn't start the battle royale craze that's taken over the gaming community. Major games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and the monstrous Fortnite staked their claims on the genre already. In these games, players can queue up alone or in squads with friends or strangers. Apex Legends took a different approach, forcing three-person squad-based gameplay onto every player. If you queue alone, you'll always have two strangers on your team.

But lone-wolf and duo players out there held onto their hopes. Previous leaks in February unearthed some files that hinted at possible solo and duo queues. After the Season 1 patch though, RealApexLeaks reported that those files were removed from the game's code. Suddenly, things aren't looking good for players who don't want to be in squads.

It's understandable why Respawn might be averse to solo and duo queues. Unlike PUBG or Fortnite, every character plays differently. The different Legends and their abilities support and encourage squad-based gameplay. Furthermore, the developers clearly put a lot of effort into their revolutionary pinging system, which would go to waste in solo queue. For the foreseeable future, Apex Legends will remain a squad-based battle royale, likely because of how integral that format is to the game's DNA.