New Apex Legends Character Is Leaked At GameStop Conference

At the start of Apex Legends Season 2, a mysterious character named Crypto destroyed the Kings Canyon Repulsor Tower and set a number of creatures loose on the island. Crypto himself was mostly hidden in that Season 2 trailer, but now, thanks to a leak, it appears we're getting to see him in full for the first time.

The leak comes courtesy of a Reddit user named Teves3D, who reportedly attended a GameStop presentation in Nashville where several key details about Apex Legends Season 3 were revealed. Teves3D snapped some photos of Crypto as well as a new gun and character skin coming to Apex Legends, and posted them online yesterday while confirming that all would be present when Season 3 of the game launches later this year.

As far as Crypto is concerned, we don't have a lot to go other than what he's already done in Apex Legends. That previously mentioned Season 2 trailer showed Crypto using a laptop to set off an EMP blast, which knocked out the Repulsor Tower and made it possible for Flyers and the Leviathan to show up in Kings Canyon. It seems reasonable to assume based on his name and his computer skills that he's a hacker of some kind. But what's his game, exactly? What's he hoping to accomplish by causing chaos in Kings Canyon? That we just don't know yet. But we're willing to bet the Season 3 trailer will elaborate.

Now let's talk about the gun, which fans of Titanfall 2 will undoubtedly recognize right away. It's the charge rifle, and according to Teves3D, the "charge time is quick" and it does a lot of damage. Here's what makes the appearance of the charge rifle so interesting, though: it was mainly used in Titanfall 2 to counter the large Titan mechs in the game. Normal guns weren't all that effective against Titans — not unless you had a death wish — but a few well-placed shots from a charge rifle could hurt a Titan pretty significantly.

So why bring the charge rifle back if Titans don't exist in Apex Legends? Some players now believe we could see the behemoth machines make a return in Season 3, though the community seems torn as to whether they'd be usable in multiplayer or if some kind of PvE mode is on the way. We're a little unsure about how mechs would play given the whole B.R.U.T.E. fiasco in Fortnite. But if there's a game that can pull it off while keeping the multiplayer side of things balanced, it's surely the one made by the Titanfall team.

And finally, the GameStop presentation leak gave us a look at a new skin coming for Gibraltar. Teves3D states that this skin will be part of a Halloween event coming to Apex Legends later this year, which is good news, as it means Respawn isn't backing away from offering mid-season mini-events. The skin itself looks very Frankenstein-like and, frankly, very cool, so we're eager to see what kinds of skins have been cooked up for the rest of the Apex Legends roster. We'll just have to cross our fingers and hope the cost for these skins won't be too outrageous; that was a sticking point for many players during the Iron Crown Collection event.

When can we expect Season 3, Crypto, the charge rifle, and the new Gibraltar skin? We're guessing that the next season of Apex Legends is at least another month away. Season 2 of the game kicked off on July 2, with Respawn stating at that time the season would last approximately three months. That would put the start of Season 3 somewhere around the beginning of October, at which time we'll likely get a cutscene to properly introduce Crypto — similar to the way Wattson was brought in for Season 2 — and the option to unlock him as a character in the game.

We don't have any solid leads on where the charge rifle fits into Season 3, though its use as an anti-Titan weapon in Titanfall 2 really makes us wonder if Titans might have a presence in some shape or form. And as for the Gibraltar skin, we imagine Respawn will roll that out along with a host of other skins to celebrate Halloween toward the end of October.

We'll be sure to keep our eyes out for any other news regarding Apex Legends Season 3, so stay tuned.