It’s been a long year for Apex Legends, and likely an even longer one for the game’s developers. Between the massive season 12 leak in March to the most recent discovery of the game’s next playable legend Ballistic, data miners and those with access to internal builds have triumphantly pulled the rug out from under Respawn Entertainment ahead of planned content updates time and time again.
But this is nothing new to longtime fans of the battle royale.
In Apex’s early days, it seemed like there was a new leak every few days. Data miners would dig up new characters, game modes, and abilities, and excited fans would pour over the information in small online circles. Then, in October 2019, a photo surfaced from what seemed to be a playtest session. The photo featured a piece of paper that separated upcoming legends into three rows, depending on when they were slated to release. This release schedule ended up being mostly accurate, with a number of legends—namely Crypto, Revenant, Loba, Rampart, and Valkyrie—all releasing in the same order years after the photo first made its rounds online.
Apex’s leaks have long evolved since then. Proven data miners have become massive content creators within the game’s community, and fans flock to the ApexUncovered subreddit with every patch for a chance to see an exciting new mechanic or legend newly unearthed from the game’s latest files.
With all the leaks that have happened over the years and all the possibilities for what could be Apex’s next big feature, it’s tough not to cross our fingers for the content we want to see confirmed in 2023. Here are all the leaks from Apex’s history that we wish would become staples in the game next year.
Blisk
Blisk, the Titanfall franchise’s mainstay villain-turned-bloodsport commissioner, introduced the world to the Apex Games in one of the game’s early teasers. And ever since, he’s been featured in a ton of trailers and nearly every round of leaks since the playtest photo in 2019.
The Apex community seems split on whether they want Blisk added to the Games. On one hand, it doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Apex Games commissioner to be competing in the bloodsport he helped design. On the other hand, Blisk has remained an imposing force in the Titanfall universe, having appeared in all three games: Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Apex Legends. He’s the glue holding much of the franchise’s fragmented lore together and a familiar face for longtime fans. And many of those fans are adamant he take a more active role in Apex, in one fashion or another.
Blisk has appeared in several trailers for Apex, including an early trailer, both Rampart and Valkyrie’s Stories from the Outlands episodes, and an advert for Apex Mobile. He’s also been featured in in-game teasers, a fan-made short created in collaboration with Respawn and EA, and the final chapter of Apex’s lore book Pathfinder’s Quest. Blisk has his hands all over the Apex Games, but he’s been notably absent in surrounding media since the mobile game’s teaser in May 2022.
Instead, Octane’s grandfather Duardo has been running the show as of late, making decisions on the Games’ next locations and adding legends into the bloodsport at leisure—what used to be Blisk’s exclusive privilege. We haven’t heard what Blisk thinks of Duardo’s antics or what his working relationship with the Syndicate’s boss is. Blisk’s absence has raised a number of question marks and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by fans, with many asking for his return.
Perhaps Respawn is quietly prepping Blisk to make an appearance inside the ring. Regardless, one thing’s for certain: We need more Blisk, either as a playable character or a feature in promotional content. And we need him now.
Akimbo guns
Remember that hack that gave people dual-wield R-99s? We certainly do.
For those who didn’t live through the terror of this season 12 exploit, we’ll set the scene: A TTV Wraith yeets themselves around a corner with two R-99s, one in each hand. Before you have time to confirm you’re not seeing double, you’re already dead. It was double the bullets, double the sweat, but quadruple the pain. That math added up when you landed on the receiving end of this hack.
In season 12, cheaters found a way to hack the game that allowed them to wield two guns at the same time. It wasn’t limited to the R-99, either. These hackers would run with dual Wingmans, RE-45s, and combinations of everything in between. But according to recent leaks from renowned data miner Thordan Smash, the akimbo setup may be making its return—just a little more intentionally this time, in the form of a new type of dual-wield pistols.
How a dual-gun system would work in-game is a bit of a head-scratcher. Many legends need one hand to use their abilities while holding their equipped weapon in the other. Would Ash and Octane have to holster their guns before throwing out Arc Snares and injecting themselves with Stim? Does Mirage’s point to send out a clone become a simple head nod? Logistics aside, using dual guns could be a flashy way to take names on the field, but it’d have to be balanced appropriately. Each gun would need to do reduced damage so the combined amount wouldn’t be too overpowered.
It’s been done before, though. Just look at Call of Duty: Warzone 2 for reference.
Wall-running
One of Blisk’s original leaked abilities—among the many kit variations he’s been datamined with—included wall-running, a highly coveted mechanic from the Titanfall games. A former Respawn developer previously said the team wouldn’t bring wall-running to Apex because of how it contradicted their design philosophy. But the development team looks a little different now, and its philosophies may have changed. And if the recent Thordan Smash leaks are anything to go off of, that means Respawn has at least toyed around with the idea of adding the mechanic to Apex.
We know the development team isn’t afraid of introducing new and revolutionary—albeit often overpowered on release—movement abilities into the game. Everything from Valkyrie’s obnoxious-in-every-way jetpack to Revenant’s creepy wall-scaling has redefined how legends traverse the playing field.
So even if we might not get wall-running anytime soon, we could see a scaled-down version of it at some point in the future.
Class reworks and new perks
The current parameters around Apex’s current group of classes aren’t entirely clear and they surely aren’t distributed evenly across the game’s cast of characters. With a whopping two legends falling under support, nine in assault, and five in both defense and recon, it’s easy to see how the distribution is far from perfect.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. And if leaks are to be believed, it won’t be for much longer.
Part of the recent leaks depicted an incoming change to the battle royale’s classes. Assault would essentially break into two groups, assault and skirmisher, while defense would be renamed to control, with a couple of formerly labeled defensive legends moving to support. This leaked distribution is much more even; only assault and skirmisher have six characters, while the other three classes have four legends each.
Having additional classes opens up the possibility of new class perks, or passive abilities shared by every legend within their respective subgroups. And with new perks comes new avenues for more diverse team compositions. Legends and their unique abilities are still likely to be the determining factor as to which characters players will pick, but class perks—depending on how impactful they are—can play a vital role in what benefits players get from picking one team comp over another.
A class rework and new passives are exactly the sort of tweaks that could freshen up the meta without jockeying too many mechanics around. It’ll be interesting to see which characters land in which categories and how this revamped class system impacts the way the game is played.
Pathfinder rework
Alongside the reworked class system, the most recent leaks pointed to an incoming overhaul for everyone’s favorite MRVN.
Pathfinder has been overdue for a rework for years. In season five, Respawn nerfed his grapple’s cooldown to 35 seconds from 15, drastically reducing his ability to maneuver in gunfights. Additionally, in season six, all recon characters received the ability to scan survey beacons, which used to be exclusive to Pathfinder. In the same patch notes, the Apex development team claimed it would “take another look” at the grappling MRVN in the future to restore a unique sense of identity to the character. But with every following patch, it appeared as though that promise had been shelved in favor of other development choices, character releases and updates, and new maps. And with every passing season without an update, Pathfinder fans grew even more frustrated.
Long have fans pleaded for a new kit or passive for the recon character. They’ve suggested everything from a passive that allows Pathfinder to reel in downed teammates with his grapple, to the ability to heal and restore shields on ziplines. But hopeful fans should keep their eyes on 2023. A recent leak suggested a Pathfinder rework could be on its way, but the information failed to detail which abilities from his kit could be on the chopping block. Until we learn more, fans will just have to keep theorycrafting.
