'Apex Legends' Season 3 Release Date May Introduce a Bombastic New Mode

Respawn Entertainment’s hit battle royale game, Apex Legends, has always taken place in the same video game universe as the developer’s other first-person shooter series, Titanfall. Since Apex Legends debuted in February, fans have wondered if/when the iconic Titan mecha from the main series of games might make an appearance. It would seem we may finally get an answer in Apex Legends Season 3 — with a catch.

Prominent Apex Legends data-minter That1MiningGuy published a new video late last week detailing some additions to the game’s files that should be incorporated into Season 3, scheduled to debut sometime next month. Apex Legends may be adopting one or more player-versus-environment game modes similar to some seasonal Overwatch events, except these might function almost like raids.

Some of the game files indicate objectives like “eliminate all hostiles” or “open all cages.” The enemies in these events will include Flyers, Leviathans, and — you guessed it — Titans.

The catch here is that players won’t be able to control the Titans. Like the Leviathans and other creatures, the Titans will probably be an A.I.-controlled objective that players either have to attack or defend in matches with 30 players on each team.

In this, Respawn has once again learned a lesson from Fortnite developer Epic Games’ mistakes. Since Season X began in Fortnite: Battle Royale, players have detested the presence of B.R.U.T.E. mechs that are totally overpowered. If Apex Legends added Titans, it would be so much worse unless the game’s entire balancing systems were overhauled. They’d have to introduce at least one new weapon that could adequately deal with the Titans.

The going assumption is that Season 3 could add the Charge Rifle from Titanfall and Titanfall 2, a huge laser with a long charge time that’s effective at combating Titans from the ground. Many of the other Apex Legends weapons come directly from the two Titanfall games, so it seems plausible.

By incorporating Titans as an A.I.-controlled objective in optional big team battle game mode, Respawn adds a fun amount of connective tissue to help build out the Titanfall universe within Apex Legends. But will it actually happen in Season 3? We’ll have to wait and see.

Apex Legends Season 3 is expected to begin October 15, but that remains unconfirmed.