Before Apex Legends Season 3 even started (which adds new character Crypto), Respawn may have teased Apex Legends‘ twelfth playable character, who would assumably be put into the battle royale at the start of Season 4. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched for the developer, which has long been including hints to new characters and weapons ahead of their official release. It’s easy for the studio to do, with several new weapons and maps designed months in advance and certain characters already tentatively scheduled for the next few seasons.
In the Apex Legends Season 3 launch trailer, we finally see Crypto interacting with his fellow Legends as the group is transported to and have their first fight on World’s Edge, a brand-new map located on a new planet. Before the Legends drop, they divide into four teams of three. Of course, that should create a discrepancy. Crypto is the eleventh Legend. But on closer inspection, you can see that there are twelve figures in the room. In the trailer, which is embedded below, pause the action at 0:51 and you’ll see twelve characters.
On the left, there’s a squad composed of Pathfinder, Caustic, and Octane. In the foreground, Bloodhound, Gibraltar, and Bangalore form a squad. In the background, we see Lifeline, Crypto, and Mirage together. That leaves the group on the right, which is Wraith, Wattson, and some other figure whose back is partially turned towards us. The figure seems to be on the larger side (matching Caustic and Gibraltar), is encased in armor, and wears what appears to be some sort of mask or helmet.
Respawn has done teases like this before, where a new character or weapon is seen in a trailer months ahead of their official announcement. For example, in the gameplay deep dive trailer (released on the day Apex Legends was both announced and launched), you can see the shadow outlines of both Season 1’s Octane and Season 2’s Wattson at 5:30. And in the Apex Legends Season 1 gameplay trailer, a Pathfinder is shooting at Bangalore with an L-Star–a weapon that wouldn’t be added to the game until Season 2.
So although we can’t definitively say that the mysteriously-masked figure in the Season 3 launch trailer is the twelfth character for Apex Legends, we can probably assume that it is. Respawn does have a track record now. But we’ll just have to wait and see.