- Respawn Entertainment has added a few new billboards to the game
- One of them shows a mysterious silhouette which fans suggested might be the new character
- Many are sure that this is a setup for Newcastle’s release but some fear Respawn might be playing a prank
Respawn Entertainment included a new billboard to the game, suggesting that Newcastle might be the next legend in Apex.
The New Legend Revealed?
Something seems to be brewing in Apex Legends. With season 13 approaching, Respawn Entertainment dropped several new billboards on Control maps, which were immediately noticed by long-time players. While some of the banners are just in-world flavor material that advertises soda and chicken nuggets, one of them stands out.
The suspicious banner features the silhouette of a brawny masculine figure, accompanied by the words: “The wait is over. He’s here!” Fans were quick to jump to the conclusion that this might just be fans’ first look at Newcastle – an alleged upcoming character.
According to Apex Legends’ developers, Newcastle was a proposed character who didn’t make it to the game in season 4. Back then, the devs had unveiled another upcoming character instead – Forge. Forge was Apex Legends’ way of subverting expectations – he never existed in the game and was just a red herring cleverly placed by Respawn Entertainment to troll cheeky data miners. In the end, Forge got “assassinated” by Revenant – the actual season 4 character.
Could the Shadowy Figure Be Forge?
Some people have refuted the idea that this is Newcastle and have suggested that the silhouette might belong to Forge himself. They pointed out that the character on the banner is positioned in the exact same way as the dead legend. The silhouette’s shoulders seem to remotely resemble Forge’s pauldrons. However, there are some crucial differences to be noted as well – the mysterious figure has both its shoulders covered while Forge has only his left side protected. Additionally, the character on the banner seems to be wearing a mask that hasn’t been seen on Forge.
Are those observances conclusive? Not at all. Forge or not, this might not even be an upcoming character and just another bait on Respawn’s side. After all, the game just had another massive leak where data miners revealed the next two years’ worth of Apex Legends content. It is possible that the developers are trying to mitigate some of the damage by trolling the fanbase once again.
The aforementioned leakers had uploaded a massive archive, containing a myriad of data. They claimed that they know what the next nine characters will be. Newcastle, the forgotten legend, seemed to be among them, marked as a defensive hero. Unlike the other eight heroes, Newcastle had a polished model that seems to have a similar mask to the silhouette on the newly-added banner. Moreover, he has shoulder protection on both shoulders, making him much more similar to the silhouette on the billboard. Even his bracers seem to correspond exactly to what’s seen on the new banner. So, is Newcastle coming to the game for sure? It is too early to say with certainty as we should take the leakers’ data with a grain of salt. We will soon learn whether the promotional banner is a setup for Newcastle’s release or just another prank on Respawn Entertainment’s side.
