Season 4 of Apex Legends is right around the corner and, as with every season, a new Legend is joining the roster. Typically when Respawn announces a new Legend, it is usually with some fanfare, like a trailer or showcase. However, in a recent developer stream, some team members at Respawn very casually announced that the next Legend for Apex Season 4 would be Forge - much to the dismay of many in the community.
This is because many fans believed that the next Legend would be the simulacrum Revenant, who players got to meet in passing during the Fight of Fright Halloween event. Now the community is divided over the Forge and Revenant controversy, and to understand everything that's going on, a little context will be needed.
Who is Revenant?
Revenant was first officially unveiled to the Apex Legends community with the Fight or Fright game mode. While they only physically appeared in a few frames of the trailer, there was enough of a look at them for fans to get an idea of what the character looks like. The name Revenant was given thanks to some dataminers who found the name tied to the Fight or Fright announcements prior to the launch of LTM. However, there has been a lot more information about Revenant that was uncovered through datamining dating all the way back to August and the Iron Crown Event update.
Simulacrums in the Titanfall universe are robotic Titan pilots that are created using copies of human pilots' memories and personalities. They are often used to preserve a pilot and allow them to keep fighting beyond death and retain the personality, memories, and knowledge of the pilot but their physical bodies are entirely robotic. Revenant is one such simulacrum, though a simulacrum of who exactly remains to be seen.
Clearly, the person has a dark and creepy personality, but hopefully fans will learn more before too long. Fans can get a good look at what Revenant looks like thanks to a recently leaked Revenant screenshot for Apex Legends of the simulacrum, but as to why they are invading the Apex Games is a mystery. Many fans speculate that it has to do with Hammond Robotics and their sponsorship of Forge in the Games, but again, this is speculation and nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing.
Datamined Information
Before progressing further, it's worth mentioning how datamining works and where the information comes from. This information should be taken lightly, as these are in-development files that could change or not be used entirely. There are several members of the Apex Legends community who take time to explore the code of the game every time the game is updated, searching for any new additions or changes - this is datamining.
Traces of Revenant-related code began appearing in the game as early as August when Apex Legends updated with the controversial Iron Crown event. During that time, a ton of information about Revenant (codenamed "Blackout" at the time) was added, including several possible abilities for when they are a playable character. Revenant's abilities revolve around them being stealthy and manipulative by disabling abilities and cheating death.
Revenant also has several banner frames, quips, and finishers already in the games files, which leads even more credence to the character being added to the game. Revenant's files have been modified many times since they were first added, indicating that Respawn is actively working on polishing the character. Forge, however, has been tweaked very few times, and there are nowhere near as many references to him in the datamines, which is why members of the community believe that Forge may simply be a distraction so Respawn can surprise players with Revenant.
Revenant Leaked Information and Images
There have been a couple images floating around following the announcement of Season 4 and Forge's arrival to the Apex Games. The first image was found by @That1MiningGuy on Twitter, a prominent member of the Apex Legends datamining community. The image comes from EA's website, and it was found by following Respawn's own file naming convention. Every character's wallpaper is the same URL but with one number being different (progressing upward with each new character). Using Forge's wallpaper, That1MiningGuy simply changed a 6 to a 7 and it revealed a brand new wallpaper giving fans their first real look at Revenant.
The background for this image is clearly World's Edge, which gives more validity to the idea that Revenant will be coming in Season 4. Some speculated that Revenant may be added during the second split of the season, when players can return to King's Canyon while playing Ranked, but now some believe that Revenant will be the first addition this season.
The other major leak comes in the form of a screenshot from an alleged short that was accidentally uploaded on the Apex Legends YouTube channel. The video was only up for a couple minutes, but in that time someone snagged this screenshot, and @iLootGames on Twitter made the image public:
The art style is very reminiscent of the other Apex Legends "Stories from the Outlands" videos that highlight character backstories. In-game, there is currently an interview stage set up at Sorting Factory where Forge is scheduled to give an interview before joining the Games, and this screenshot could reflect Revenant crashing the interview and attacking Forge. Whether this means that Forge is going to die, or if he will be sidelined remains to be seen, but if this leak is legit there are some big implications for the start of Season 4.
Everything Known About Forge
Forge's announcement came as quite a shock to most of the Apex community as there was no official information or teases about him leading up to the Developer Stream. Previously there were in-game teases or hints about the next Legend, whether in-game or through ARGs around the web. Up until the Developer Stream, there were virtually no traces of Forge anywhere outside of datamines and leaked Apex Legends character art. Now that his existence is made public, Respawn shed a bit of light about Apex Legends' supposed newcomer.
Forge, real name James McCormick, is the Apex Games' first corporate-sponsored competitor. Sponsored by Hammond Robotics, Forge was previously a five-time Hyperfighting Federation champion who is now seeking a new type of competition to master. Wielding his signature Shatter Gauntlets, Forge specializes in physical attacks which may be an interesting shake-up to the Apex Legends character meta.
In terms of datamining, there was no trace of Forge until November 2019 where a bunch of files were added out of nowhere. His files have remained mostly unchanged since, and he currently has several banner frames, quips, and abilities in-game. Since he has several abilities, it's clear that Respawn may still be testing him out. Most of his abilities revolve around closing the distance to his opponents where he can execute powerful melee attacks. While there is no indication which will be his actual abilities if he's added to the game, many players are already comparing him to Overwatch's Doomfist. Regardless, if Forge is coming in Season 4 then Respawn will likely start showing him off in the week leading up to the Season's start date.
Which Character is Coming in Season 4?
The short answer: it's hard to say. Some fans believe that Respawn is trying to bamboozle the community by announcing Forge and then having Revenant attack him and take his place as this season's hero. Others believe that Forge was pushed forward to spite dataminers leaking Legend information. Some hopeful fans believe that both Forge and Revenant will be added this season to celebrate the anniversary of Apex Legends. With Season 4 being split in half for Ranked, many fans believe that there will be some sort of update in March that will add more content and fix some of Apex Legends' issues when Ranked switches over to King's Canyon. Thankfully fans only have about a week to go before Season 4 kicks off, so the wait won't be too bad.
Apex Legends is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.