Apex Legends was leaked on Reddit nearly a year ago but was dismissed as fake

Redditor hiticonic probably didn’t expect such a lukewarm reception after posting a map of a Titanfall-related battle royale game. Opinions like “it’s not real,” “fake,” and “I really hope this doesn’t happen” rapidly deflated the topic, and it faded into obscurity after amassing 14 comments. However, another redditor (Fubbles22) has revisited the leak, which we now know is linked to the gaming smash hit of the year so far: Apex Legends.

There’s no denying the fact that Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts were lucky here. Although there were a few rumors of a battle royale game based in the Titanfall universe circling around just before Apex Legends was surprisingly unleashed upon the gaming world, if the leak from 11 months ago had gained traction it would have been very difficult for Respawn to keep the game’s details hidden for so long.

Respawn has acknowledged its fortune, with the company’s community manager Jay Frechette taking to the new subreddit to admit “it was a relief to see folks blow it off.” The original leaker, hiticonic, has been receiving some better late than never upvotes but has denied being a current or former Respawn employee.