Respawn surprise-launched Apex Legends, which quickly rocketed to higher player counts than many competitors in the battle royale genre. From the start, though, the studio acknowledged it was planning to produce regular seasons with an optional battle pass, and now that launch is about to arrive. The studio has released some details, and accidentally leaked others, giving us an altogether pretty clear idea of what to expect. And as of March 15, it even seems to be teasing one of its major additions--the new character Octane--in the game.

What's Included?

In Respawn's year-one roadmap for the battle passes, it stated that all four of this year's battle passes will include new weapons and loot like exclusive cosmetics, and at least one new Legend character. Each battle pass is said to include about 100 rewards. Several seasonal items will be unlockable through the course of regular play, while others will be exclusive to battle pass holders. Battle passes will also include random Apex Packs, giving you an assortment of random skins and other items to earn.

Price

Respawn has not formally outlined its pricing plan for the Apex Legends battle pass. Its year-one roadmap was the most detail the studio has given on its assorted battle passes coming through 2019, and it didn't mention price anywhere in the announcement.

However, an accidental update on the Origin storefront appeared to disclose the price. Respawn later acknowledged the mistake and called it an "unintentional update about Season 1." All that suggests that the leak was legitimate. If that's the case, the price will be 950 Apex Coins--or roughly $10.

A Founder's Pack is currently offered for $30, which nets you 2000 Apex Coins--likely enough for the first two battle passes--along with other goodies: exclusive character and weapon skins, banner frames, and a Founder's badge.

Release Date

So far, all we know regarding the release date for Apex Legends comes from the roadmap released by Respawn itself. The first battle pass is set to release in March, with others following in June, September, and December. When the Origin leak occurred, some fans suspected the release was imminent. But just as Respawn acknowledged that the leak was legitimate, it also stated that the battle pass was not releasing that day. For now, we still do not have an exact date for the first battle pass release.

New Character

The leak also unveiled what appears to be the Season 1 character, Octane. We don't have official confirmation of his abilities, but one that was rumored is the ability to place jump pads. Sure enough, launch pads have begun appearing in-game that match that description. Based on coy responses from Respawn developers on Reddit, this sure seems like a deliberate tease for the addition of Octane.

The Origin leak did give us a good look at the character itself. As with the pricing information, the Respawn acknowledgement that it was an unintentional update likely means Octane is legitimate. That said, datamining has revealed several other possible Legends, and these are much less certain. Respawn appeared to address these purported leaks in its statement as well.

"There's stuff in there that is very old, or things we've tried in the past and cut--remember our design process is to prototype and play lots of ideas--and some of it may be things we're still building for Apex Legends," said community manager Jay Frechette. "Finding this stuff by no means confirms that it'll ever come out. At best you should treat any posts about this as a rumor and the real info will come from us when we’re ready to show off what's coming next."