Apex Legends Season 3 introduces Meltdown, hints at map changes

Once again, a notorious Apex Legends data miner seems to be spot on. 

A few weeks ago, That1MiningGuy leaked some information about the Season 3 battle pass, which he said was called Fire and Ice. Now, there are some new hints that seem to support this upcoming theme in the battle pass now known to be called Meltdown. 

With Season 3 only weeks away, Apex Legend’s Italian website had some telling language in their battle pass preview. When translated, the text under Ranked: Series 2 reads: “Eliminate enemies and explore lava and ice scenarios.” 

The battle royale’s English website had a completely different caption that seemed to be an attempt at being a little more cryptic. 

“Drop in hot and put your enemies on ice!” the English version reads. 

The continued theme of hot and cold, fire and ice, deeply hints at a possible change to King’s Canyon.

The island went through a dramatic change last season when the Leviathans invaded the land. This was thanks to the still mysterious Crypto, who was responsible for hacking the Repulsor Tower at the end of Season 1. The yet-to-be-released legend had essentially allowed the giant creatures to storm the island, and players had watched as the Leviathans got closer and closer all season. 

While the Leviathans changed the looks of the map, there weren’t any new gameplay mechanics introduced by the invasion. But the use of the word “scenario” has Apex Legends fans wondering if this time Crypto will completely disrupting the island’s ecosystem and weather, causing interactive elements to pop up on King’s Canyon. 

Crypto confirmed for Season 3

Although Respawn Entertainment has hinted at Crypto’s existence for a while, the new Legend made an official appearance in King’s Canyon in the Singh Labs. Here, he was caught breaching another computer inside the building. 

The hacking was part of Crypto’s plan to get revenge against The Syndicate, the company behind the deadly Apex Games. The group framed Crypto for the murder of sister Mila, who The Syndicate captured after the pair found an algorithm in the island’s database that predicts the Apex Games’ next winner. 

The trailer introducing Crypto ends with him saying it’s time to “show them the truth.” 

Crypto has been messing with King’s Canyon ever since, as seen in Season 2’s Leviathan invasion. Now, it appears that Crypto has another plan involving the weather or environment in what could be epic fashion. 

Since being caught hacking the labs, Crypto has been in hiding. But that hasn’t stopped Reddit users from speculating the hacker’s whereabouts. One forum suggested that Crypto was located in the swamps, possibly underground. 

The Reddit user noted that he could hear Crypto running around that area, making the exact same sounds he made when he ran away from the lab. This has led players to speculate about the future of swamps as a POI, since it’s currently the least popular location in King’s Canyon.