'Apex Legends' Map Was Leaked Online Nearly One Year Ago

In a very short amount of time, “Apex Legends” went from a surprise release from Respawn Entertainment to one of the biggest games in the world. Whether it’s downloads or Twitch metrics, it quickly supplanted “Fortnite” at the top of the gaming mountain. But unbeknownst to most, Respawn’s hit battle royale map was leaked last year and practically no one noticed.

Via IGN, a Reddit user named hiticonic posted a thread about the map nearly one year ago. The thread, titled “Alleged Minimap for Rumored Titanfall Battle Royale Game,” and only got a handful of comments that varied from excitement to speculation that it was fake. And while the map was tweaked a little bit from the leaked version, it was still the map Respawn ended up using for “Apex Legends.”

Another Reddit user, Fubbles22, brought up the leak again in another post on Thursday and it has garnered far more attention than the original. Hiticonic did appear on the Reddit thread, though, and jokingly said, "I'll take my upvotes now."

However, some Reddit users started claiming it was a planned leak by Respawn. That said, there was never evidence to suggest that it was.

Respawn Community Manager Jayfresh_Respawn even jumped in on the post and said that it was a "relief to see folks blow it off." He added that he remembered thinking "he'll be able to say I was right when next year comes along."