Apex Legends Season 12 Update: Control Mode, Crypto buff and more

The Apex Legends Season 12 update will release on February 8th, and perhaps the most exciting part for most players is looking at the new season patch notes, which are expected to bring drastic changes to legends, weapons, and gameplay. Check out the early update notes for everything we know so far.

The first and main change of this season is, of course, the new Mad Maggie Legend, as well as map changes to Olympus and a new control mode.

There will also be a brand new development pass, as well as a fresh rating reset. But aside from all the new content, changes to existing legends and weapons will often get the most attention.

Respawn hasn't released the full patch notes for the new season yet, but we already know a lot of what's coming, which is why we've compiled the early patch notes here. Check back soon for full update notes as soon as Respawn will publish them.

Apex Legends: An early look at the Season 12 update

*Note: Not final patch notes - will be updated with full patch notes when available.

New Legend: Mad Maggie

Maggie will be the new Legend joining the Apex Legends roster in Season 12.

Mad Maggie comes after her sentence to die in the Apex Games. As another offensive legend, Maggie is meant to be a very aggressive character, and is a big fan of shotguns.

Check all Maggie's abilities and knowledge are here.

Olympus map update

After being off the rotation for the entirety of Season 11, Olympus is making a glorious comeback. But it won't be quite the same as it used to be. Due to Duardo Silva (Octane's father) and his dastardly plans, the entire map has been teleported.

There is a new phase driver that can be interacted with for loot and objects scattered around the map plus some POI locations also move.

New LTM: Management

Management is a new 9v9 mode with infinite respawns. Teams will fight for control of three zones, similar to Call of Duty dominance.

You can select your download and choose where to respawn. To get better weapons and unlock your limit, you need to capture zones and get kills and assists to earn "ranking". When you die, your rating will be reset.

Management is carried out on two maps: Hammond Labs with Olympus and Barometer with Storm Point.

New prestige skins

At a glance, the Prestige skin changed from gray to red.

Season 12 will also feature new Prestige skins. These are the Legend skins that will be updated over the course of gameplay, although the exact details are not yet clear.

We also know that there will be new finishers as part of these Prestige skins, and that the first one will be for Bloodhound.

Anniversary Collection

The Anniversary Collection celebrates the third anniversary of Apex and will launch on the same day as the new season, February 8th. Most collectible events add a new relic, however, in the most recent anniversary collection event, players were simply given shards to spend on an existing relic of their choice.

Legend Changes

For all Legend changes, we will have to wait for the full fix notes. But we can confirm that Crypto is receiving the buff.

Holding down its tactical button will put you into drone control mode, just like before. But pressing it will send the drone remotely a short distance, allowing Crypto to stay on the move.

However, Caustic is getting a nerf - his gas traps will now be destroyed even after they are triggered.

Hopefully there will be other buffs and nerfs that can also be checked out in the full patch notes.

Crypto really needs a buff in Apex Legends.

Weapon Changes

For care packages, the Volt will go to care package while the Generator returns to ground production.

But, in bad news for Flatline lovers, it will also be removed from the ground by loot. Flatline and Longbow will be available exclusively through Replicators in Season 12.

Hammerpoint cartridges are also making a comeback, suitable for Mozambique, P2020 and RE-45.

And there's a new jump up - Kinetic Feeder - for Peacekeeper and Triple Take that recharges them and reduces charge time when sliding.

Quality of life updates

In most major updates, Respawn will introduce several quality of life updates. We'll have to wait for the full patch notes to see them, but one possibility is a shooting range update.

The firing range still lags behind the feature-packed version in Apex Legends mobile, and the developers have often hinted at improving the shooting range at some point.

There may also be changes to target assist on the console - something that Respawn has been evaluating for some time.

What about cross progression?

While this is the most requested feature in Apex, it's unlikely that cross progression will come with the Season 12 update. Respawn has made little mention of it lately, and as such, we expect it to arrive later in 2022.

New generation update

However, what's more likely is a next-gen update that could potentially disappear within Season 12. Numerous leaks point to a next-gen update coming at some point in February.

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That's all we know about the Season 12 patch notes so far - check back closer to the season's February 8th launch for the full patch notes.