Apex Legends - Defiance: Season 12 Release Date, Leaks, and Rumours

Apex Legends season 12 is the first seasonal release of 2022. Due to start in early February, this new season's bringing about Apex Legends' latest Legend. Not much has been officially revealed about the next season just yet, but Respawn's provided a few details.

As the current season starts winding down, many of you are probably wondering what the next season will look like. Called Defiance, here's everything we know so far about season 12 of Apex Legends.

Apex Legends - Season 12 Release Date

Season 12 starts on February 8, 2022. The current season (season 11) is due to come to a close just before Season 12 launches.

The release of the next season is likely to be 12 AM PST/ 1 PM EST/ 6 PM BST, based on the previous schedule of new season drops.

Apex Legends - Is There a Season 12 Trailer?

A pre-season launch trailer has become a staple part of the launch of each of the Apex Legends seasons. You can view the latest trailer, titled 'Defiance' and showing off our newest legend, Mad Maggie, below:

In the meantime, we've had two new Stories from the Outlands videos that has given us a slight taste of what to expect from Season 12. The eight minute episode, titled 'Gridiron', dives into the lore of Bangalore and her brother.

• More On Legends: Learn how to unlock all Legends in Apex.

Judgment is the second video, offering our next significant look at the game's next Legend, Mad Maggie. More on her below:

Apex Legends - Leaks and Rumours

The World Director of Respawn, Eduardo Agostini, recently put out a tweet that hinted at a big change coming to the game. The cryptic tweet could mean one of two things. It could mean that one of the existing maps is getting some drastic changes or it could mean there is a brand new map on its way.

Coding data that has been found in the Apex Legends games files may have dropped a huge hint as to who the Season 12 legend will be. Reputable source Garretleaks found that the code points towards 'Maali' which is believed to be a codename for Mad Maggie. This was backed up in the Tweet below, from Twitter user @Someonewholeaks:

We don't know what Maggie's bringing to the table in terms of their abilities. The only piece of info reported in the leaks mentions a damage-boost ability. We expect to hear more with regards to this in the build up to release.

Apex Legends - Who Is Mad Maggie?

Mad Maggie was first introduced to Apex Legends through Fuse. The two were best friends at one point in time, but an argument soured the relationship and created a rivalry between them. Mad Maggie fought Fuse in a battle that ended up with Fuse losing an arm.

The bad blood between these two characters reached fever pitch at the start of Season 8, when Mad Maggie had a part in the destruction of King's Canyon. Last we heard, Maggie was presumed dead, though we now know she's our next Legend.

One of the key indicators for when a Legend is being prepped for introduction into the game is that they receive animation data. this was datamined above, strongly suggesting that Mad Maggie could be making a return. We'll have to wait and see if these rumours hold any weight.

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Apex Legends - Could Season 12 Introduce a New Support Character?

In terms of what the Apex community wants to see from a new Legend, it's definitely a new support character. The last support character was introduced in Season 5, and since then we've only seen Recon, Defensive, and Offensive Legends.

This certainly sets the stage for a Support Legend being added into the mix, a sentiment shared by top Apex player FAZESnip3down.

Apex Legends - Season 12 Weapons

There has been no suggestion as to which area of combat EA will look to tap into in Season 12, though we are hoping for one or two new sights and maybe even a new grenade of some sort.

We will update this page as we learn more about the next season.

That's all we know so far about Season 12 of Apex Legends. For more on the game be sure to check out our guide on the best places to land while playing. Elsewhere, there's our look at the best characters to play as.