Apex Legends' next hero is tooth-spitting freedom fighter Mad Maggie

It's that time in the Apex Legends calendar once more where teasers for the next season begin to drop—starting with a look at our rebellious next Legend, Mad Maggie.

Introduced a whole year back, Mags was a lifelong bud with fellow Salvonian (and Season 8 hero) Fuse, until a wee disagreement saw her blow off his arm. Maggie then briefly took over the games in that season's War Games limited-time mode, before apparently being killed during those events.

Today's new Stories from the Outlands trailer tells us she survived, and has been spending the last year rioting across space. Eventually captured by the Syndicate (the government of this weird, bloodsport-obsessed corner of the galaxy), she's punished for her resistance by being sent to fight in the Apex Games—but not before spitting a dislodged tooth into someone's eye. Grim.

Two teams of nine face off against each other

(Image credit: Respawn Entertainment)

We'll likely find out more of Maggie's toolkit when the seasonal trailer drops on Thursday. But a new site for Season 12: Defiance has teased some extra juicy new details. Olympus (the best map) is returning with some as-yet-unknown changes, though bigger still is the introduction of a 9v9 Control mode, which sports infinite respawns and loadouts as you fight to capture control points.

Control will be limited to the first 3 weeks of Season 12, but I'm very excited to see Apex tackle a more traditional FPS mode. Those first three weeks also mark Apex Legends' third anniversary, with login rewards letting you unlock Wattson, Octane and Valkyrie for free.

Apex Legends Season 12: Defiance kicks off on February 9.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.