Apex Legends teases winter update with popular LTM, possible changes to SBMM

December is almost here, which usually means one thing in Apex Legends: a train is coming.

That seems like it will be the case yet again this year after the official Apex Twitter account teased the impending arrival of a World’s Edge today, complete with the train that used to run around the map’s tracks. Combined with the snowflakes included in the tweet, it seems like a good bet that the Winter Express limited-time mode will be returning once again for the winter holiday season.

In the past, the Winter Express LTM has come with a full winter event. That event usually brings new seasonal skins with it as well, and it seems likely that will be the case again this year. The first split of season 14’s ranked mode is one of the longest in Apex’s history, so it stands to reason that at least one event will come in the wintertime to break things up for players.

Players also know that there’s at least one winter-themed skin that will be entering the game shortly thanks to a leak from TSM content creator and FaZe Clan competitive player Albralelie. During a tournament stream played on the Apex Legends Global Series build, which unlocks all skins for players to use, he accidentally previewed what appeared to be a new Crypto skin with icy accents that seems sure to be available in the game sometime soon.

It’s not the first time the ALGS build of the game has resulted in skin leaks. Viewers at the ALGS championship noticed multiple weapon skins that players were using and were not yet available in the game. Those skins subsequently came to Apex in later updates.

While not much else is known about a probable winter event in Apex yet, there is the promise of at least one other update that will come this winter: a change to the game’s skill-based matchmaking, which had previously been teased by devs. There should be some sort of SBMM or other matchmaking update in December, according to Respawn technical director Samy Duc. 

December would line up with the normal time for a holiday-themed event, so this update could come along with any such event. Apex players tired of getting matched against players far above or below their perceived skill level will most likely enjoy the early present, whenever it comes.