Apex Legends' latest update adds fan favorite Titanfall mechanic, but there's a catch

Have you ever wanted an Apex Legends x SSX crossover? Me neither. Who would ever come up with a concept like that? Respawn, apparently. But I’ve seen Lifeline snowboarding across World’s Edge, there’s nothing I want to do more than pop Misty 900 no-scope headshot from across the map. With the addition of pseudo-wall running and buffs for some fan favorite characters on the cards, too, there’s only one question left on my lips: where’s the snow?

You don’t need snow to snowboard in the far future. While the Apex Legends Winter Wipeout event has consistent ice theming to match the bleak British weather I can see from my window, our legends aren’t actually snowboarding. These are state of the art hoverboards, kitted out with more tricks than Shaun White.

It’s the hoverboards that bring that aforementioned Titanfall mechanic into play. As well as simply being a speedy way to zip around the maps, the new hoverboards offer a wallrun of sorts. A wallride, to be specific. If you’re playing in the wildcard event, you’ll be able to pull off some niche tricks with the hoverboard equipped in your survival item slot. Turning one of the best battle royale games into a SSX-style combo frenzy is certainly a choice, but not one that I’m going to complain about.

As well as wallriding, you can pop some tricks to earn Evo points, double jump, gain speed from high falls, use ziplines quicker, and ram opponents to damage them. It’s all about speed and conserving momentum, but you’ve got to avoid getting shot, too – doing damage to enemies riding a hoverboard will kick them off it. Don’t worry about not finding one either, as you’ll start every wildcard match with a hoverboard equipped, and it won’t be dropped upon death.

In addition to the boarding fun, three legends are receiving buffs. Octane mains rejoice, as your stim junkie is finally getting some love – the devs weren’t lying when they told me he hadn’t been forgotten. His Swift Mend passive has been buffed, now healing more HP the less you have. The base healing has also been doubled to three HP per second. Then, he’s got a new ability, Stim Surge. If you use your stim twice in a row, before the effects of the first have worn off, Octane gains Fortified, Swift Mend is triggered, and the latter continues to heal while taking damage.

Octane’s movement has long been eclipsed by the likes of Horizon, Alter, and Sparrow, but there are improvements there, too. His stim speed has been increased by 5%, and his jump pad now has two charges and improved handling when double jumping included in the base kit. Thanks to this, he also has four new upgrades, including granting stims to allies and triple jumping off pads. Check out the full patch notes for more information.

Newcastle is in an interesting place, as a top pick in ALGS competition but with a low pickrate in the standard game. He’s got two upgrades incorporated into his base kit, and new upgrades to replace them. Automatically reloading your weapons upon reviving an ally looks particularly tasty for the support players out there.

The final legend getting buffed is Crypto, whose updates should give him “more freedom” and make his drone “less cumbersome.” Strap in, because these are pretty technical.

As passive abilities go, Crypto gains long range threat vision while piloting the drone and a short scan upon dishing out an EMP. This should give him and his team more intel at all times. Drone launch and re-entry times have been slashed, you can collect Evo harvesters with it, and you can even enter and exit the drone while riding a zipline. Crypto will now also always be cloaked while using the drone.

There are a few other tasty morsels in the patch notes. The Infinite Ammo amp now applies to Care Package weapons, so you can fire off Kraber after Kraber shot willy nilly. My beloved VK47 Flatline gets a damage increase alongside the R301, and there are a bunch of quality of life improvements to the new-look Olympus, too.

The Apex Legends Winter Wipeout event launches today Tuesday January 6, 2026. You can read the full patch notes here.

Whether you’re looking to hit the pow or perform some kind of acrobatic triple-jump feat, Apex Legends looks set to retain its crown as the king of movement-based shooters with this update.