Apex Legends' next hero is disgraced Thunderdome Games champ Ballistic

Developer Respawn has introduced the latest member to Apex Legends’ playable roster: disgraced Thunderdome Games champion Ballistic, who’ll be joining the free-to-play battle royale hit on 9th May as part of its new season.

As is now customary, Ballistic – real name August Montgomery Brinkman – gets his grand unveiling in a new episode of Respawn’s Stories from the Outlands. Here, we meet him taking a lonely stroll through his lavish mansion before settling down for a recap of his Thunderdome career, which ended tragically with the death of his teammate and brother-in-law.

Since then, Ballistic has become a recluse, neglecting his family until they chose to leave. Which is where Respawn’s cinematic switches back to the present, and when we – and Ballistic – learn his son, Nathaniel, has just qualified for the Apex Games.

That, clearly, is enough to shake Ballistic out of his stupor; a shave, haircut, and some snazzy red sunglasses later, he’s off to the Syndicate to broker a deal – that he’ll resume his fighting career as long as his boy never sets foot in an arena. And, for now at least, as the cinematic ends, the Syndicate seems prepared to honour that agreement.