Apex Legends dev explains why Octane skins may never unmask him
Respawn EntertainmentA Respawn developer has explained why Apex Legends players may never see Octane without his mask in the battle royale. However, there could be a way to make up for it for those desperate.
Ever since Respawn Entertainment included a mugshot of Octavio Silva in Pathfinder’s Quest Book, fans have been waiting to see if the studio would ever include his face in the game via a new cosmetic.
Unfortunately, that may never happen after the devs admitted they never had to make his face, thanks to the mask & goggles, so the technical hurdles to incorporate it at this point would be tremendous.
Respawn Entertainment lead animator Moy Para broke the news to Octane fans holding out on seeing the Adrenaline Junkie’s face in the Apex Games.
✅ It's much more feasible to put a mask or a helmet on a character that already has a face than the other way around. Think of Wraith's Voidwalker – she was able to have both as she already had a facial setup to begin with. Bloodhound or Octane would be VERY challenging 😬 pic.twitter.com/D93AgUfRm3
— Moy Parra 🎮 (@_moyparra) March 17, 2022
The dev laid down the honest truth about the limitations preventing Octane’s face from being show. And even if it were possible, it wouldn’t be what fans expect.
“I get asked all the time ‘when can we have an unmasked skin for Octane?’” he said.
“The real challenge is that we never made any facial animation for him as the rig did not need a facial component. So he would have a blank expression for everything!”
As disappointing as that may be, Apex-loremaster-turned-Respawn-narrative-historian ‘frozenfroh’ suggested there could be some way to make his face appear, despite its limited appearance.
“Sometimes I wonder if this would be feasible if he only showed his face for a bit during a special Legend select animation in a way that he puts his mask/goggles by the end of it,” they said in response.
Indeed this could be a way to add a face to Octane without having to add an insane amount of animation work everywhere else for a single skin.
From the community, I can see positives and negatives with this approach 😅
— Moy Parra 🎮 (@_moyparra) March 17, 2022
Respawn, at least Parra, were tempted by the idea.
“Indeed this could be a way to add a face to Octane without having to add an insane amount of animation work everywhere else for a single skin,” the dev said.
“From the community, I can see positives and negatives with this approach.”
So for now it seems like Octane’s face won’t be in Apex Legends. But if the community gave Respawn enough reason to at least get his mug in the moments leading up to a match, then there’s a chance Octavio’s face could make an appearance to some degree.