Players of EA and Respawn Entertainment’s popular battle royale game have been hearing mysterious noises when first loading into King’s Canyon, often assuming it to be one of their teammates via the in-game squad voice chat. This Apex Legends coughing sound could potentially be something more, however, as it appears to be coming from the game’s public chat channel, which has led to theories that it might be an Easter egg or hint implemented by developer Respawn. We’ve heard it ourselves and so have many others, judging from documented reports online, so what’s the deal?
What is the Apex Legends coughing sound?
Multiple players hearing the exact same faint coughing soundbite, sometimes on multiple occasions, definitively rules out this being a noise made by another player. While there’s been no official explanation from the game’s development team, internet sleuths have deduced a reasonable and sensical explanation as to the origin of the mystery sound. As such, the following is based on speculation but seems to be the most plausible reason.
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The faint cough has been attributed to the unlockable playable character Caustic, Apex Legends‘ so-called “Toxic Trapper” who utilizes inflatable mines which emit toxic gas clouds to mark and slow enemies caught up in it. It appears the gas has taken its toll on the big man, who seemingly coughs at the start of a match even when he’s not on your squad due to the way the game loads player into matches, which was exposed due to a glitch.
As one player shared on Reddit when their game crashed during the match loading phase, behind the scenes while you select your character in the game’s menus Apex Legends compiles a number of players into one area before transporting them onto the dropship for deployment. Hearing the cough is most likely a result of a caustic being in your proximity in this behind-the-scenes “secret lobby,” which maybe isn’t all that exciting of a revelation, but it at least beats the initial theory that we were all hearing voices in our heads…
