When Does Apex Legends Season 4 Assimilation Start? (Update)

Update 2: The Season 4 update is now live, and it's brought with it a wealth of new information to dig into while you wait for your download to complete. That includes patch notes and a rundown on Revenant's abilities, which until now had remained a mystery. Another key component of the update is the slate of new rewards and cosmetics, which we've rounded up in our look at the Season 4 Battle Pass.

Update: Turns out, we were right! Apex Legends Season 4: Assimilation has been confirmed to begin on February 4. The upcoming season will add a new playable character (Forge) and sniper rifle (the Sentinel) while also bringing back the fan-favorite Kings Canyon map and making significant changes to how Ranked Mode and Assists work.

Respawn hasn't officially announced an exact start time, but design director Jason McCord shared one on Twitter: Season 4 should begin at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM GMT (5 AM AET on February 5) on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Our original story continues below.

The current season of Apex Legends, Season 3: Meltdown, is coming to an end on February 3. So when does Season 4 start? Short answer: We don't know for sure, as Respawn hasn't officially announced a date. Our guess, which requires us to explain our reasoning, is February 4.

Respawn's original Apex Legend post-launch plan had Season 4 starting in December 2019. We know that's no longer true, as the developer, instead, extended Meltdown into the longest season that Apex Legends has ever had. Season 1: Battle Frontier (March 19 through June 18) and Season 2: Battle Charge (July 2 through October 1) were both 13 weeks. Meltdown will be 18 weeks long when all is said and done, pushing Season 4's start out of late December/early January and into February.

Though there was a huge gap between the launch of Apex Legends and the start of Battle Frontier, as well as a minor gap between Battle Frontier and Battle Charge, Meltdown started the day that Battle Charge ended. It stands to reason that the gaps have been getting shorter, closing in on the near-instant turnaround seen between Season 2 and 3. Following that logic, Season 4 would begin February 4, the same day that Season 3 ends.

Why would Respawn pick February 4 for a Season 4 start date? February 4 marks the one-year anniversary of both the surprise reveal and launch of Apex Legends. What better time is there to start a new season than the day that the battle royale goes into Year 2? Regardless of when Season 4 starts, Season 3 is quickly coming to an end. If you still have battle pass levels to earn, it's time to start grinding weekly challenges.

For now, we know next to nothing about Season 4. Respawn hasn't announced its start date, name, new weapon, new playable legend, or battle pass awards. There hasn't been any indication of what map(s) we'll be playing on either, or whether a permanent game mode will be added alongside Casual, Ranked, Firing Range, and Training. Pretty much the only thing we know about Season 4 is that it's on its way.

Apex Legends is currently in the midst of its latest limited-time event, Grand Soirée Arcade. Adding seven new game modes and several new legendary character skins, Grand Soirée Arcade will continue until January 28. Grand Soirée Arcade launched alongside an update that implemented several bug fixes, legend nerfs/buffs, and gameplay changes--one of which may hint that another Titanfall 2 gun is on its way into Apex Legends during Season 4.