Since its launch last week, players have been discovering cute little Loch Ness dolls hidden around Apex Legends' map. It's in keeping with a Respawn tradition. Similar mini-Nessie (Nessy in Apex) dolls were hidden in Titanfall maps back when.

As is instinct when spotting anything cute in a game, Apex players shot the doll to see what happened. And something did: "A Nessy Appears..." shows up in the killfeed.

The virtual cryptozoologists got to sleuthing, of course, forming the /r/nessysecrets task force to get to the bottom of the mysterious message. While frantically searching for more helpless Loch Ness dolls to shoot, a Reddit account (now deleted) posted a map displaying the locations of all 10 Nessy doll locations on the map. Whether it was a push from a developer or dataminer, we're not sure, but the information proved legitimate.

Things unraveled quickly from there. If the Nessy dolls are shot in the order listed during the course of a single match, something special happens.
OK, so it looks like a penis, but it's not. Get your mind out of the gutter.

It's unclear if there's more to the Easter egg than Nessy emerging for a quick hello, so stick to /r/nessysecrets for any further developments. We'll be sure to keep a watchful eye on the situation as well.

But even if this is it, this kind of collaborative, interactive Easter egg bodes well for the ongoing development of Apex Legends. If Respawn can make a mythical monster appear from a simple group activity, then maybe it's capable of pulling off more elaborate in-game events in the future. I hope to see Kings Canyon change at the pace of Fortnite's island, and there's a major opportunity to tell some interesting stories in the Titanfall universe via incremental updates framed by flashy set pieces we all witness at once.