Apex Legends is coming to Steam in the fall and it’s bringing a host of rewards to celebrate the partnership. Players will get three gun charms, available for free for a limited time after the battle royale’s Steam debut, EA announced today. This announcement came from a now-deleted post on EA’s official website, but it’s been backed up on an unofficial dev tracker.
The cosmetics explore the crossover between Apex and Valve and blend popular characters of both companies. Apex‘s Steam debut is scheduled for “this fall” and will take place due to a partnership between Valve and EA, which has put several titles, such as Need for Speed and Titanfall, on Steam.
The three gun charms refer to Apex and Valve, bridging the gap between the two franchises. One of them shows Wattson holding a Companion Cube, a prop that quickly gained the unwavering affection of most Portal 2 fans.
The Companion Cube makes a short-lived appearance in one of Portal 2‘s testing chambers. Players can use it to block deadly obstacles or reach higher ledges, and progressing through the level requires the prop. It’s also one of the few objects in the game that doesn’t deliberately harm the player, unlike its adorable turrets, for example.
At the end of the stage, GLaDOS has players “euthanize” the Companion Cube by throwing it into an incinerator—much to the distaste of the fan base. Portal 2 head designer Kim Swift said “a couple of people jumped into the incinerator themselves rather than kill the cube,” even during early playtests at Valve.
GLaDOS also makes an appearance as a gun charm. Players will have the chance to bring the AI’s sardonic remarks and bulletproof sarcasm into the Apex Games with the PotatOS Gun Charm, which sees GLaDOS in her unflattering shape as a potato during the events of Portal 2.
The Half-Life franchise also received a tribute in the gun charms. The Headcrab Runner cosmetic item has Octane infected by a headcrab, Half-Life‘s brain-eating parasite that takes control of its host’s nervous system.
The trio of gun charms will be available as “free limited-time login rewards for our Apex Legends Steam players,” according to EA’s website. Apex‘s Steam debut doesn’t have an exact date yet, though. EA has only announced that it will come “this fall.”
The prizes may not come as a surprise to all Apex fans, however. Data miners previously uncovered the three gun charms, which caused the community to speculate that the items would be rewards for Steam players.
