Australia is presently suffering through an unprecedented season of bushfires, with extreme temperatures and weather conditions contributing to destruction on a massive scale; more than 5 million hectares have been devastated, an area larger than the entire country of Denmark, while half a billion animals are estimated to have been killed. With the country in the grip of a national emergency, and under-equipped local firefighters struggling to combat the blaze, many around the world are looking to offer help in any way they can.
Recently, Apex Legends fans have proposed an interesting idea; one which could both raise awareness for the issue and rally their community to provide financial support to the worthy cause. They want Respawn to release a Gibraltar firefighter skin.
The Call for a Gibraltar Firefighter Skin in Apex Legends
In the last few days, several Apex Legends fans have posted ideas on social media regarding a Gibraltar firefighter skin. Reddit user stitchoneill, for instance, posted the following; “Hey Respawn, Gibraltar is a firefighter! Could you not maybe knock together a firefighter skin for him on the quick? Make it a special item in the game that can only be purchased and maybe donate profits to causes for our Australian brothers and sisters? Especially the poor koala bears. I’d pay for something like that over a pair of boxing gloves for a smiling robot any day!”
Also on Reddit, user GamingMoanley made a similar appeal for Respawn; “What do you think about some firefighter skins where the proceeds are donated to the Australian bushfire emergency appeal? […] I would personally love to buy a skin for Apex Legends where some or all of the proceeds go a helping Australia tackle its worst ever bushfire.”
Will Respawn Listen to the Community?
At present, Respawn has yet to comment on the idea. However, the studio does generally keep close tabs on their community’s feedback. Certainly, this seems like an excellent way to rally the community in support of a great cause. (Not to mention earn plenty of goodwill in the process.) Indeed, games like Overwatch have done similar things in the past, gifting proceeds from certain skins to charitable causes. Given Gibraltar’s background as a firefighter, a Gibraltar firefighter skin would make perfect sense.
The need to raise money in this case is particularly important, as Australia’s state firefighting agencies have been severely under-funded. In recent weeks, some local groups have even resorted to crowd-funding online to raise money for equipment. Hopefully, Respawn listens to their community on this one, and makes this happen in some form or another. Of course, if you don’t want to wait on Respawn, you can make a direct donation to support disaster relief in Australia both here and here.