Apex Legends Player "Hijacks" Portland Airport TV to Squeeze in a Vital Match
We see this player's dedication, and we want to talk.
This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
Oregon's Portland International Airport is known for having an old teal carpet pattern made iconic by traveling hipsters and for having been voted the best airport in the country for the last seven years running. You can stock up on Stumptown coffee there, get a quick trim on your undercut, and even catch some shorts by local filmmakers at a scaled-down movie theater. One thing you can't do there, or rather aren't allowed to do, is take over one of the airport's screens to play some Apex Legends.
Yesterday, airport spokesperson Kama Simonds confirmed that a traveler plugged his PlayStation 4 into one of the airport's informational monitors near a departure gate. According to The Oregonian, reporting on Simonds' interview with KXL News, the man was "very kindly asked" by airport officials to unplug the console, and in return he "very politely" asked to finish his game. The officials did not let him do so.
The photo of the incident obtained by The Oregonian very clearly shows that our "hijacker" was playing Apex Legends. Not only that, but if you look closely at the upper right-hand corner of the screen he commandeered, you can make out a badge indicating that he was playing a ranked match—it's hard to make out, but it looks like our airport gamer is either an okay player in Silver or a pretty damn good player in Platinum or Diamond. If it's the latter, no wonder why he didn't want to just unplug and leave the game.
This is USgamer putting out the call: We want to talk to the man who played Apex Legends at the PDX airport on Thursday, January 16, 2020. There's some stuff we simply have to know, like which Legend he mains and whether or not the PS4 was also using the airport's Wi-Fi connection. If you're the PDX Airport Legend and you're reading this, please get in touch with us.
Right now, Apex Legends is running a two-week Grand Soiree event to ring in the new year, featuring new limited-time game modes that are only available for 48 hours each. That's all the more reason to want to plug in and play at the airport, but if you're that committed to the love of the game, we recommend you bring your own monitor.
Thanks, Kotaku.