‘Apex Legends’ Developer Shares Heartbreaking Story Behind Plushie Easter Egg

Players all over the world are enjoying the latest battle royale game to hit the market courtesy of Titanfall developer Respawn, and some of them are finding strange little Easter eggs throughout the map. When a story broke about an Apex Legends player finding a “dog shrine,” one developer decided to share the heartbreaking story behind it.

Lead Level Designer Jason McCord took to Twitter to share the sad tale (and yes, I immediately went and hugged my puppy after this):

When Kotaku ran the initial story, there was a paragraph about being curious about the dog found and why it seemed so loved. The author mentioned they weren’t a pet owner, so the confusion is a bit understandable but if you’re like me and just want all of those good boys doing their best to live their best lives — well, bring some tissues.

McCord began his thread explaining the Easter egg by saying, “Our dog of 10 years passed away suddenly from health issues while I was working hard on Kings Canyon. As any animal lover knows, this was a crushing blow to my morale and made many days hard to come to work.”

He then mentioned how Shadie was their best friend and by adding a little shrine dedicated to her, this beloved family member could live on — even just in a corner of the battle royale game. He even mentioned how he’ll sometimes visit this particular area on the map to feel better after the loss of Shadie and I’m not crying, you’re crying …

The level designer even included a picture of the dog area and oh, my god my heart:

Want to find and pay tribute to Shadie yourself? The free-to-play battle royale title is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.