Respawn's recent updates to Titanfall 2 have fans convinced the developer is teasing something for the game's seventh anniversary.

Last month, Respawn fixed matchmaking in the game, all while adding hidden references to the release dates of Titanfall, Titanfall2, and Apex Legends.

The evidence of a planned surprise for players has grown bigger, and fans now believe the studio will have some news for the Titanfall series on 28th October to mark seven years since the release of Titanfall 2.

A series of cryptic additions have been compiled by Redditor McManus26, all of which seem to reference the number seven. A newly-added game mode contains an encrypted message in hex code which translates to "from candy to copper". These are common gifts for sixth and seventh anniversaries respectively.

Members of the Titanfall 2 modding server Northstar found "anniversiary [sic] prep" in the game's code, further pointing to Respawn planning something for 28th October.

Other clues are more cryptic, and involve references to the movie 300 and the third round of an in-game mode.

Fans know it's unlikely this evidence is leading to Respawn coming out and announcing a new Titanfall game, but there's a hope this is a build-up to at least something for the series.

Earlier this year, former Titanfall designer Mohammad Alavi revealed Titanfall 3 was in development for almost a year before Respawn cancelled it in favour of Apex Legends. Fans have been hoping for a new Titanfall game for a while now, and Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has said he would "love to see it happen", albeit "at the right moment in time".

With new Apex Legends hero Conduit - who was saved by a Monarch Titan - coming to Apex Legends for season 19 on 31st October and Titanfall 2's seventh anniversary just around the corner, could this be that "right" moment for something at last?