When a title is updated, it usually means that players will be encountering in-game changes that can easily be perceived. However, there is often more going on with an update than meets the eye, as they frequently add additional code that can act as the foundation for future updates. This gives industrious players the opportunity to glimpse what may be on its way to their favorite games, and that is just what has recently happened with Apex Legends.
Since the release of last week’s balance patch, dataminers have been parsing files, looking for information about what the future may hold for Apex Legends. These players are finding a lot of unreleased items and features in the game’s code, and some of them are getting attention from the community.
For example, indication that NPCs will make an appearance in Apex Legends has been found in the game’s files. This has been seen before, but now the source of these details, Twitter user RealApexLegends, has noted that the code suggests that they will be able to attack and use weapons. This has led some fans to speculate that NPCs might take the place of players that drop out mid-match in order to keep a team together.
If this ends up being accurate, NPCs could be a creative way around the problems caused by disconnnects without requiring a reconnect feature — something that Respawn has indicated that it is not currently pursuing. That said, as is the case with all information that comes from datamining, the code’s existence doesn’t mean it’ll end up in the game.
Additionally, the game’s files contain the suggestion that new weapons may be coming to Apex Legends as well. Amongst these weapons are a flamethrower and remote turrets, though nothing about their potential functionality is currently known. Dataminers have also found code that points to vertical and horizontal wall running as an upcoming feature for the game.
NPCs, flamethrowers, and wall running are likely to be exciting prospects for some Apex Legends fans. However, it is possible that the code that references these features is simply a holdover from the Titanfall series, Respawn’s previous first-person shooter titles, and they are not intended for the battle royale game. Wall running and NPCs do indeed play a role in Titanfall, and that may be responsible for their appearance in the files of Apex Legends.
As always, players will need to wait for official word from Respawn before considering these features confirmed. Given the company’s tendency to surprise its fans, as was seen with the release of Apex Legends, it is hard to know when that word might come.
More details on datamined files from Apex Legends can be found on RealApexLeaks Twitter.
