Apex Legends has more than 50 million active players just over a month after its debut. Many people are keen to know what Respawn Entertainment has planned for the game, and @RealApexLeaks on Twitter offered up plenty of sneak peeks over the last few days.
@RealApexLeaks offers tidbits of info gleaned from data mining through Apex Legends game files. The account claimed to have found references to a flamethrower, remote turret, and non-player characters; it also offered details about a battle pass.
The addition of new weapons makes sense--continually introducing new ways to kill other players helps battle royale titles avoid feeling stagnant. But the references to NPCs is interesting; most games like Apex Legends revolve entirely around their players.
There are exceptions. Epic Games has introduced several types of NPC enemies in Fortnite, which sets a precedent for Respawn to do something similar in Apex Legends. The studio's previous titles, Titanfall 1 & 2, also relied heavily on NPC enemies.
Neither Respawn nor Electronic Arts, the game's publisher, have announced plans for an Apex Legends battle pass. But it too would fit with genre conventions--or at least the business model that's proven so lucrative for Epic Games with Fortnite.
@RealApexLeaks shared evidence that Apex Legends will show its battle pass on a separate page in the main menu, offer a free version to reward players for remaining active, and of course, reward people who purchase it with exclusive in-game cosmetics.
All of those details are common to other battle passes. EA has to monetize Apex Legends somehow--neither game development nor the servers needed to support 50 million players are cheap--and a battle pass would let the game remain free-to-play as well.
None of these details have been confirmed. Even if they are based on game code, there's a chance that some of the features will never be introduced. Still, at least there are hints about what Respawn might have planned for Apex Legends in the short term.
