Developer Respawn Entertainment is committed to making Apex Legends better. The latest change to the game is the next step in that. While it isn’t a major change to gameplay or new content, it allows players to enjoy future changes in a much simpler way with the Apex Legends ePak system.

Renowned Data Miner Reveals Apex Legends ePak System

The renowned and typically accurate data miner That1MiningGuy recently posted on his popular Twitter account about some changes he noticed in the battle royale game. According to the well-known leaker, the game recently introduced a new ePak system.

The Apex Legends ePak system is great for players and the game overall but could be potentially bad for leakers like That1MiningGuy. The system allows Respawn to now push content to the game, independent of any large downloadable patches.

Noticed something over the weekend. Respawn has now started pushing content to the game independent of large patches. They've implemented a new 'ePak' system which can receive things while the client is running. While this is bad for leaks, it's great for the game.

— That1MiningGuy (@That1MiningGuy) January 13, 2020

The Apex Legends ePak system allows the server to send various content to the client while still running without needing to release a major patch. It means content can transfer to the player more easily.

Players can receive certain content in the game without having to download a new update, wait for the download to finish, install the patch and wait for that to finish before playing the game. Instead, it works without the need for a specific download.

This is excellent for players. The game’s servers sends and updates various features when you log back into the battle royale game. Of course, this only works for smaller content like new skins, store update and perhaps new challenges to check out.

It wouldn’t work nearly as well for significant content like new game modes to play, changes to the map, a new legend and the like. Major changes and additions will still likely relegate to the frequent downloadable updates.

However, this does put the game more in line with other battle royale titles like Fortnite. That game has had minor non-download updates for some time now. During a season, the game typically has a downloadable patch every two weeks or so.

In the weeks in between major patches, simple content updates pushed to the servers directly. Players don’t have to download minor changes as the game updates it as soon as you log in and boot up the main battle royale lobby.

How the ePak System Affects Updates and the Leaker Community

With the Apex Legends ePak system, it looks like Respawn’s battle royale game follows suit soon. The data miner clarified to a Twitter user who responded, asking for clarification regarding what the ePak system entails for non-download updates.

According to That1MiningGuy, big things like the new season update and events still require an update to enjoy. The ePak system likely includes skin rotations in the in-game store, various announcements, changes to the loading screen, and so on.

This could result in players not having to download as many updates or at least smaller ones, which is great for the game and the community. However, data miners like That1MiningGuy are going to be potentially affected negatively by this major change.

In the past, Respawn Entertainment would release a big update for an event that included data for upcoming skins. It allowed the data miners to scour through the files. Data miners would then release the files so that players knew what was coming. With this system, it might not be possible for data miners.

If a skin releases to the servers when it is scheduled to come out, this doesn’t give data miners time to look beforehand and see what’s on the horizon. It could result in bad news for leakers as they have to change their approach, possibly.

Instead of having updates release with info long before they are supposed to release, they may have to look through smaller updates more often. It could result in fewer leaks or, at the very least, less frequent ones as we have had lately.

The ePak System Implemented in the Grand Soirée Event

Beyond that, the ePak system release timing is interesting. We have a major event about to kick off in the game. The Grand Soirée arcade event releases this week likely with a major downloadable update to accompany it.

Possibly, the ePak system gets some use during the event. We should still see a significant update with new game modes and other features. But, we could see skins and other cosmetics rotate throughout the event released through the ePak system.

Because of this, data miners can’t look through the game files and see skins likely to release. For two weeks, The Grand Soirée arcade event will feature new and returning game modes, challenges and cosmetic items to purchase or earn.