Hot on the heels of the news that Apex Legends is now growing at four times the rate of its more mature competitor, Fortnite, it looks like there's even more in EA's Battle Royale pocket: dataminers have now leaked that there may be Apex Legends NPCs to come, along with some new in-game effects.

There were recent announcements that Apex Legends was going to release a Battle Pass soon alongside the new hero, Octane. Fans of the series have been curious about what said Battle Pass may entail, and the dataminers have clearly been hard at work. They have uncovered a number of points of interest in the code of the game which reference, amongst other things, potentially hostile Apex Legend NPCs.

Related: Apex Legends Is Growing Four Times Faster Than Fortnite

Twitter user RealApexLeaks first tweeted a leak out to a flamethrower effect being found in the game, which appears to suggest that there's going to be an item soon that immolates players, along with a potential remote turret that can be deployed. This was then followed up by a tweet about a leaked Apex Legends NPC code which contained calls for actions like disabling dangerous targets, completing assaults, and even using cover.

The leaks provided appear to suggest that any Apex Legends NPCs implemented are going to be capable of doing more than standing around and handing out quests. The complexity of the actions that they could potentially perform could see them functioning as teammates in the game, which could add another strategic layer to Apex Legends. It's possible that these NPCs may end up being part of a new game mode, or that they could help fill in for players who have disconnecting teammates in the middle of a match.

The source of these latest leaks has provided other information about Apex Legends in the past, including a rumor about a collaboration with the Titanfall series also produced by Respawn Entertainment. They appear to be a reliable source insofar as previous data provided goes, and if the new game modes previously predicted come to fruition alongside these new innovations with NPCs, Apex Legends looks like it could have a lot more to offer the Fortnite crowd than previously predicted. Having hostile and friendly NPCs in any situation ranging from a firefight to a potential PvE game mode, not unlike Overwatch's Retribution, could be intensely entertaining.

More: Apex Legends' Octane, Battle Pass Reportedly Coming Next Week

Source: RealApexLeaks / Twitter