Today is a big day for fans of Apex Legends. A sizeable update has just been announced for March 9, the day the game's Switch port officially launches. Along with the update, Apex is hosting the Chaos Theory event that comes with some big changes. Here's a breakdown of what's coming for the March 9 Chaos Theory event.

Caustic Town

One of the biggest changes to the game is the transformation of the old Water Treatment facility located on the east side of the map into a Caustic Treatment facility. Described in the official patch notes as "a new dominant mousetrap with lots of high quality loot," this seems like an area for those cunning enough to get in and out with their backpacks full. Non-Caustic mains entering the facility might walk away taking some poison damage as it's full of toxic liquids and gas surrounding high tier loot.

Ring Fury

The newest game mode added to the current playlist, Ring Fury adds one or more ring flares to the map within the current ring. They deal the same damage as the regular ring, but now show up in random places that are already in-bounds. Legends will audibly make notes when the flares are incoming allowing for players to get a move on and evacuate the area.

Heat Shields

A new item has been added to the loot pool to help Legends combat the unpredictable ring flares: the heat shield. Heat shields create a protective dome that grants relief from the ring while also providing benefits to health items. According to Respawn, "when you’re inside the dome, the use of healing items is sped up by 50% and the speed of Revives is increased by 25%. This bonus is ONLY given by Heat Shields that have been activated by the ring." A new slot has been added to the inventory to hold heat shields as they are going to be kept in the game even after the conclusion of the Chaos Theory Event.

No-Fill Matchmaking

Previously, Apex Legends only allowed for teams to take on the challenge of the battle royale. While you didn't necessarily need a mic to communicate thanks to the revolutionary ping system, you were always slotted into a team at the start of a round. Now with No-Fill Matchmaking, you don't have to: you can play Duos or Trios solo. This means that if you're in a Trios playlist with the "No-Fill Matchmaking" setting off, you can drop solo and face teams by yourself. Respawn notes that this isn't exactly how the game is intended to be played, but there are advantages to playing alone such as training, exploring, and unhindered challenge completion.

Rewards Track

With every new Apex Legends event, a new loot reward track opens up and the Chaos Theory event is no different. New gun skins and charms are available this time along with brand new Legendary skins.

For more on the Chaos Theory event, make sure to check out this article that goes over all the big changes coming to each Legend and this one about the upcoming changes to the Mastiff shotgun.