After more than 3 years, the “Battle Royal” shooter Apex Legends has reached a new peak, attracting more players on Steam than ever before. But what has led to this recent high?
What are the player numbers? Apex Legends has maintained high player counts on Steam for quite some time now. Just in February of this year, the shooter set the previous record of 392,998 concurrent players (via SteamCharts.com). After a slight drop in player counts in March (354,000) and April (371,000), the shooter is experiencing a rebound with Season 13.
On Wednesday, May 11, 2022, a day after the Season 13 update, 411,000 players played the “Battle Royal” shooter, matching the February record.
What caused the high player numbers? On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, Season 13 launched in EA’s “Battle Royal” shooter Apex Legends.
Season 13 brought significant changes with the Saviors update. Alongside the new legend Newcastle, the so-called Ranked Reloaded was introduced, along with changes to the map Storm Point and the map rotation.
The new legend Newcastle & the “Storm Point” overhaul
What can the new legend do? The new legend of the successful Battle Royale is named Newcastle. MeinMMO shows you what the new character can do.
If you haven’t seen the character trailer for the new legend Newcastle yet, you can catch up here:
Newcastle has three abilities that distinguish him:
- Revival Shield (passive ability): Revives and protects allies with a shield while pulling them to safety
- Mobile Shield (tactical ability): Throws a controllable drone with Newcastle that generates a movable energy shield to protect from fire
- Fortress (ultimate ability): Constructs a stronghold at allies or targets, providing cover and an advantage in battles
What was changed about Storm Point? According to the developers, their goal was to enhance the features of the Storm Point map without removing anything.
Accordingly, Storm Point received a new so-called Point of Interest, the marine creature “Sunken Beast,” which is intended to add variety to the map’s architecture.
Additionally, Respawn added a new PvE feature called IMC Armories on Storm Point, which appears at four different locations.
In the IMC Armories, you will encounter waves of the so-called Spectres. These are enemy automated combat robots that were also present in Titanfall 2. If you survive the Spectres’ attack, you can secure loot.
Respawn overhauls Ranked & removes 2-hour block from map rotation
What is the map rotation like in Season 13? In Season 13, Respawn removed the 2-hour block in the map rotation. This previously meant that only one map could be played within two hours.
Respawn recognized that two hours was too long, as this made it possible for some players to experience their entire available gameplay time. For these players, the block meant they could end up playing only a single map in a day and miss out on the rotation.
What is Ranked Reloaded? Respawn has overhauled the ranked system of Apex Legends, adding rank demotions, adjusting entry costs, and revamping rank points.
According to the developers, they made changes to the foundational pillars of the ranked system: teamwork and desire to win. The goal was to promote teamwork in Apex Legends and more accurately represent players’ skills in the future.
What the Saviors update and Season 13 bring in detail can be read on the website of Apex Legends publisher Electronic Arts (via ea.com).
You can see the epic launch trailer for the Saviors update here:
What is the current mood in other “Battle Royal” shooters? The “Battle Royal” genre has been very popular for years. Besides Apex Legends, competitors like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone also receive regular updates with new content and events.
While Fortnite recently made waves with the introduction of the “No Building Mode,” Warzone players are less satisfied with the recent Godzilla event.
MeinMMO author Maik Schneider summarizes the mood regarding Warzone’s Operation Monarch and explains why, despite the modest reactions, you should take a look at the event.
Godzilla event of CoD Warzone disappoints expectations – Big monsters, but too many promises
