Apex Legends is the new star in the battle royale sky. But does it have a serious chance against Fortnite?
What is Apex Legends? Apex Legends is a battle royale game by Respawn Entertainment, the creators of Titanfall. The game came out of nowhere on February 4, 2019, and just four days after launch already had over 10 million players, with one million playing at the same time.
Thus, it had a better start than Fortnite, and many players and streamers are considering the new shooter or have already switched.
Reasons in Favor of Apex Legends
Is there a real chance to break Fortnite’s dominance? In the following paragraphs, we present a few reasons how Apex could pose a threat to Fortnite.
Popular Streamers Play It
Apex Legends was developed in collaboration with streamers like Shroud and was tested in advance. Therefore, the game has useful features from the start, such as a streamer mode that protects against stream snipers by anonymizing names in the game. Apex is thus fully geared toward streaming from the start.
Additionally, many Fortnite streamers have already started streaming Apex alongside or instead of Fortnite. This includes prominent figures like Ninja, Myth, or DrLupo. If these streamers stay involved for a longer time, Apex will likely not lose popularity anytime soon.
Titanfall Was Very Popular
Moreover, Apex Legends takes place in the Titanfall universe, and various weapons and locations are familiar to any fan of this series and evoke nostalgia.
The mech shooter still has a loyal fanbase that plays Apex just because of its connection to Titanfall. They likely forgive that there is currently no new Titanfall.
It Is Free to Play
Like Fortnite, Apex Legends is free to play and does not need to be purchased separately. Unlike PUBG or Black Ops 4, you can start playing immediately without spending money. This ensures that everyone can try the game without hesitation.
And this is extremely important for attracting new players who are generally satisfied with their respective games.
Seasons and Content for the Coming Year Are Planned
The developers of Apex Legends know exactly what battle royale fans want: seasons with their own themes and a battle pass where they can find progress in cool items.
Every game in the genre has something like this now, and Apex will kick off with Season 1 in March and hopefully deliver even more good reasons to play the game.
The Gameplay Is Well Thought Out
Many players praise the well-thought-out gameplay of Apex Legends. It is evident in many aspects that the developers clearly asked the following questions: “How can I make a BR game better?” and “How can I make the annoying aspects of BR less annoying?”
Therefore, there are different heroes in Apex Legends . A feature that has long been desired by fans but has never been implemented properly before. And there are also countless quality-of-life features that hardly anyone would want to miss in a BR game:
- Simple team communication with pings
- Additional respawn option
- Shield during revival
- Joint jump
All these features make Apex Legends a very smooth and satisfying gaming experience.
There Was No Hype
Since there was virtually no hype around the game and it just appeared, everyone is now curious and wants to check it out. And no one had false expectations. Instead, there is a lot of viral word-of-mouth propaganda.
Players tell each other about the new BR game that is supposed to be really cool. This attracted a lot of players who might have had false expectations during a hype. Many were pleasantly surprised in the end.
Players Who Don’t Like Battle Royale Love It
In many articles about Apex Legends on our site MeinMMO, the comments often say, “I don’t like battle royale, but Apex Legends is fun for me!”.
The game thus attracts a mix of well-thought-out gameplay and good ideas from a shooter-oriented target audience that previously had no interest in BR like PUBG or Fortnite.
Moreover, it avoids the ultra-cutesy style of Fortnite and is rated for ages 18 and up. While this excludes children, it attracts older gamers who find Fortnite too childish.
What Apex Still Needs to Achieve to Remain Competitive
Apex Legends has already impressively proven that it can attract players. However, to maintain this in the long run, the developers need to keep an eye on three main points:
- Constantly Update: Fortnite sets the precedent with its phenomenal update pace on how a BR game should be developed. Here, Apex needs to be similarly quick and constantly offer new content.
- Utilize eSports Potential: Battle Royale is now a force in eSports. Apex also needs to quickly jump on this bandwagon if it wants to remain competitive in the long term.
- Listen to the Community: During development, streamers and experienced players were closely involved and brought in great ideas. Respawn Entertainment should definitely continue to listen to what the players want.
Fortnite is fighting back: Another point that many fans found interesting about Apex was the rumor that there would soon be a ranked mode. This is a feature that Fortnite has been waiting for in vain. However, Epic recently announced just that, and Fortnite is indeed getting a ranked mode.
This may be coincidence, but it is also possible that Epic takes the competition seriously and wants to undermine it.
It remains exciting to see how the duel for the throne of the battle royale genre will develop. If you don’t want to miss any of our news about Apex Legends, then follow us on Facebook.
