Unless your video game console has been collecting dust these past few days, you’ll have no doubt heard of (and perhaps played) Apex Legends, the intense battle royale game from Respawn Entertainment.
If that name rings a bell, it should; they’re the creative minds behind the Titanfall series, from which Apex Legends was born. And let’s just say that Respawn’s spinoff has hit the ground running like a fleet-footed pilot about to call in their Titan from orbit – so much so, in fact, that it eclipsed Fortnite on Twitch during its incredible launch week.
Per Dextero, it’s understood that the average Twitch viewership for Apex Legends was 183,089 for the week ending February 8th, with a peak of 491,894. Fortnite‘s average, on the other hand, remained at 115,947 (with a peak of 326,454) proving that, yes, there’s officially a new contender for the battle royale throne. And this one may be hard to shake.
You may argue that Apex Legends is still riding the crest of a wave – buoyed by the novelty factor and an ever-changing market forever searching for ‘The Next Big Thing’ – but at the time of writing, Respawn’s frantic shooter is still holding onto that #1 spot on Twitch with approximately 294,000 viewers, with Fortnite settling for third place with around 97,000 viewers.
Is the tide turning? Perhaps, but there’s still a long way to go if Apex Legends is to cement its place at the top of the proverbial food chain. Respawn has plenty more in-game content still to come (Solo and Duo modes are seemingly next in line), so it’ll be fascinating to watch as the studio’s Titanfall spinoff begins to find its feet.