"Apex Legends"/Electronic Arts
- "Apex Legends" is a new battle royale video game from Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts.
- Respawn announced the game on February 4th and released it for free on the same day for Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
- More than 2 million players downloaded "Apex Legends" during its first day, and it’s currently the most-watched game on Twitch, the top video game streaming platform.
- 3 days later, the game has already crossed 10 million players.
Electronic Arts and developer Respawn Entertainment shocked the video game world on Monday when they revealed "Apex Legends," a new battle royale shooter, and immediately released the full game for free.
Battle royale describes a relatively new genre of game popularized by "Fortnite" and "PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds," the two most played video games in the world. "Fortnite: Battle Royale," is free-to-play and has more than 200 million players worldwide. The creators of "Fortnite," Epic Games, reportedly earned $2.4 billion in 2018 from the sale of cosmetic items within the game.
"Apex Legends" is a clear challenger to "Fortnite," with Electronic Arts adopting a free-to-play model similar to "Fortnite" for its own battle royale game. While the surprise announcement of "Apex Legends" only brought in about 90,000 viewers at its peak yesterday, word traveled fast — more than one million players downloaded the game in the first eight hours it was available.
More than 10 million people played "Apex Legends" in its first 72 hours.
Vincent Zampella, CEO of Respawn Entertainment, said the "Apex Legend" player base reached two million in less than 24 hours, and by the end of day three, 10 million people had tried the game.
"Apex Legends" quickly became the most-watched video game on Twitch too, with more than 390,000 concurrent viewers watching live a day after the game’s release. The game is fast-paced and features unique characters, rather than the generic avatars of "Fortnite" and "PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds."
Like other battle royale games, players fight to survive on a remote island.
"Apex Legends"/Electronic Arts
The battle royale genre pits dozens of players against each other in a fight for survival. Players are dropped off in a remote area and need to find weapons to defend themselves. As the game progresses, the safe areas of the map start to shrink until only one team or player is remaining. Each round lasts about 30 minutes at most, and players can join a new match as soon as they’re eliminated.
"Apex Legends" will continue adding new playable characters over time.
"Apex Legends"/Electronic Arts
Rather than making their own character, like in "Fortnite" or "PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,""Apex" players choose from one of eight playable legends — unique characters with their own special abilities. Their powers can include extra mobility, shields for support, or specific weapon types. New legends will be introduced as the game is updated over time.
While players can select most of the starting cast for free, "Apex" will sell new playable characters for $7.50 each.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider