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The fight between “Fortnite” and “Apex Legends” is still a one-sided struggle as evidenced by the number of players that the titles are boasting. Two weeks ago, “Fortnite” was clocking in at 200 million players, while “Apex Legends” was at 50 million.
Now, the most popular Battle Royale game has gained the same amount of players that “Apex Legends” is currently enjoying. Or close to it, anyway. Still, this is an impressive feat in a market where titles would usually fade in relevance whenever a better shooter game enters the fray. And although some have touted that “Apex Legends” will be heralding the death of “Fortnite,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney isn’t all that worried about the new kid on the block, VB reported.
“We hit a ‘Fortnite’ non-event peak twice after ‘Apex’ was out. We haven’t seen any visible cut into ‘Fortnite.’ It’s a funny thing. The only game you can see where its peaks cut into Fortnite playtime is ‘FIFA.’ It’s another game for everybody, wildly popular around the world.”
However, Epic Games should still be wary about “Apex Legends” given that it has reached 50 million players in merely a month. ‘Fortnite,’ on the other hand, achieved this milestone in four.
If the new shooter doesn’t lose momentum, it can potentially catch up to ‘Fortnite’ in the next six months. And with “Apex Legends” adding another unique hero in its ensemble coming in the form of Octane, it seems that Respawn has more tricks up its sleeves.
The problem for “Apex Legends” is its limited appeal to gamers. It’s strictly a Battle Royale game with no other game mode available at the moment. If Respawn wishes to surpass “Fortnite,” then the developers should find a way to offer more freshness to the game other than adding skins and heroes. But one thing is for sure, the rivalry between Epic Games and Respawn is benefitting the gaming community as a whole and it would be interesting to see what other creative works this struggle will bring in the future.
