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Apex: Legends Surpasses 50 million Player Mark

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Submitted by S.J. Mitchell on Mon, 03/04/2019 - 08:51

You wanted the best, you got the best! It's the hottest game in the world: APEX (Legends)!

Within its first week, APEX: LEGENDS shattered records by bringing in 25 million players and after just under a full month it's hit the 50 million mark. It's a remarkable achievement for a game that has entered a highly contested market, previously dominated by FORTNITE. And FORTNITE has taken notice!

One of the things that contrast APEX from FORTNITE is the "ping" system and "respawn" points. People are loving the ability to communicate with random players that don't have a microphone, or maybe they do but suffer from anxiety when it comes to talking with people they don't know. The ping system allows players to let others know important things such as:

  • What weapons or armor are nearby
  • Where supply bins are located
  • Where they plan on moving to next
  • and most importantly: Where an enemy has been spotted.

FORTNITE has already announced they're introducing a ping system. They see APEX as a threat and it's clear they don't want the draw of something they don't have, luring players away. FORTNITE's strength was built off of a "solo" mode, however, but they've introduced team play and those numbers must have dropped significantly for them to hastily add in this feature. But that's not all they're copying. They will also be adding a "respawn" point, where a downed teammate can be brought back into the game. Another feature already built-in to APEX: LEGENDS.

In a video released this morning, CEO of Respawn Entertainment Vince Zampella thanked everyone for playing their breakout hit game and shared some interesting stats:

  • 50 million players
  • 158M finishers
  • 1.23B ultimates
  • 31B pings
  • 170M respawns

I wouldn't put a ton of stock in how many pings were used. There are many instances of people spamming the map because the Jumpmaster didn't go where they wanted to. Or they're separated from their squad and got downed so they want the team to know about it and that the enemy is still there. After all, pinging the location is one of the only ways to participate after you've been downed. So people can get tap-happy with the button while they bleed out.

While it's taken a little more time to double that 25 million player mark, it indicates that growth has slowed a little bit. That being said, it's still a formidable number that many games will never even get close to. It's clear that APEX: LEGENDS is a smashing success as a battle royale, first-person shooter with class-based characters; each one having unique abilities. Respawn must be careful to deliver going forward if they want player retention to continue. A roadmap released shows that Season 1 (which includes a battle pass that can be purchased) is supposed to be available this month. 

And players are clamoring for it!

As you can see from the image above, with 4 seasons total expected this year, the last coming in December there are 3 months between them all. Which means we'll probably see the first season closer to the end of March. If they stick to the schedule, S4 will be ending in March of 2020, lining it up perfectly for year 2 to begin around the same time S1 launches. Of note, based on the key in the image, every season will include a Battle Pass, New Legends, New Weapons, and New Loot. This should keep players engaged and playing, knowing that there is always fresh content around the corner.

Unfortunately, the roadmap doesn't provide specific dates and if gamers are anything, we're needy and impatient.

In a reply on Twitter, Zampella wants people to be patient with waiting for Season 1 to drop, as the game hasn't been out for a month yet. He promises that the developers are working hard. The roadmap said March, and now that we're already 4 days into the month players are getting antsy. They want their battle pass, new guns, and most importantly NEW CHARACTERS! Gamers are data mining the code for this game like it was World of Warcraft. They're scanning code hoping to find more information about what's built-in and what might be coming soon.

One character, in particular, is rumored to be "Octane". All abilities have been detailed and there is even an image available that was leaked. Was this leak controlled to help keep their exciting momentum going? Or was it just some crazy talented fan showing off their photoshop skills? Octane is rumored to automatically begin healing when he's not taking damage. Another ability deals damage to himself but allows him to boost his movement speed by 30%. His Ultimate ability will create a jump pad to allow people to cover large distances at will. We'll see when Season 1 drops how real it is.

Until then, we'll just ready up with the 50 million other players and fight to be named the next champion of the arena. Check out the video that was shared to Twitter!