Apex Legends is the hottest game of the moment, skyrocketing to 50 million registered players in its first month of existence. Its combination of lightning-quick action and squad-focused gameplay has made it not only a popular game to play, but an exciting one to watch as well. Apex regularly dominates the Twitch charts, often topping mainstay Fortnite. So it’s no surprise that Apex Legends is primed to become the next big e-sport.
Over the last few weeks, established e-sports teams have been slowly assembling Apex Legends squads. The last week, in particular, has been a flurry of announcements. TSM, 100 Thieves, Gen.G, and NRG all added either entire Apex teams or individual players over the last few days. One of the more surprising moves saw venerated e-sports organization Team Liquid move its Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 “blackout” team over to Apex.
“There wasn’t any interest from the devs for hosting any events or focusing on anything e-sport related for ‘blackout,’” Liquid player Tanner “Rogue” Trebb said of the decision. “It was mainly just third parties doing things on their own and supporting the scene. The devs never said anything, they hadn’t shown any interest, so when Apex Legends came out, and Respawn came out and said they would support the e-sport scene, most of the competitive ‘blackout’ players switched over.”
In fact, most of the players shifting to high-level Apex play are coming from other games. Gen.G’s new Apex squad features two former Overwatch League pros and a longtime Team Fortress 2 player. 100 Thieves’ Apex team, meanwhile, includes players with backgrounds in Overwatch, Destiny, and H1Z1. TSM similarly features a team of players from the now-defunct H1Z1 Pro League.
Apex developer Respawn has said it plans to support e-sports going forward, though we don’t have many specifics yet, and the game clearly has an audience on Twitch. That said, there isn’t a clear indication that these teams will be financially viable. Unlike other battle royale games, like PUBG and Fortnite, there’s currently no tournament structure or professional league. In fact, teams didn’t really get serious about signing Fortnite players until after Epic pledged $100 million for tournament prize pools, including the $30 million Fortnite World Cup in July. Aside from a pair of Twitch Rivals tournaments immediately after launch, there hasn’t been a major Apex Legends competition.
For Apex Legends, the surge in new player signings is a bet that the game — and the genre as a whole — will have staying power in the competitive scene. “The battle royale genre is not a flash in the pan — it’s proven to be a hit from H1Z1 to Fortnite to Apex Legends,” 100 Thieves founder and CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag said in a statement. “We want to work with the best players in the world and help them reach new heights in their careers. 100 Thieves is committed long term to battle royale.”
Comments
The game just needs to figure out its stability issues. I crash way too often at the end of the match, and I don’t have problems with other games like Overwatch or Black Ops.
By christophermx4 on 03.10.19 1:16pm
In game I’ve never had a problem. After death and bouncing back to the lobby it sometimes loses its way and i need to reconnect to see my points breakdown but in gaming terms it’s been remarkably solid for a new release
By Ponk on 03.10.19 2:44pm
Totally disagree. This is the gsme’s bread and butter and it is unstable.
By Bonafide555 on 03.11.19 4:40am
In haven’t either and I play this game pretty often. Only issue I did have was when the servers were down.
By Stone Cold Dan Quinn on 03.11.19 2:21pm
By wsjudd on 03.11.19 5:37am
esports like email.
By RattlesnakeJake1982 on 03.11.19 9:29am
Man, I wish esports were around when I was younger. Anybody want to start a 40 and over seniors league?
By TK-093 on 03.11.19 10:51am
These kids don’t even know what life is like when you’re trying to get an SSS combo in DmC5 and your hand starts cramping cause you’re old and pressing a button 9000 times a minute really starts to wear on you and you have to take breaks between missions.
By wpostw on 03.11.19 1:25pm
LOL
Trying to play through Yakuza 0 was pretty nightmarish. You’re wondering when your hands got so old and marveling at how weird a muscle isolation using the joysticks are. Even as a guitarist and pianist it’s irregular motions.
By ardent on 03.11.19 1:34pm
Yeah… start with Overwatch League, a Senior one…
Called SOL. winkwinknudgenudge
By BulletTooth_Tony on 03.11.19 9:39pm
New game releases – 10 seconds later, LETS MAKE AN ESPORTS OUT OF THIS
10 seconds after that: NEW GAME RELEASES
That old game sucks we need to do this new game.
Remember the Fortnite teams? Battle royale just isn’t a good format to have a team for, Maybe a stream team but not a competition, it’s not directly vs and there is so many variables.
By king loxx on 03.11.19 11:08am
Were there Fortnite teams? I seem to remember esports orgs taking a hard "wait-and-see" approach to it because the format isn’t conducive to competitive formatting in the least, let alone a streamable competitive game seeking eyeballs on Twitch. Apex is WAY easier to plan for in this regard due to lower player count and forced squadding, with the tight gameplay as the primary draw.
By Eric Berggren on 03.11.19 11:55am
Fortnite never really got the snowball. I think there are Fortnite pros now but I have no idea who the audience for it is.
Personally my first reaction to this was "well, I guess Apex Legends is about to be ruined." We’re going to get a lot of changes for competitive balance which will make the experience less wholesome and real and lose us a lot of those amazing high tension early fights where you’re kicking and punching someone who’s trying to pick up a Wingman to cap you.
By ardent on 03.11.19 1:36pm
Plenty of Fortnite players / teams, Team Solo mid , C9, King Richard from twitch was on some other team as well. Every org if they didn’t have a team they picked up a player.
Apex is "easier" But and i don’t deny there is skill in the game, but it just seems the battle royale games are more suited for tournaments instead of competition.
Im not saying it Can’t happen, but it’s definitely more difficult
By king loxx on 03.11.19 3:43pm
10 seconds might be a little hyperbolic. They stay around for long enough. I think the change from game to game keeps things really fresh. Agree 100% that Battle Royale needs to figure out a better format.
By RattlesnakeJake1982 on 03.11.19 12:17pm
Obvious hyperbole is obvious
By king loxx on 03.11.19 3:44pm
Have to admit, Apex Legends is really fun to watch and to play even more. It’s like a visual feast probably that’s what makes it cool for Twitch. Plus the fast pace rhythm of playing makes it maybe comparable with Quake 3 back in the day. Adrenaline to the max.
Never got hooked by Fortnite and played rarely some PUBG, but Apex looks really like the coolest multiplayer game i’ve seen in decades.
By raresh on 03.11.19 2:36pm
Really? I always thought it looked like Overwatch stripped of any character, personality, or worldbuilding.
It looks so dry to me that I get thirsty just looking at screenshots.
By kabbu on 03.11.19 7:22pm