Apex Legends hits 2 million concurrent players on its first weekend
Apex Legends is having an unprecedented launch for Electronic Arts and Respawn. And in gaming as a whole, its only points of comparison are Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
“We are seeing activity and engagement around Apex Legends that we have not seen around any other game except Fortnite,” said Adam Sessler, cofounder of analytics firm Spiketrap.
Apex has now gone from 1 million players on its first day to 10 million on day three and now 25 million after its first full week. That is mammoth growth, and it gives Respawn a huge audience to work with going forward.
Been waiting all day to tell you this madness… @PlayApex hit 25 million players this morning. Read more about it at the link below. Remember we have Season One starting in March and more surprises coming. https://t.co/gwj1sZSQnY
— Vince Zampella (@VinceZampella) February 11, 2019
Attracting players, even for a free-to-play game, is a challenge. Many developers and publishers spend a lot of money on “user acquisition,” which then forces those companies to introduce aggressive business models to earn a profit versus an extravagant marketing budget. But Apex Legends is attracting so many people through organic, word-of-mouth means that Respawn should have a lot of slack when it comes to figuring out how to capitalize.
What’s next?
Respawn is already hard at work on new stuff for Apex Legends. As part of its announcement today, the studio detailed some upcoming events.
Beginning tomorrow, February 12, Respawn and Twitch are working together to host the Twitch Rivals Apex Legends Challenge. This is a sponsor tournament that features 48 Apex Legends streamers facing off against one another, and you can watch it live on the Apex Legends channel.
The studio also has plans to roll out Valentine’s Day-themed cosmetic items to coincide with the the holiday.
But the biggest additions are coming in March with the launch of Apex Legends’ first season. That will introduce the first premium progression pass, new characters, weapons, and more.
