Developer Respawn believed that it was “
putting a lot on the line” with the surprise launch of
Apex Legends, but it looks like the decision was the right one: just three days after launch, the game has reached 10 million players.
Fortnite, in comparison,
took two weeks to hit the same milestone.
“We knew it would be risky to take the franchise in this direction, to go free to play, and do a surprise launch,” Respawn CEO Vince Zampella
wrote in a blog post. “But we fell in love with
Apex Legends and wanted, needed, other people to play it, too.” In addition to the overall player count, the developer also says that
Apex has already reached 1 million concurrent players.
Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale game set in the
Titanfall universe, and it’s a game that mashes together elements of some of the most popular online shooters. It features
Overwatch-style hero characters, along with the core gameplay of
Fortnite and
PUBG. Notably, it also requires players to squad up in groups of three, though it includes a number of accessibility features
so that you can play it without voice chat.
In addition to
Apex, Respawn is also
working on a Star Wars game that’s expected to launch this year, and publisher EA says that “related
Titanfall experiences” are also in the works. “We have so much more in store for you this year,” Zampella says.