Video game analysts were shocked by the December statistics released by PlayStation Inc. These statistics noted that Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends had defeated Fortnite for the most download free-to-play title in the last month of the decade. This marked the first time in eleven months that Apex Legends had defeated Epic Games Fortnite, with both being considered cultural phenomena. Fortnite has been available for two years, earning billions in profit and is regarded as one of the most popular games of existence. Apex Legends defeating them comes as a significant accomplishment, which no other game has come close to doing.

Apex Legends grew from the Titanfall franchise, with their popularity growing by an average of 35% on a monthly rate. It took less than twelve months for Apex to acquire more players than Fortnite, exceeding past 3.5 million players in the United States alone. When accounting for worldwide usage, Apex Legends exceeds past 250 million. Unfortunately, the profits earned from this substantial player base hasn’t been released by Respawn Entertainment and most likely won’t until February 2020. It should be noted that since its release, multiple improvements have been made to Apex Legends and created one of the most fluent experiences known in the shooter genre. These improvements include additional characters, maps, weapons and framerate improvements.

Updates Coming

Respawn Entertainment confirmed that 2020 would be their most significant year to date as developers. Apex Legends Season Four is slated to release in the coming weeks, with fresh content being provided to consumers. This will include an additional map, hundreds of apparel items, purchasable weapons and new characters. Season three ended before the new year, with Respawn directly competing against Epic Games second chapter for Fortnite. The competition for customer acquisition had never been greater. However, introducing the new map “World’s Edge” and removing the previous map allowed for Apex to thrive beyond Fortnite.

Gaming analysts seemingly can’t comprehend that Apex Legends defeated Fortnite. It’s been twenty-four months of Epic Games dominating over the gaming industry in North America and Europe. When looking at the European Union downloads, Apex Legends also decimated Fortnite in the final month of 2019. This means that globally, Respawn Entertainment maintains the most popular game amongst gamers worldwide. Most analysts believe that this momentum won’t continue in the new year and that Fortnite will take back they’re thrown by February. This will be challenging for Fortnite with Apex’s current player activity, Season four is releasing shortly and will keep those consumers engaged for months to come.