The Battle Royale Apex Legends has set a new record. In February 2021, more players played the online shooter on Steam than ever before - and there are also players on other platforms. We look at what makes the game so good in early 2021.
This is the current situation with Apex Legends : Apex Legends set a new record with 196,799 players simultaneously in February 2021 (via steamcharts ). On average, between 100,000-120,000 players played in the past few weeks.
This makes Apex Legends a lot stronger than it was in January. In the list of the top games on Steam, Apex Legends is ahead of well-known giants such as GTA V, Team Fortress 2 and the newcomer Rust. It's just behind the new Steam hit Valheim .
These are just the numbers on Steam. Apex Legends launched on Steam in November 2020 along with Season 7 and has since grown there. There are also players on PlayStation, Xbox and via EA's own launcher Origin.
After the successful start on Steam, the numbers have grown again. Just in time for the second birthday on February 4th, the new season 8 started, which is probably responsible for the big increase.
Season 8 causes a rush of players
Where do the player numbers come from? Apex Legends appeared on February 4, 2019, virtually out of nowhere and without notice, only to explode shortly afterwards. In 2021, the new Battle Royale started its eighth season.
What's in Season 2? As usual, the new season brings a number of changes and innovations. The biggest new feature is the legend Fuse, which made it straight into the A tier of our tier list for Apex Legends . Fuse is an explosives expert who handles various explosive skills:
Grenadier (Passive) - Fuse carries one more grenade per slot and can throw it further, faster and more precisely.
Knuckle Cluster (Tactical) - Throws a cluster bomb that detonates at the target location, causing further explosions in the air.
The Destroyer (Ultimate) - Bombs an area and surrounds it with a wall of flames.
In addition, the 30-30 repeater is a new weapon that can either be fired quickly or charged briefly to cause more damage. Each cartridge is reloaded individually in the weapon, which means that pressure can be maintained over long distances.
For many other weapons in Apex Legends, there are now golden magazines that automatically reload the weapon if it has been put away for a while.
The first map of Apex Legends, King's Gorge, also changes with Season 8. A huge ship crashed and opened a new area of the map. There are also adjustments to many well-known locations and new observation towers for reconnaissance or snipers. The developers have described all changes in their block in detail (via EA ).
In addition to the major gameplay changes, there are a few minor adjustments to the game:
Improvements to the HUD and the popular ping system
Adjustments to the legend's hitboxes
Adjustments to weapons and rotation of the arsenal
You can find the full patch notes on the Apex Legends website . For season 8 there was also an event that probably also caused many players.
Birthday event brings great rewards for a short time
For the birthday of Apex Legends, the developers have brought an event into the game for a short time. From February 9th to February 23rd, players could earn rewards with a special playlist, games and challenges.
The rewards included popular skins and cosmetics from old events with a new look and the opportunity to unlock enough splinters for an heirloom of choice. The “Loaded and Unlocked” game mode threw players into battle with equipment and removed common loot from the loot pool, so that there was more action in the rounds.
The big changes since release
What else has happened? A lot has changed since Apex Legends launched 2 years ago. Anyone who has not played since February 2019 will be faced with many new features. Some of the biggest of these are:
many new legends with their own skills and synergies
new weapons and a rotation to add variety
a new leaderboard mode to show off your skill level
two new maps, two of the three maps are available every season
Map changes for all maps with constant adjustments
special map peculiarities such as loot safes, environmental hazards and more
various events that always bring new challenges and cosmetics into play
new battle passes
Is Apex Legend still worth it in 2021? Even if the birthday event is now over, Season 8 brings many new features with it that are still exciting. In addition, Apex Legends constantly brings new events that spice up the game.
Anyone looking for an alternative to Fortnite or CoD Warzone is still well served with Apex Legends and apparently finds enough players. The Battle Royale even serves cross-play, so you can play with friends from other platforms if you want.
The success of Apex Legends mainly comes from the constant development and therefore the fact that it was able to deliver consistent quality:
the game was good from the start - the gameplay loop and core gameplay are strong
Apex Legends has been developed well and solidly over the course of 2 years with many features and new legends
Events and battle passes keep players engaged
and when Apex Legends gives players the opportunity to get their hands on the coveted cosmetics for free, they generate a strong player boost
The gameplay itself already addresses something that shooter players and action fans in particular like very much: varied rounds with hard fights against other players and adrenaline due to the time pressure of the closing circle. Different weapons and characters complete the game.
On March 9th, Apex Legends will even be released for the Nintendo Switch. So if you prefer to play on the portable console, you can soon even take the game with you and play it on the go.
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