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Apex Legends is seeing a surge in popularity two years after its release due to an influx of content creators moving to the game. With new content available in the game and other games not being in their best state right now, is enabling Apex Legends to potentially be the biggest FPS title on Twitch long-term. Multiple Warzone streamers like NICKMERCS and TimTheTatman are playing the game regularly and have taken over the top spots that were previously held by TSM ImperialHal and ShivFPS. Even Tfue and xQc have shown interest in the game, pushing Respawn’s battle royale to the number one spot on Twitch this week.
Why is Apex Legends trending right now
Respawn Entertainment just launched Season 10 with a brand-new legend, ranked Arenas, new weapons and more. The game has been seeing an upward spiral in playercount since the start of 2021 on Steam and with the influx of big content creators moving to Apex from Warzone, the game’s Twitch directory is growing rapidly.
Apex Legends saw a 77% increase in hours watched this week, all thanks to the likes of TimTheTatman, Cloakzy and NICKMERCS moving over from Warzone. Many of the content creators moving from Warzone have indicated that the rampant cheater problem in the game forced them to look for a new game.
While Warzone fans make up for the biggest increase in Apex Legends’ player count and viewership, Overwatch is also a factor in Apex’s popularity. With Overwatch 2 getting no release date, and Overwatch being in a state of limbo with no fresh content, streamers like C9 PVPX and Holiwhirl have moved over to Apex Legends.
After being at under 150,000 peak concurrent players on Steam till January 2021, Apex Legends peaked at 330,476 concurrent players in the last thirty days which is impressive for a game that launched over two years ago.
Despite the recent surge in popularity, Apex Legends might not be the perfect safe haven for Warzone streamers who shifted to the game because of cheaters. Apex has its own fair share of cheaters that Respawn is currently dealing with. There are also glaring balance issues in the latest patch, but the developers have promised fixes very soon.
It will be interesting to see if Apex Legends continues to impress the content creators who shifted to the game from Warzone. Shroud has called Apex his personal favorite battle royale on multiple occasions and the growing community is proof of the game’s success. Respawn Entertainment is also trying to develop Apex Legends’ esports scene with the arrival of Apex Legends Global Series – Year 2, which will feature a prize pool of $5 million.
