We’re getting to the end of the year, so you know what to expect. You’re (hopefully) reading our Game of the Year lists and (definitely) agreeing with my picks, while preparing for a holiday season filled with family arguments and backlog cleansing. Many people will be reflecting on their years and working out exactly what they want to change next year.
Maybe there are games you want to play, consoles you want to dust off, or K/D targets you want to hit. Are you committing to playing a new indie game every month or regularly dusting off Ring Fit Adventure to keep yourself in shape? For Apex Legends players, however, developer Respawn has done the reflecting for you.
Respawn has revealed some stats about Apex Legends in 2021. While ranked players may prefer to know how many cheaters have been banned, Respawn let us know that there were 446 million kills with the Mozambique this year, as well as 27 million Nessies placed by that Wattson emote. This is all fun and games, but there are a couple of statistics from 2021 that shows Apex players up as bad teammates.
5.5 billion players were revived in 2021, and 1 billion were respawned. That seems like a lot - nearly as many players re-entered matches as there are people on the earth - until you see how many were killed - 22 billion players. So why were only 5 percent of them respawned? Come on.
This stat says killed and not downed, so revives are not applicable here. I don’t think that would change a lot, though, as in my experience random teammates (and especially Lifelines) seem to be allergic to reviving you if you’re downed. But when it comes to respawning teammates, there’s clearly a problem. Yes, a lot of the time your squad gets fully wiped out in a fight, but there’s a bigger issue in play.
Have you ever been in a situation where a teammate gets downed in a fight and, instead of sticking around to see whether your remaining duo wins, they just quit out of the game completely? The stereotype labels Wraiths as the main culprits for rage quitting early - and it’s often proved right - but this happens right across the Legend spectrum on a regular basis. I’ve seen players abandon our squad when they haven’t even been fully killed, just downed, and had enemies quit on me before I’ve even downed them so I’m denied a Kill Point in ranked mode. It’s petty, silly, and ruins the fun of the game.
Respawn works hard to make Apex Legends inclusive, but the community often lets it down with toxic behaviour like this. I get it, I don’t really enjoy waiting a minute to see if my teammates win a fight after I’m downed, but it doesn’t take long to see whether they win or lose. And yes, if they pick up your banner and don’t head for a Respawn Beacon then you’re well within your rights to quit, but I find more often than not that’s not the case.
If you’ve stayed for the fight, helped or hyped the team up on voice comms, and not abused anyone for misplays or poor shots, then the camaraderie of winning a fight against the odds and down a player can carry you through the rest of the game. Random teammates are single-serving friends, and that friendship blooms in the adversity of being downed and respawned. So why don’t more of you stay in matches after you’ve been killed? Next year, Apex Legends players, you all need to be better. I’m making that new year’s resolution for you.