On Saturday, Apex Legends, a free-to-play FPS battle royale developed by Respawn Entertainment and published for Microsoft Windows, PS4, and Xbox One, hit 198,235 concurrent players on Steam. The game, released on February 4, 2019, is scheduled to launch for Nintendo Switch on March 9.
Apex Legends, which spent nearly 18-months as an EA Origin exclusive, reached its highest concurrent user peak yesterday, according to SteamDB. The recent surge, following the release of Season 8 on February 2, has made the title the fifth most-played game on Steam, outpacing GTA 5, Rainbow Six Siege, and Team Fortress 2.
The battle royale is also in the top ten of the most-watched games on Twitch, surpassing FIFA 21, CS:GO, and Valheim. Meanwhile, Caustic, a Defensive Legend known for fending off enemy attacks, now possesses the highest win rate in games lasting longer than 20 minutes.
Season 8, titled Mayhem, which launched on February 2, introduced the newest legend, Fuse, a psychopath who joined the Apex Games after his planet, Salvo, teamed up with the Syndicate. The new season also features the 30-30 Repeater, a lever-action rifle.
In addition, the ranked system has been changed to increase the number of people in the Apex Predator rank per platform from 500 to 750 players. The season also presents a new battle pass, and Kings Canyon returns to the map rotation, adding a previously unplayable area in the north. Finally, a golden rarity of an extended magazine has been introduced, which automatically reloads players holstered weapons.
The Anniversary Collection Event, which runs until March 2, includes the Locked and Loaded takeover that has players start with level one gear, including Mozambique, White Shotgun Bolt, HCOG Classic Scope, White Evo Shield, White Helmet, White Backpack, White Knockdown Shield, two Syringes, two Shield Cells, and a stack of shotgun ammo.
Players who unlock all 24 items in the Anniversary Collection Event earn 150 heirloom shards, allowing them to unlock any heirloom they want. Meanwhile, the crafting cost for all items in the Collection Event has been reduced by 50%.
Source: EuroGamer