The battle royale game "Apex Legends" returns for a season 8, the day of its second anniversary -
Respawn Entertainment / EA
Apex Legends
turns two on Tuesday, the launch day of its season 8.
The title of Respawn studio and publisher EA
is one of the representatives of the battle royale, a very popular game mode, with also
Fortnite
or
PUBG
With hundreds of millions of players worldwide and billions of dollars in profits, they are settling in the
game
to last and evolve
"But does it still exist
Pokémon Go
?"
Yes, Niantic's game even had its best year in 2020 despite the coronavirus and lockdowns.
Likewise, it is not because the effect of astonishment and the media phenomenon around Fortnite have passed, that battle royale games have disappeared.
Two years after its surprise launch and its 50 million players in one month,
Apex Legends is
launching its season 8 on Tuesday, its birthday.
A good reminder that battle royale games are still here, and to quote Brendan Greene, pioneer of the genre and creator of
PUBG
, "they're here to stay".
A game mode like any other?
"I've worked on a lot of games, and usually you have a marketing campaign that gives you a taste of what to expect, how fans view the game," recalls Chad Grenier, director of
Apex. Legends
.
It's a bit like stepping gently into the pool.
But there, we jumped into the deep end, it was scary.
You put your guts into a game, a part of you, you think you made a good game, but if you're the only one playing it when it comes out, it doesn't really matter.
When we saw the numbers climb and reach millions in record time, we knew we were going to work on the game for a long time. "
Like EA with
Apex Legends,
each publisher quickly wants his battle royale and
free-to-play
, whether associated with a game (
Blackout
then
Warzone
for
Call of Duty
) or whether it is a 'a new franchise (
Hyper Scape
for Ubisoft).
"The battle royale is not limited to
Fortnite
,
PUBG
or
Apex
, it is a mode, just a mode, as can be the MMORPG or the MOBA", comments Chad Grenier.
The MOBA, for
online multiplayer battle arena
, whose best known representative is
League of Legends
, the most played game in the world.
"Each game today has its battle royale mode," adds the director of
Apex Legends
.
He's not wrong, and it's not just about shooting games, with licenses like
GTA
,
Paladins
,
Forza Horizon
or even
Tetris
.
Develop the media
But the competition is tough, and there isn't room for everyone, as the failures of
Darwin Project
and
The Culling.
These games had their little popularity, but players ended up returning to the behemoths of the genre.
This is the challenge that awaits publishers and developers, once the 100 players are dropped on the map.
May the best win, what next?
“From the launch, we tried to break the rules of the battle royale, with the
ping
system
to communicate, the ability to revive teammates or characters with their own skills,” explains the game director of
Apex Legends
.
We are going to continue to innovate, to add content,
maps
, Legends but also new ways of playing, things that are not strictly speaking of battle royale and which make the media evolve.
We don't just want to be one of the best battle royale games, but one of the best shooting games.
And show that multiplayer allows you to tell as many stories as there are players.
"
Video games, concert halls, social networks ...
Since the figure of 70 million in October 2019, EA has not communicated any more on the number of players of
Apex
in the world, but Chad Grenier assures that an announcement should not be long, and that the community grows steadily season. after season, day after day.
Fortnite
evokes 350 million players in May 2020, and
PUBG
nearly 750 million downloads for its mobile version at the end of 2020. A war of figures (and billions of dollars) difficult to compare, but which show the power of battle royale games.
They were 15 million to join forces to beat Galactus in
Fortnite
, after being 12 million to attend the concert of Travis Scott.
You will understand,
Fortnite
,
PUBG
or
Apex
are no longer simply the worthy representatives of a game mode, but also take the social network, esport, pop culture ...
Culture
"Fortnite" has succeeded in bringing together all the communities of players "
Culture
VIDEO.
"Fortnite", "Apex Legends", "Call of Duty" ... The battle royale games are here to stay ", according to Brendan Greene, creator of" PUBG "
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