It’s often the best barometer for success but, with a live-service game that launched out of nowhere like Respawn’s stab at battle royale, the Apex Legends player count could be a figure with which the title lives and dies. Thankfully, the numbers are outstanding, from concurrent players on day-one right through to the peak amount of players plugging away on Kings Canyon. Below, we’ll run through some semi-official figures so you can get a handle on how many people play Apex Legends. It’s more than you might think.
What was the day-one Apex Legends player count?
EA probably had high hopes for Apex Legends, but perhaps not this high. According to Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, during an earnings call, Apex Legends reached “over 2.5 million users, training fast towards 3 million users” within the first 24 hours of launch on February 4 [H/T Yahoo Finance].
How many people play Apex Legends?
Wilson also revealed just how many people are roughly playing at one time, though this figure can shift moment to moment. February 5 saw “600,000 peak and current users” play Apex Legends, which indicates a steady player base forming already around the battle royale.
While these are the only official numbers out in the open, it’s clear that millions of players enjoyed Apex Legends and hundreds of thousands are currently playing as of writing. The early forecast for the game, clearly, is a strong one based on how many people play Apex Legends alone.
How does the Apex Legends player count compare to other games?
I’m going to use the F-Word. Yes, Apex Legends still has a ways to go to catch up to Fortnite. Epic Games Korea CEO Sung Chul Park said in an interview in November 2018 [via PC Gamer] that there are 8.3 million concurrent players, up from 3.6 million in February 2018. These numbers, though, still show Apex Legends in a favorable light. After all, they are only six-figures behind Fortnite‘s player count this time last year. That’s pretty good going for a new IP in anyone’s eyes.
