Overshadowed by Fortnite, Apex Legends Has a Record Year
It's certainly no longer the plucky new Battle Royale on the block trying to find its footing.
Apex Legends has been around for almost four years now. And while my feed is constantly cluttered with Fortnite and Warzone 2.0 talk, Apex remains weirdly quiet. It’s entirely possible, very likely even, that I just don’t have people who play it in my bubble. That’s fine! There’s nothing wrong with that, but it did make me a bit surprised to see that the game hit the 8th highest peak Steam user count ever back in August.
I’ve had an incredibly busy and weird end to 2022, so it’s no surprise that I just missed the memo and overlooked the spike. But that mark, of more than 500,000 concurrent players is something few games have ever managed to hit on Steam. Even Activision’s latest Modern Warfare II and its accompanying Warzone 2.0 launch have only managed to put together somewhere around 490,000 peak users.
While I can’t definitively divide those users between Warzone, campaign, and traditional multiplayer, I can talk about the spike itself. Prior to the Battle Royale’s launch, COD was sporting around 175,000 peak daily users. Afterward that exploded up to 415,000 and eventually climbing to that 490,000 mark in the days after. It’s since slid back down to 190,000, a slight gain over where it was prior to the update.
Meanwhile Apex Legends has continued to grow at a constant clip since the game released on Steam back in November 2020. Sadly that means data from around the game’s release and it’s first year aren’t readily available. What’s clear, however, is that August’s Hunted season and Vantage release was the most successful yet. (Again that may not be true depending on year one spikes, but 🤷🏻♂️).
There’s no argument or giant moral to the story here other than it’s easy for anything to feel underrated when comparing its results to the giant that is Fortnite. Everything is drowned out by Fortnite, even those that are inarguably one of the biggest games on the market in 2022.
Five New Games 🆕
Only three of these games are technically new, but I think there’s really good variety among this week’s offerings.
Dwarf Fortress (#2)
Okay so the game was originally created in 2003, but it’s “new” in the sense that it finally has graphics and is available on Steam. I was going to say it’s like Rimworld, but in reality, Rimworld is like Dwarf Fortress.
There’s a whole lot of pop management, construction, procedurally generated worlds, intricate social and combat systems, and more of the same impending doom at any time kind of feeling.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (#7)
Dwarf Fortress was at least technically new, but Valhalla is literally just a PC port. But if you’ve been waiting for it to land on Steam, now it’s available!
IXION (#11)
This one caught my eye last week just as I scheduled the newsletter, so I’m not surprised to find it here. In short, it’s a city building game that takes place on a space station that’s struggling to stay afloat and keep everyone alive. That brings survival and exploration elements with it as you gather resources, research upgrades, construct buildings, and try to keep everyone happy, lest they mutiny.
Choo-Choo Charles (#13)
Y’all. It’s a game about being on a train, completing quests, and upgrading your defenses while running from a spider train named Charles.
Divine Knockout (#39)
If Smash was too 2D for you, Hi Rez, the studio behind SMITE, is trying to take it 3D and third-person. By the time you read this the game will have left its free-to-keep promotion as of an hour ago, which is a shame, but if it sounds interesting, give it a look!
The Movers 🆙
With the announcement of Hades 2, it’s no surprise to see folks picking up the original game. The rest got some updates that are worth checking out!
+81 Anno 1800
+71 Hades
+70 Path of Exile
+66 Jurassic World Evolution 2
+59 World of Warships
In Danger ⚡
As Hi Rez gets to celebrate the launch of Divine Knockout, it’s undoubtedly sad to see Smite fall out of the top 100 for the first time in 3.5 years. Spider-Man Remastered also dropped out after 20 weeks on the chart.
Meanwhile, three triple digit titles are at risk near the bottom of the charts.
Phasmophobia (#92) - 117 Weeks
Sea of Thieves (#88) - 132 Weeks
Cities: Skylines (#81) - 110 Weeks
Grounded (#80) - 12 Weeks
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (#77) - 58 Weeks
Longest Lasting ⌛
Time for me to eat my words from last week as Smite stops being tied for the tenth longest stint on the chart.
Smite isn’t really in danger, but it’s the only one of these games outside the top 30 at the moment.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (540 Weeks)
Warframe (507 Weeks)
Grand Theft Auto V (413 Weeks)
The Elder Scrolls Online (412 Weeks)
Rust (390 Weeks)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (369 Weeks)
Final Fantasy XIV Online (315 Weeks)
Dead by Daylight (292 Weeks)
War Thunder (285 Weeks)
Destiny 2 (179 Weeks)