Is new game Apex Legends a threat to Fortnite?

Image copyright
Electronic Arts

Apex Legends – a new Battle Royale game – has had over 2 million concurrent players and over 25 million downloads in its first week.

The game, released at the start of February, has a similar narrative to Fortnite.

But Apex’s new spin has taken the gaming world by storm, leading people to question whether it will be a threat.

Apex Legends is available on PlayStation and Xbox – and Like Fortnite, it’s free to download.

What’s come as a shock to some is how fast Apex is growing.

Although Fortnite now has over 200 million players, Apex Legends seems to be growing much faster in its earlier stages.

Fortnite was released in July, 2017.

In its first two weeks, only 10 million gamers had played it.

Newsbeat has been speaking to some American gaming experts who’ve played both.

Image copyright
Javy Gwaltney

Javy Gwaltney is an associate editor for Game Informer in Minnesota.

He believes Apex Legends is a great game but is not convinced it will be as successful as people think.

“It just doesn’t have the potential for that level of appeal in a way that doesn’t really have to do with the mechanics of the game itself.

“They have to learn, in a shockingly short amount of time, how to give players reasons to return over and over again outside of the core gameplay loop.

“That means doing more than just dropping cosmetic skins and weapons into the game.”

Skins are a range of costumes that can be used to customize aspects of your character and playing experience.

They can be bought with the in-game currency V-Bucks.

Image copyright
Javy Gwaltney

The 29-year-old believes the reason why Apex Legends has done so well so far is due to the hype around the battle royale concept.

Despite this, Javy doesn’t think Apex will pose as much of a threat to Fortnite.

“The problem isn’t ‘Apex Legends isn’t as good as Fortnite’ – but instead Fortnite was at the right time and place when nothing else was.

“Epic (games) wisely built on that in a way that was massively beneficial to them.

“You can’t replicate that kind of success by making a great, even better game.”

For Javy, the more interesting question to is can Apex Legends carve out its own sizable audience?

“Sure, the game’s got 25 million people who have played it but those numbers drop off all the time.”

However, Javy would still choose Apex Legends over Fortnite as for him the shooting lets it down.

“The combat is fantastic. Movement, gunplay, sound, everything is just superb.

“The shooting in Fortnite is bad. It’s real bad.”

Cade Onder is editor-in-chief of GameZone.

The 18-year-old from Iowa in the United States says Apex Legends is a completely different experience compared to Fortnite.

“Apex has 60 players and you’re forced into squads of three.

“Fortnite has 100 players and you can play solos, duos, or squads of four. Apex is first person, Fortnite is third person”

Similar to Javy, Cade thinks Apex’s game play gives it the edge.

“Communicating with players without headsets, automatically transferring attachments to new guns you pick up, and more.

“It gets rid of a large amount of junk and fixes the issues that bog down other battle royale games.

“Apex has much better shooting mechanics, much more enjoyable.

“If Apex Legends can find a way to raise the bar and keep the engagement alive, it could at the very least go toe to toe with Fortnite.”

But what do actual gamers think about Apex?

Josh, a YouTuber from Birmingham who goes by the name Frenzee says it’s too early to decide whether Apex will be a long term threat to Fortnite.

“But with the way it has launched, already hitting 25 million players with 1 million plus concurrent players, I think Fortnite are a little scared.

“If the Apex developers have a solid roadmap and keep things fresh I do believe it could continue to take over the battle royale genre.”

Image copyright
Jason Wyllie

Jason Wyllie, 23, a Twitch streamer from Scotland says Apex can be enjoyed by casual and hardcore first-person-shooter lovers.

“The game has a high skill ceiling cap – but low threshold for beginners – which means new players have a better first time experience (than Fortnite).”

But Jason, who also goes by the name of Jaspers, believes Apex may not be a threat to Fortnite because of the strong following it’s gained.

“Fortnite is such a unique game that they will always have a core group that play the game and caters to the younger generation, as well as older generations.”

However when asked to choose between the two, Apex Legends still took the biscuit.

“The big draw to apex over Fortnite is it comes down to team play, individual ability and gun skill.

“Fortnite has a added skill of building that I’m not a fan of I prefer one on one gunfights where your aim is what wins the fight.”

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra – if you miss us you can listen back here.