Apex Legends Game Streaming Audience Dominates Fortnite On Twitch
Seemingly out of nowhere, Apex Legends has taking the gaming scene by storm and is shaping up to be a formidable rival to Fortnite in the battle royale space. Since launching on February 4, Apex Legends has generated some impressive numbers, not the least of which is the total number of hours it has amassed on Twitch.
At the time of this writing, Apex Legends is enjoying over 215,000 viewers on Twitch, compared to Fortnite's more than 68,000 viewers. It is the top game on Twitch right now, with League of Legends in a somewhat distant second with 140,515 viewers at this moment in time.
Apex Legend has topped the charts on Twitch since it came out. In total, it has generated 11 million more total hours watched than Fortnite, despite streaming over 600,000 hours less content in the past week.
According to data culled by TwitchTracker, Apex Legends averaged 253,198 viewers in the past seven days, accounting for 20 percent of veiwership. All other games combined averaged 351,926 viewers, while Fortnite averaged 115,431 viewers, less than half of Apex Legends.
What does this tell us? For one, that Apex Legends is hugely popular. However, there is cause to temper the enthusiasm, if only slightly. Electronic Arts is pouring money into recruiting the top streamers, so it makes sense that Apex Legends would trend so highly. Big names such as Ninja and Dr. Disrespect have hopped on board.
Nevertheless, Apex Legends has emerged as the biggest threat to Fortnite since, well, ever. The game has been lauded for its clever ping system and balanced characters. The lack of actual Titans does not seem to be hindering the game's success.
We don't expect Fornite to disappear—it's still pulling in strong numbers—but as each day passes, it is looking increasingly likely that Apex Legends is here to stay. It's meteoric rise in such a short time is also a referendum on the battle royal category and free-to-play (with in-game purchases) business model.
