Respawn’s Apex Legends has achieved a fresh high-water mark for the number of people playing on Steam. This was realized shortly after the introduction of Season 16, indicating that the game’s fans are likely delighted with the raft of new modifications.
The last few months have been quite noteworthy for the Apex Legends franchise. Recently, Respawn announced the discontinuation of the mobile version of the game and the unannounced single-player title, speculated to include characters from both Apex Legends and Titanfall. Although this was not an anticipated announcement for the fans, the company proceeded to share what to expect in the upcoming season, which appears to be their top priority. This switch in focus appears to have been well-received, as the game’s player count has risen.
SteamDB reports that Apex Legends has achieved a new all-time high in the number of players on Steam with the release of the Revelry season. At present, the figure stands at 610,433, which is a nearly 20% increase from its previous peak of 510,000. Remarkably, this record was set after the game’s player base declined in recent months and Respawn put out Apex Legends Season 16 with no new hero for the first time.
Season 16 of Apex Legends didn’t bring any new characters, but the studio made some notable changes to game elements and character features to improve the user experience. Most notably, Arenas were removed and Team Deathmatch was added, as well as a new Playlist feature. The Steam player count appears to show that the changes have been well-received by players, although there has been some mixed feedback on the actual implementation of the new mode. It appears that Respawn will be making tweaks to further refine the changes they have made.
It appears that Respawn Entertainment is making more than one alteration to Apex Legends. The company is replacing the current Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) system with a new matchmaking system. Though their recent project cancellations were disheartening, gamers should find this move to optimize Apex Legends reassuring.
Apex Legends is now out on Mobile, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
