Modern Warfare 2 Is Killing Apex Legends
After years of mediocre Call of Duty releases, FPS titles have been swarming - shaping up any lacklustre fans that were in desperate need of a change of pace.
The most profitable of the bunch was Apex Legends, whose renowned developer support and constant content updates proved to plug the hole that ignorant CoD developers had drilled into the hearts of their fans.
Apex's incredible battle royale experience has grown in stature over the last few years, as Fortnite's kids are growing up to need something more competitive, while CoD's golden oldies have been yearning for a bit of love.
However, with Call of Duty promising pastures new with Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2, Apex Legends has felt the force of the new CoD generation. Apparently, its viewership has dipped to its lowest figures in years.
Why Is Apex Legends Viewership Falling?
Apex Legends has become increasingly popular, and in May 2022, the shooter hit its third-highest average viewership month ever recorded. Following the launch month and the lockdown period of August 2021, streaming charts website Sullygnome says it brought in a constant 109,300 viewers.
However, following the launch of Modern Warfare 2 and its beta weekends, October 2022 has seen Apex Legends' lowest average month of viewership in two years. It's currently pulling in an average of 44,500 people.
October 22 also proved to be one of Apex's worst days of the year, with many people flocking to Modern Warfare 2 upon its launch.
Is Modern Warfare 2 Killing Apex Legends?
At least at face value, Modern Warfare 2's arrival has been quite a success story. On its first multiplayer day, the game peaked at 222,574 viewers on Twitch, which is five times that of Apex Legends on the same day (according to Streamcharts).
Combined with the Modern Warfare 2 becoming the best-selling CoD of all time, it's clear to see that the fans that evaporated from years of "mid" games have come flocking back.
Apex Legends is facing its own problems though. Despite the launch of a new map, the biggest streamers in the space have loudly criticised the ranked experience. Respawn has claimed that the next season will be one of their best yet, but that won't be arriving until February.
MW2 might have completely killed Apex Legends by Feb, and with a lot of post-launch content being held back, CoD's algorithm could be an approach worth studying.