Apex Legends has once again risen to one of the Top 10 Games in the live streaming space for the first time since Q3 2021. This growth has partially been fueled by its esports hours watched, reaching the top ten games in esports last quarter.
Last quarter, Apex Legends maintained its position as the #1 Battle Royale Game in live streaming for viewers outside of esports. Generating 262 million hours watched in Q2, Apex outperformed games like Fortnite with 208 million and PUBG Mobile with 146 million hours watched.
Apex Legends and its Competitors
Apex Legends’ ability to maintain positioning against its competitors can be attributed to its thriving esports scene. While only having 142 hours of airtime, Apex was able to generate 15 million hours watched in esports and average 108K viewers for its events. The majority of this was fueled by the AGLS Split 2 Playoffs which generated 10 million hours watched. This event assisted Apex in climbing to #10 on the esports leaderboards. The game is still behind Fortnite and PUBG Mobile, which rank #8 and #7 for esports viewership.
However, Apex Legends outperforms Fortnite and PUBG in its higher average viewership. Respectively, the Battle Royale competitors hold 15K and 17K average viewers when looking at all of their events last quarter. They also maintained about 15K hours of airtime as well. This is a clear difference compared to Apex Legends’ 108K average in only 142 hours.
Apex Viewership Growth
Apex’s overall viewership growth has been tied to its esports growth. Combining Q1 and Q2 of 2021 and comparing to the same time period in 2022, we can see Apex’s esports viewership has increased by 24 million hours watched. The game overall has increased by 28% YoY in Q1 and 21% YoY in Q2.
The excitement and thrilling gameplay that is provided by seeing the best of the best competing is a proven strategy to increase the hype around your game. When your esports culture is thriving, there is an impact that creates a deeper relationship with your core audience. There also tends to be a rippling effect that could draw in a new potential audience experiencing the game for the first time.
