Houston, we have lift off..

While it may not be ascending at quite the break neck speed it enjoyed during its first week of launch, Apex Legends continues to rise at an unbelievable rate. The game has skyrocketed to 50 million registered players, making it a quarter the size of Fortnite in just over a month since launch.

That being said, the game hasn’t been without its issues. Popular Twitch streamer and former CS:GO pro Michael  Grzesiek, who is better known as “Shroud”, was recently sent over the edge whilst playing a game of Apex Legends after being a victim of lag. Shroud even left the game out of anger, comparing Apex Legends to earlier battle royale title PUBG, known for its insufferable latency and frame stuttering. That’s not the only issue that has been plaguing the game, with reports of in game crashes and cheating rife within the community.

Esports teams are noticing the surge in Apex Legends players

In spite of that however, Apex regularly tops Fortnite on the Twitch charts. Its combination of lightning-quick action and squad-focused game play has made it not only a popular game to play, but an exciting one to watch as well. So it comes as no surprise that Apex Legends is primed to become the next big Esport.

Over the course of the last few weeks, notable Esports teams such as TSM, Gen.G, NRG and 100 Thieves have all assembled their own Apex squad. Even Team Liquid moved its Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 “blackout” team over to Apex Legends. Respawn (the game developer) does indeed intend to support Esports going forward, but with no current tournament structure or professional league in place, it is clearly still a work in progress.

Regardless of the obstacles it’s yet to get over, the growth of the game is undeniable and with more and more players logging on with each passing day, I think Apex Legends is the next big thing in the world of Esports.