In February 2019, Apex Legends swept the battle royale scene, captivating players all across the globe.
Now, however, reports of declining player count and overall player involvement are becoming more widespread. Is the player base’s interest actually waning?
Early Boom, Then Sharp Drop
When Apex Legends first launched, it surpassed Fortnite on Twitch, garnering over 40 million hours of viewing during its busiest week and reaching 122 million weekly views. Nevertheless, weekly viewing had fallen to about 10 million hours by mid-March 2019, a 75% decrease from that peak. Analysts largely ascribed this to a lack of frequent fresh content, which contrasted sharply with Fortnite’s constant flow of updates.
Cinematic Viewership Follows Suit
A recent Reddit thread titled “The decline of viewership in Apex Legends Cinematics: Why?” (1.9K upvotes) dives into the reasons behind dwindling trailer views. Multiple users pointed out noticeable drops in quality:
“They changed studios or something around the time of Newcastle’s trailer… the art style was totally different, and it just looked terrible in comparison.”
Others lamented that production no longer felt as polished, leading to stalled hype whenever a new cinematic dropped.
Root Causes Behind the Decline
1. Cinematic Quality Dip
Switching animation teams mid-cycle seems to have affected the visual fidelity and creative direction. Players expect each trailer to recapture that buzz, and Newcastle’s trailer simply didn’t deliver.
2. Content Fatigue
One factor is the overall content strategy. Viewer interest naturally faded as in-game seasons slowed, and the glacial pace was reflected in the film’s narrative.
3. Core Audience Loss
Not only is passive viewing declining, but concurrent users are also declining. Approximately 70% of Apex’s Steam player base had left by 2024, as concurrent users and Twitch streams began to decline. Compared to the previous year, esports events such as the 2023 ALGS Championship witnessed a 23% decline in average viewership.
Community Voices Reflect Broader Trends
In the CompetitiveApex subreddit, longtime viewers echo the trend away from cinematic and gameplay content:
“The apex viewership has taken a major hit this season… Hal barely gets above 10k viewers, when he used to get 20k easily.”
This stream-level slump parallels the difficulties facing Apex’s cinematics: less buzz, fewer views, dwindling engagement.
How Respawn Can Rekindle Interest
- Return to High-Quality Cinematics
Invest in top-tier animation studios or revive the original creative pipeline. Viewers expect compelling storytelling with visual impact. - Synchronize With Major Updates
Drop a cinematic that complements a season launch or a new Legend. Sync trailers with game events to drive excitement both in-game and online. - Engage the Community
Tease with behind-the-scenes content—“making-of” blogs, art breakdowns, or voice actor interviews—to amplify interest beyond the cinematic itself. - Enhance Competitive Appeal
Solidify the esports ecosystem and highlight story-driven arcs through player spotlights or cinematic recaps of big events.
The early surge in cinematic and streamed views for Apex Legends has subsided. Viewership for cinematics is a sign of a bigger problem with engagement, as evidenced by declines in production quality, content delays, and a declining player base.
However, it’s not too late. Reinvesting in cinematic artistry, aligning drops with major updates, and strengthening emotional ties with the community could restore that missing spark.
