Reaching around 18 million monthly players, Apex Legends is one of the most popular online multiplayer games out there. It is so popular, in fact, that it is regularly played competitively at some of the biggest esports tournaments in the world. The game expertly balances individual strategy with cooperative teamwork, and, due to its free-to-play nature, entices players from all across the globe and from countless walks of life. But what is it that sets Apex Legends apart from other online games, and what does it borrow from these games that has led to its longstanding success? In this article, we’ll explore just that.

1. A Chance Aspect

Apex Legends is, primarily, a skill-based game, meaning it relies more on the talent of the player than it does on random chance and fate. That being said, there is one key element of Apex Legends that makes it similar to chance-based games such as online casino poker and slots, and this is loot boxes. Players of Apex Legends can earn or purchase these boxes using in-game currencies, and cannot see the nature or value of their winnings until after it has been purchased.

In this way, this aspect of Apex Legends is successfully capitalising on the previous success of casino slot machines. These machines, which can be easily accessed online, have hidden paylines that determine whether or not, and how much, a player wins if that pattern is randomly generated (source: 76paylinesslots.com). This mirrors the way Apex Legends has used random number generator technology to determine the value of the loot boxes, and so, similarly, the game can create dopamine releases in its players, which is the same thing that brings gamblers back time and time again to the thrill of the slot machine.

2. Battle-Royale

Like many online games, such as Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends is a battle royale game. Battle-Royal style gaming refers to when large groups of players compete in combat against one another to be the last man (or team) standing.

However, Apex Legends is set apart from its competitors in its battle-royale style due to a variety of different reasons. Firstly, the game places a lot of emphasis on team strategy and squad-based gameplay, which makes the game highly engaging for friend groups who wish to play together. On top of this, Apex Legends also places a lot of emphasis on individual character traits, meaning players in a team can all play different characters (legends) with different talents to create what is, in the RPG world, known as a balanced party.

3. Movement Mechanics

One of Apex Legends’ greatest strengths, and what sets it apart from many similar online games, is its movement mechanics. The game developers of Apex Legends have put a substantial amount of effort into creating complex and fluid movements for their characters. This means that, alongside running around the arena, players can have their character jump off walls, slide, and use zip lines. In fact, the experience and talent of an individual player can often easily be read by how well they move around the map, and how much they make use of the setting their characters have found themselves in.

Although other games in a similar vein to Apex Legends do incorporate complex movement mechanics, very few, if any, are as fluid and well-integrated as those in Apex Legends. This adds an additional challenge and level of skill to the game. To be a successful player, not only do you need to be good at killing your enemies, but also at navigating the map in the most effective way possible.

Why Choose Apex Legends?

A reader might be asking, if a lot of the things that make up Apex Legends are present in other games, then why not play those games instead? And though there is value in trying your hand against chance using online slot machines, or practicing your first-person shooter skills in a Call of Duty Game, there are very few games that allow you to do both, and this is really what sets Apex Legends apart. Not that what it does has never been done before, but that it does everything that has been done before and, many would argue, does it better.