Apex’s Christmas celebrations fall flat as looming player woes raise worries over ‘dying game’

While the end of the year is typically the perfect time to spread holiday cheer, Apex Legends is facing a barrage of negative opinions and declining statistics.

The hero-centric battle royale, which surprised launched to great success, is now facing its lowest player count in history. To make matters worse, this dip in engagement occurred during the holiday update when most fans hoped the general player base would return for the unique game mode and cosmetics.

In the past, Apex has always boasted a hefty player count in the hundreds of thousands, but the 2024 charts show a steady decline. While this data only measures players who use Steam, the downward trend is bad news for fans and developers alike. While some hoped the winter event would fix the game’s problems and bring back old players, the opposite occurred.

Now that so many players are leaving the game for good, HisWattson, a popular content creator and voice within the community, is speaking out about the problems plaguing Apex.

While Apex’s player count is declining, HisWattson’s video has garnered massive support and is on track to reach over one million views. In this diary-style vlog, the YouTuber explained why he thinks Apex is “dying ” and isn’t planning on playing anymore.

HisWattson said Apex “constantly flips back and forth between what audience it’s trying to capture.” The YouTuber believes the developers are trying to appease a highly competitive audience that plays the game to rank up and live-service players interested in earning cosmetics and having casual fun.

The YouTuber said the game is “alienating both” by attempting to wrangle these player bases. To make matters worse, Apex uses engagement-optimized matchmaking in casual game modes. This lobby-generating system is focused on providing players with engaging battles instead of generating games based on skill level.

HisWattsonn dipped into his personal experience playing Apex to explain his experiences with the lobby generation system. The YouTuber said he is constantly placed in lobbies filled with newer players whenever he takes a break from the game. This allows him to secure multiple easy victories, most likely in an attempt to make him want to play more at the expense of newer players.

On top of matchmaking issues, the YouTuber pointed to other live-service games that are more appealing than Apex. Games like Marvel Rivals just launched, offering hero-shooter fans a shiny new experience, while Fortnite is constantly innovating and collaborating with some of the biggest brands in the world. In a scathing and simplistic question, HisWattson asked his audience, “Why would anyone want to play Winter Express while Snoop Dogg is having a concert on Fortnite?”

Although his critique of Apex’s current state is harsh, the comment section is filled with users who agree with his sentiments. One viewer remembers playing that game “back when it was fun” and has seemingly moved on to greener pastures.

While the future of Apex Legends is certainly uncertain, here’s hoping that the developers and publisher take this community criticism and the waning player count seriously.