Apex Legends Player Count Drops to Lowest Levels in Over Three Years on Steam

Apex Legends has recently seen its lowest player count in over three years on Steam, leading many fans to express dissatisfaction with Respawn’s battle royale game.

When Respawn Entertainment initially launched Apex Legends, it caused a significant shift in the battle royale genre with a unique twist. While the essential gameplay of dropping, looting, and surviving mirrored that of Fortnite and PUBG, Apex’s introduction of characters possessing distinct abilities quickly ascended it to the forefront of the gaming industry.

Despite maintaining its popularity for a number of years, Apex Legends has started to decline. Players have voiced their concerns regarding Respawn’s changes to gameplay, rampant cheating, and ongoing server issues.

While developers attempted to resolve some of these problems in Season 22, the results have not met players’ expectations. One particular source of frustration has been Crypto’s new Off the Grid ability, allowing him to become invisible while operating his drone, among other concerns.

As a consequence, the player count for Apex Legends has continued its downward trend. Following a gradual exodus of users over the past few months, the game hit a new low on Steam in early September.

According to SteamCharts, the average player count on Steam has dipped slightly above 120,000. This represents the lowest figure since February 2021, when it also hovered around 120,000.

Screenshot of Apex Legends player count on Steam Charts for August 2024 — SteamCharts

Apex’s Steam Player Count is at its lowest point since 2021.

This decline may continue, as the average player count over the last 30 days has fallen further to 112,000.

Additionally, the peak player count dropped to 260,000 within the last month, significantly lower than August’s peak of 314,000.

While these numbers reflect only the Steam platform and do not include player data from consoles or EA’s Origin service, they should raise red flags for Respawn as they evaluate potential future updates.