Apex Legends Earned More in its Launch Month than Any Other Free-to-Play Game in History

Apex Legends was, and remains, a pretty big deal. The first battle pass is out, and while it kind of sucks (and it takes FOREVER to unlock levels, geezus), the new legend they released, Octane, is a lot of fun, so on average, Season 1 evens out. But even before Season 1 started, the game was doing quite well. In fact, according to market research firm Superdata, it may very well be the biggest free-to-play game launch of all time.

No, for real.

See, during the first month it was released, Superdata – who does not have official numbers, only prosperity data partnerships and point-of-sale data – estimates that 160 million people played Apex Legends, which caused the game to rake in somewhere around $92 million dollars across all platforms. That would, indeed, make it the most money any free-to-play game raked in during the first month, but whether that's sustainable is another question entirely.

Regardless, it was enough to earn the game a spot as one of the top grossing games for both PC and console, although nowhere near the top of either list. It sits at the 6th spot in the PC category, beaten out by Dungeon Fighter Online, League of Legends, Fantasy Westward Journey Online 2, Crossfire, and then Fortnite. On console, it was sitting at 4th, beaten by FIFA 19, Fortnite, and Anthem of all things, although Anthem will probably drop off the list In following months once people stop shelling out sixty bucks for the entrance fee, and Apex Legends, having just released its first battle pass, will probably be sitting far prettier.

Either way, I think we can safely say Apex Legends is a bonafide hit and looks to stay that way for the immediate future. I’m happy for Respawn, less happy for EA, and mostly just happy Octane is fun to play.