Steven R. February 9, 2019
The rush to gobble up talent in Apex Legends may soon be underway.
The new battle royale has taken the world by storm, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed by established esports brands and organizations. With the game’s first tournaments just over the horizon, prominent teams are now looking for ways to establish themselves in Apex Legends. Foremost among that lot are Luminosity Gaming and NRG Esports.
The North American companies took to Twitter to put out an open call for both players and content creators focused on the game. The response was “overwhelming,” according to NRG CEO Andy Miller.
Since launching on February 4, Apex Legends has become one of the hottest games in the world. Over 10 million players tried out the Titanfall sequel within three days of its launch, and its Twitch viewership has skyrocketed above its competition. That boom in popularity has made it an interesting potential frontier for esports, and the game could be a solid fit for competitive play.
Taking the standard battle royale formula and adding in hero shooter mechanics could make for a more dynamic viewer experience than Fortnite or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, two other battle royale games that have attempted to prop up competitive scenes. Add to that the game’s focus on squads consisting of three players, and established esports brands have a natural entry point to Apex Legends.
This all adds up to an intriguing opportunity for brands like NRG and Luminosity, which already sponsor teams and players in a wide variety of games. Though NRG and Luminosity are the only prominent organization to publicly express interest in this way, odds are that behind the scenes they are far from alone.
Apex Legends’ first taste of competitive action will come on February 12 with the Twitch Rivals Apex Legends Challenge. The series will include four events with a prize pool of $200,000, and will feature popular streamers Dr. Disrespect, retired Counter-Strike player Michael "shroud" Grzesiek, and more.