TSM star Philip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen has urged Respawn to follow Fortnite by introducing cash prizes for normal Ranked play to boost the Apex Legends viewership.
Over the past couple of seasons, many Apex Legends fans and players have been pretty vocal about their fear and belief that the battle royale is in need of serious change.
Many, including ImperialHal, have stated that the game may not have too much longer left, given that many PC players have walked away. With Hal being a competitor in the pro scene, he typically views changes with at least some focus on that.
As a result, following the Season 18 update, Hal has suggested that Respawn may want to look at what Epic Games have done with Fortnite’s competitive scene to reinvigorate the battle royale.
ImperialHal wants Apex Legends to copy Fortnite’s Cash Cups
It came up during his August 20 stream as Hal noted that he’s previously told Respawn themselves that they need more ‘new’ content when a big update is released – not just a new character and some changes.
“You can’t just have three months of the same thing, right, and then you have an update and the only thing you change is one character, you know?” he said. “That’s what Apex does, they draw out the content because if they add too much, the game won’t last as long.”
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Casting his eye to the competitive side of things, he noted that Apex needs to follow Fortnite’s Cash Cup system.
“There are a lot of things that the game can do that can draw more attention, there isn’t just one single thing,” Hal added, noting high ranks need better rewards.
“The game also needs to prioritize and understand that their game’s viewership is very reliant on competitive, and if they do Cash Cups like Fortnite does, it would f*cking thrive.” Though, the TSM star noted that would also have a negative knock-on effect to Ranked play.
As per SullyGnome, a stat-tracking website for Twitch channels and games, Respawn’s battle royale has completely fallen off a cliff. Since the start of Season 18, the total viewership is down by only a few thousand viewers compared to last month.
His point about Fortnite is also backed up by the stats. While Epic Games’ battle royale doesn’t have the same massive viewership it once did a few years back, it maintains a higher average than both its rivals in Apex and Warzone. So, maybe it is something to consider.