Live Service Games
Games in general have had the limitation of being limited in terms of the content they bring with them. For a major period games have been limited to a few hours of gameplay with longer titles such as ‘Skyrim’ or ‘The Witcher’ have been able to indulge players for 100s of hours with still things to discover and new activities in recent times with the development of multiplayer games in general as internet speed soared it was made possible to have 100s of players in the same game playing at the same time against each other.
This enabled the development of live service games which get constant updates with added content such as new skins, guns, maps, and much more downloadable content added to them over time. This keeps the player base enrolled and in touch with the game as bugs are fixed, the game is balanced, new content is added, and players are incentivized to spend more money, enabling constant money flow for the developers.
Value in a game is now related to the number of hours that can be put into the game. This is where live service games play their card as these may be enjoyable even after thousands of hours in. Many streamers and even casual players have a few hundred hours invested in a single live service game.
Apex Legends
Apex Legends rolled out in February 2019 and was a very unexpected and yet welcome addition to the gaming industry. There were no media previews whatsoever, no overwhelming marketing campaigns when PUBG was the largest battle royale with a player base of 500,000 on average. Apex came in as a free battle royale which was not a knockoff of PUBG but an actual fully-fledged live service game with a lot more content to offer.
One of the largest being available cross-platform. New content was rolled out on time and even though having many bugs the game in itself was a masterpiece. Every streamer was playing apex and the game saw a phenomenal rise in its player base as the game was completely free to play. Although the game had a steady fall in player base since the game had its share of issues such as laggy servers, hacker problems, and a good ton of bugs.
The competitive scene is still going on and new players can still be found as the game was recently added to the STEAM. Season 9 “LEGACY” update added the ARENA mode which has seen a great rise in player-base as more and more people prefer the less hectic 3V3 mode.
Apex Legends Season 10
Apex Legends Season 10 Emergence brings about a good deal of new content the major portion of which is a new “Ranked Arena” mode. This brings skill-based matchmaking in the new Arena mode. A new legend in the roster called “Seer” with all-new abilities making up a total of 16 characters to choose from, A new battle pass with cosmetics, crafting materials, free Apex coins, and more.
Major map changes are being rolled out which adds new POIs in the game.
A new weapon is being introduced called the Rampage LMG which is a good new addition to the loot pool. The much-asked removal of the “Spitfire LMG” from the game and the unexpected removal of the “Alternator SMG” and shall be available only in “Care packages” or airdrops as PUBG players like to call them.
Indian players can expect a rise in the Bahrain server which currently is the closest and the fastest server available to the Indian player base. As of now, no Indian servers are to be expected which is sad as the Singapore server is inconsistent and Bahrain doesn’t have enough traffic for Ranked or Trios.
How Apex Stands Out
In terms of the Battle Royale genre Apex is a class apart with a great loot system that stays fresh even after a lot of playing as more and more variations are possible and no single gun defines the meta and it is more catered to the type of gunplay you want to have. Unlike other live service games apex has an amazing battle pass system that allows players to acquire the battle pass without paying a single penny and premium currency can be acquired just by playing the game enough. A similar concept to Red Dead Online. And if anyone is willing to invest into the game to buy a battle pass it comes with enough “Apex Coins” to be able to buy the next battle pass provided one reaches the maximum level which is not that tough as ample time is given and missions refresh regularly.
One of the key features is that loot boxes are given for free as the player progresses and free cosmetics are dropped within the game itself.
Verdict
There are a lot of varying views of people about live service games, both positive and negative. There are two sides to the coins as these can be pushy to spend real money or a great amount of time but also a lot of these AAA titles are completely free and players can have the same experiences for free. This enables the game to be played by a huge player base. Games such as GTA Online and Apex have plenty of players who play these games regularly so long even after launch and have a great time without spending anything on the game itself.
Apex has been hailed as a great BR game by many streamers and developers and the best thing about it is it can be played for free. Being cross-platform supported, friends with different consoles can play together and have a good time.
More free games with such a great build would do wonders to the gaming community.
Apex distinguishes itself as a multiplayer-only game with good lore and a backstory that enables players to connect to the characters and be invested in the game. Which brings out more worth from the game in terms of playable hours.
