Apex Legends – Fortnite meets Overwatch as Respawn joins battle royale fray

A new battle royale game from the creators of mech shooter Titanfall offers squad-based play in a ruined sci-fi world - but is it enough to take on Fortnite?

It was only a matter of time before another world-class game developer entered the lucrative battle royale genre. The new type of multiplayer online shooting game, which drops up to 100 competitors on to an island and requires them to fight until only one remains, is dominated by PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and the cultural phenomenon that is Fortnite, currently earning $300m a month. Last October, Activision joined the fray with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode, and now Beverly Hills-based Respawn Entertainment, creator of the respected sci-fi blaster series Titanfall, has thrown its explosive hat into the ring.

Simultaneously announced and launched on Monday, Apex: Legends is located in the Titanfall universe, taking place 30 years after the events of Titanfall 2. Set in a remote area of the galaxy named the Outlands, the game is essentially a cross between Fortnite and Blizzard's popular hero-based shooter, Overwatch. Players are left in a ruined planetscape, in squads of three (you can't play solo or in a duo), and must gather weapons and items while fighting 19 other teams to the death. Before the action starts, each player must choose one of eight characters, all of which have their own special skills and offensive abilities. Gibraltar, for example, is the brute strength option, capable of calling in an air strike to take out an entire side, while Wraith is able to create a wormhole from one point of the map to another, allowing her team to either escape a tricky shootout or warp straight into one.