Key insights

• ⬇️ Apex Legends' declining player counts and struggles to cater to both competitive and casual audiences have impacted the gaming experience.
• 🔄 Engagement Optimized Matchmaking (EOMM) in public matches disregards skill-based matchmaking, leading to frustration for players of all skill levels.
• 💰 EA's focus on maximizing profits has affected Apex Legends' development, including a shift from its original concept as Titanfall 3.
• 🔇 Suppression of community-made content in Apex Legends has led to a loss of passion and creativity among Respawn employees and the player community.
• ❤️ The speaker expresses love for Apex Legends' community but critiques the lack of new content, competitive features, and community involvement in the game.
• 🎮 Apex Legends struggles to satisfy both competitive and casual players, facing a lack of new content and losing market share.
• 🚫 Optimized matchmaking can negatively impact gaming engagement, leading to the alienation of both casual and competitive players in Apex Legends.
• 🔄 The game's transition from casual to ultra-competitive has caused frustration among players and led to an inconsistent gaming experience.

Q&A

• What does the speaker hope for in regards to Apex Legends?

  The speaker expresses love for Apex Legends and its community but criticizes the lack of new content, competitive features, and community involvement in the game. Despite this, he hopes for a turnaround in Apex Legends to provide a more diverse and engaging experience for all players.

• How does management affect creativity and passion among Respawn employees for Apex Legends?

  Respawn employees feel that their suggestions are ignored or suppressed by upper management, and community-made content is actively suppressed, leading to a loss of passion and creativity. This stands in contrast to most popular games, which embrace user-generated content, while Apex Legends actively suppresses it, focusing on algorithms instead.

• Why is Apex Legends struggling to satisfy both competitive and casual players?

  Apex Legends is struggling to satisfy both competitive and casual players due to a lack of new content, losing market share, and a shift in focus and resources stemming from its unexpected success. Originally intended as Titanfall 3, its transition to a Battle Royale game caused frustration among players, as EA's focus on maximizing profits affected the game's development and decisions.

• How can matchmaking optimization negatively impact gaming engagement in games like Apex Legends?

  Matchmaking optimization, as seen in the case of EA's patents and Apex Legends' transition from casual to ultra-competitive, can harm gaming engagement. This transition has led to the alienation of both casual and competitive players, causing frustration and impacting the game's overall identity and experience.

• How does Apex Legends' matchmaking compare to Fortnite's?

  Unlike Fortnite, which offers diverse game modes and constant updates to keep players interested, Apex Legends' engagement optimized matchmaking (EOMM) disregards skill-based matchmaking, leading to frustration for players. This disregard for skill levels results in a cycle of easy and challenging lobbies, frustrating both casual and skilled players.

• What is engagement optimized matchmaking (EOMM) in Apex Legends?

  Engagement optimized matchmaking (EOMM) in Apex Legends disregards skill-based matchmaking in public matches and manipulates match outcomes to influence player retention. This can lead to frustration for both casual and skilled players as they may be matched with opponents of significantly different skill levels, resulting in a cycle of easy and challenging lobbies.

• 00:00 Apex Legends player discusses declining player counts, personal experience, and the game's struggle to cater to both competitive and casual audiences.
• 01:43 Apex Legends uses engagement optimized matchmaking (EOMM) in public matches, which disregards skill-based matchmaking and manipulates match outcomes to keep players playing longer, leading to frustration for both casual and skilled players.
• 03:43 Matchmaking optimization can negatively impact gaming engagement, as seen in the case of EA's patents and Apex Legends' transition from casual to ultra-competitive, leading to alienation of both casual and competitive players.
• 05:36 Apex Legends is struggling to satisfy both competitive and casual players, facing a lack of new content and losing market share. The game was originally intended to be Titanfall 3, but its unexpected success led to a shift in focus and resources, causing frustration among players.
• 07:36 Respawn employees feel their suggestions are ignored, management suppresses community-made content, leading to loss of passion and creativity. Most popular games have embraced user-generated content, which is actively suppressed in Apex Legends.
• 09:42 The speaker expresses love for Apex Legends and its community but criticizes the lack of new content, competitive features, and community involvement in the game. He hopes to turn things around for Apex Legends.