It’s always heartening when companies put down their corporate schtick to play nice with each other. Whether it is major game studios celebrating with competitors during flagship launches or the typical PR banter, it’s always a nice feel-good story for the press. Yet, in an odd turn, Epic Vice President (i.e.Fortnite) deleted his congratulations to the CEO of Respawn Entertainment over the tremendous launch ofApex Legends. But… why?
The kerfuffle began last night when a Twitter userreached out to Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic Games (and co-owner of the Carolina Hurricanesfor NHL fans out there). The aim of the Twitter user was simple: get a statement from aFortnitespokesperson about the up-and-coming competitor,Apex Legendsfrom developer Respawn Entertainment:
Even better, this wasn’t a Tweet that went ignored. Originally quote-retweeting him, Rein sounded about his very positive feelings towards the battle royale game. “I like it. Very well done!”
And just like that, a wave of warm feelings and business sportsmanship was ushered in. Vince Zampella, CEO ofApex Legendsdeveloper Respawn, Tweeted back at Rein thanking him for the warm words – even offering to buy him drinks the next time they meet up:
…a Tweet that Mark then reciprocated:
However, in writing this feel-good story, something is missing – that original Tweet from Rein saying how he likedApex Legends.Why?
Perhaps the optimists out there think that since he got a reply from Respawn, the message had been conveyed. Without a doubt Zampella is sharing the Tweet with members of his team, as it is always a great thing to be appreciated and validated in the industry.
On the other end, there is the likely chance that this was Epic Games doing some non-existant PR damage control. By all means, I’m sure they are increasingly conscious of the rise ofApex Legends– EA has been able to quote daily successes since the game’s unexpected launch. In the first eight hours, the battle royale title had scoredover a million individual players. Within 48 hours, that number hadjumped to 2.5 million players. Then, by the end of the work week,Apex Legendshad managed to reach10 million players, with a high score of 1 million concurrents.
Heck, even doing a quick audit of both titles' standings on Twitch,Apex Legendsleads in viewership with 433K viewers.Fortniteis sitting in third, with just over 143K viewers. Whether this is a flash in the pan for the new battle royale game or the white whale to finally surpassFortnite, those are some terrific numbers for the once under-appreciated EA team.
And as I mentioned earlier, congratulating competitors is commonplace in the industry. Lest we not forget how Phil Spencer (Executive Vice President of Gaming at Microsoft) reached out to Sony and Santa Monica Studios overGod of Wars’stellar reviews. Or when the Microsoft brandcongratulated Nintendo for the launch of the Nintendo Switch.
We can’t tell for certain why the Tweet was deleted, whether it was a mistake from an intern or a call from the Epic Games PR team to tear down some goodwill across the industry. But the optics make it look likeFortnitefeels like it is on the ropes, which is clearly the opposite of what they want to convey in this critical time.
Apex Legendsis available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One as a free-to-play battle royale game. Meanwhile,Fortnitecan be found on any platform you may have – be it mobile, console, or PC.
