Is Apex Legends Safe?
Apex Legends has taken the gaming world by storm! It was released February 4, 2019 by Respawn Entertainment. In one week, there were over 25 million registered users!
We don’t usually write about desktop games, but Apex is so huge, which means there are kids and parents who need to know more about the game.
Courtesy: EA
What is Apex Legends?
Description: Apex Legends is a free-to-play, battle royale, shooter game. Sixty players are pitted against one another in squads of three onto an island filled with weapons and other resources. Squads need to collect these while fighting other squads as the play area gradually constricts in size. The last squad standing wins.
It’s available on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and the Nintendo Switch, and includes cross-play between these devices. Apex Legends Mobile announced they are discontinuing their services as of May 1, 2023.
Corporate website: https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends
Category: Games
Entertainment Software Rating Board Rating: Teen for blood, violence, in-game purchases, and users interact
What do Parents Need to Know About Apex Legends?
Apex is very similar to Fortnite and for as popular as Fortnite was/is, Apex is actually growing at a faster rate. We’ll see if they can maintain this early momentum!
It’s a free game! But, the developers still want to make money! This article explains the multiple currencies well. The CliffNotes version is that there are three different currencies in Apex Legends.
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- Crafting Metals: Earned by opening Apex Packs, and they unlock cosmetic items. You can earn Apex Packs by playing or buying them with real money.
- Legend Tokens: Earned by playing the game. Every time you level up, you get 600 Legend Tokens. These unlock characters and store-exclusive cosmetics.
- Apex Coins: Not earned. You pay real money to get these. 1,000 Apex Coins (AC) costs $9.99, 2, 150 AC costs $19.99, or 4,350 AC costs $39.99. You can use AC to buy specific loot items and you can also use them to buy anything you could get with Crafting Metals or Legend Tokens.
Violence factor. It is a shooter game, so yes there is violence. When you hit an opponent, there is a small amount of blood (which is a quick, small, red splatter from the opponent). Hitting an opponent decreases their health meter (others on your squad can heal you). If health gets too low, then the player is immobilized. At this point, there are finishing moves that you can do (stabbing, punching, electrocuting) that are depicted close-up or from the victims point of view. In the US, this game is rated the same as Fortnite. However, Europe’s rating system PEGI finds Apex Legends to have darker themes than Fortnite and has rated it as 16+.
Down is not out. In Apex Legends, once you have officially died, your squad members can still grab your “banner” and take it to a respawn beacon. This will revive you, and you can stay in the game…but you won’t have any of your gear.
Social interaction. Similar to Fortnite, this is a huge part of the draw. Yes, it’s fun to play to win, but you can also team up with a friend, or group of friends at a sleepover, and compete as a team. Participants can chat using headsets and microphones. Currently, there is no cross-platform play. Therefore, make sure that the friends and family you want to play with have the same gaming system.
Update November 5, 2020: Season 7 of Apex Legends is releasing this week. One of the updates includes the formation of Clubs. Users can join a club (filtered by experience, interest, or play style) in order to make friends and be able to join a battle with a group instead of going in solo. Please have a candid conversation with your kid about interacting with strangers online if you allow them to use this feature. See our blog post about Tricky People-Stranger Danger in the Digital Age.
Related App Profile: Fortnite Battle Royale
Can kids chat with other players? You can chat with others on your squad, but not with opponents. Apex Legends also has a ping system in which you can communicate where enemies or supplies are without chatting with them. Therefore, it is possible to play this game without talking to strangers.
Video and text chat can be turned off. Click settings, go to audio tab, and turn down ‘Incoming Voice Chat Volume’ to zero. Also set ‘Voice Chat Record Mode’ to “Push toTalk” instead of “Open Mic” so if you have a microphone, then your voice won’t be heard. Alternatively, you can press the Tab key for PC or the Inventory button for PS4 or Xbox, then go to the squad tab. You can click the volume icon and text icon under each member of your squad to mute those features.
Video profanity. Kids might be tempted to head to YouTube and search for Apex Legends game play videos, just like they do for Minecraft and Fortnite. Just beware of profanity used by gamers in these videos.
Apex Legends bottom line – Is it safe for your kids?
Due to the violence and the ability to chat with strangers, there are some concerns.
Upper middle school could be an appropriate age, if the child is well monitored. Parents will want to watch screen time and kids sneaking away with devices in order to squeeze in one more match. This game, if left alone with a teen, has strong potential to become addictive. Note that in June 2018, the World Health Organization listed gaming addiction as a mental health concern for the very first time, recognizing its similarities with substance abuse.
Related post: Does my Kid Have a Gaming Addiction?
You are wrong to think this kind of game is good for anyone at any age. This is not healthy for any young mind to waste their time trying to kill the next person in their sight. You are not protecting any young eye when you believe looking at murder and mayhem is good for their minds. Pardon my rant, but you need to think about the mental health of those young eyes!
Totally agree. Really wanting to get a game for them that’s not all about killing others, is that so hard to ask?
I am an apex legends addict when i die I get really mad and think about strangling my dog. But i think mommy would be mad at me if i did so i think about strrangling her instead if you have any ideas on how to stop these thoughts please message me
Hi, if this is a real comment, then I advise you speak to a counselor.
Chris
i like apex and it is fine as long as you play it a bit.
I agree with everyone. They need to make games for kids that are non violent especially ones that are autistic like mine are. It is ridiculous how all games nowadays seem very violent and none that arent. I wish that they would do something about this issue.
Everyone here except the guy joking about choking his dog are wayyy to uptight. the game has hardly any violence and takes a lot of skill and teamwork to be good at. it takes a lot of thinking to win. in a chess sort of way. it’s not at all about brainlessly killing people. y’all need to chillll. too many karen’s out here. also, if you aren’t letting your teenager play the game you have some serious issues. it’s nothing more grafic than the stories described in the bible.
also, the game wasn’t designed for “kids”. it’s rated teen. that’s who it’s for. although anyone over 10 is totally fine playing it. y’all might think your kids haven’t seen stuff but you would be blown away if you really knew.
Drew is right. It is more about strategies and skill. Games like apex help with hand-eye coordination believe it or not. To add to that more and more young people want to experiment with games, to try and be the best. They are competitive and that is healthy. I let my kids play it and see no difference in behavior so I say trial and error.
Hi, I realize that some parents are very strict about videogames, but Apex is mix between star wars, fortnite and call of duty. The graphics are almost as realistic as COD, but at the same time most of the weapons arent actually real like star wars, they use lasers, and energy rifels, and its similar to fortnite in the cartoonish aspect becasue there are characters that are robots and you can dance
My 12 year old is an addict. He will play as long as he can get away with it. he will steal devices, he will all night long, nothing else matters.