ESPN will put Apex Legends at center stage for a new series of esports events it’s calling EXP. The company will feature Respawn’s battle royale game at the 2019 ESPYS on July 11 and the Minneapolis X Games in August.
This is quite the coup for the fledgling battle royale game. The new EXP program is designed to feature esports competitions at ESPN events under a new collaboration with Apex’s publisher, Electronic Arts.
Competitions run under the EXP banner will comprise of a mixture of professional, collegiate, and pro-am formats and should cover multiple titles. Earlier this year, the Collegiate Esports Championship was the flagship event for the EXP program with university students from across the U.S battling it out in titles such as Overwatch, Street Fighter, and StarCraft 2.
Fans of both conventional sports and esports will get an opportunity to play Apex Legends alongside celebrities and influencers at the 2019 ESPYS following a donation and an entry into The ESPYS Sweepstakes. For those that can’t make it to the event, they’ll be able to catch all the action live via the ESPN app and watch highlighted replays on the ESPN and ABC television networks.
It’s another feather in the cap for Apex Legends, which at just over four months old is already firmly entrenching itself in the esports scene, both as a worthy competitor to Fortnite: Battle Royale but also a game that draws views from across all facets of esports genres. The action-packed gameplay makes for a viewer-friendly experience, something that could help appeal to ESPN’s broad viewer base.
