Apex Legends' Newcastle popularity sees Lifeline pick rate tumble

Apex Legends players have had a week to get used to the Season 13 update and the introduction of Newcastle, the Apex Games' newest face, to the roster of playable characters. Prior to his release, fans were concerned that his ability kit would overlap with Lifeline's and ultimately drown her out - and it looks like those concerns were somewhat justified. It's only been a week, but Newcastle is already being picked over twice as much as Lifeline in-game.

Looking at Apex Legends Status, we can see that at the time of writing Newcastle is being picked roughly 8% of the time. Meanwhile Lifeline is sitting at 3.9%. This equates to roughly a 5% change in popularity for Lifeline - a major drop. These numbers might seem small, but when you consider Apex Legends' huge player count, it's actually quite a large number of players.

Of course, this could just be a temporary swing in popularity that reflects the fact that Newcastle is the newest legend in the game. However, the concerns expressed by players aren't unfounded and Lifeline mains have been calling for change for some time now.

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