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Study Reveals Apex Legends as Most Intense Battle Royale

By Noam Radcliffe

Apex Legends raised heart rates more than any other game measured.
Apex Legends raised heart rates more than any other game measured. / Photo courtesy of Respawn Entertainment/EA

A study conducted at the UK's University of Leeds found Apex Legends to cause the greatest heart rate increase of any battle royale studied.

The study, commissioned by BetVictor, took 32 gamers aged 20-26 years old who self-identified as good to expert level players and measured their heart rates before, during and after three sessions of their chosen game from among Apex Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS and Call of Duty: Warzone.

Average heart rates before and after play.
Average heart rates before and after play. / Photo courtesy of BetVictor

Apex Legends produced the highest average heart rate increase, followed by Warzone and then PUBG. Counterintuitively, CS:GO actually reduced heart rates on average. The study's administrators link the heart rate changes to the pace of play in each game. They hypothesize that CS:GO's longer match lengths and between-round resets allowed players to settle into a rhythm that more chaotic battle royales rarely allow.

Measured stress levels before and after play.
Measured stress levels before and after play. / Photo courtesy of BetVictor

Despite the elevated heart rates, STAI (or State Anxiety) tests indicated that stress levels among participants decreased after playing any of the four titles.

The study is far from definitive given its small sample size, but the findings are interesting nonetheless, and align with previous studies showing a link between playing games and reduced stress.

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