Over 1 million people played the new game challenging 'Fortnite' in the first 8 hours it was made available

The battle royale genre pits 100 players against each other in a fight for survival. Players are dropped off in a remote area and need to find weapons to defend themselves. As the game progresses, the safe areas of the map start to shrink until only one team or player is remaining. Each round lasts about 30 minutes at most, and players can join a new match as soon as they're eliminated.

Rather than making their own character, like in "Fortnite" or "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds,""Apex" players choose from one of eight playable legends — unique characters with their own special abilities. Their powers can include extra mobility, shields for support, or specific weapon types. New legends will be introduced as the game is updated over time.

While players can select most of the starting cast for free, "Apex" will sell new playable characters for $7.50 each.

"Fortnite" still holds one major advantage over "Apex Legends" – cross platform play.

"Fortnite" players can play with friends on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and smartphones. "Apex Legends" is on PS4, PC, and Xbox One, but players are currently limited to playing with other people on the same platform.

"The "Apex" creative team said they plan to add cross-play support to the game in the future, but progress and unlocked items will not be shared between different platforms. Availability on smartphones also brings droves of new players to "Fortnite," but there are no plans to bring "Apex Legends" to mobile devices at this time.

"Apex Legends" is free-to-play and available now on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and via Origin on PC. Check out the gameplay trailer for more details below.