Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last month, Apex Legends was released and SpellBreak entered its closed alpha stage. Ironically, SpellBreak was picked up by Epic Games. I’m pretty sure Epic Games won’t care if SpellBreak steals some players from Fortnite. Apex is the first game to beat Fornite on Twitch for ten days in a row. As I’m writing this article, Fortnite currently has only 10k more viewer than Apex Legends on Twitch. We’re talking about a game that can only be played on the PC, Xbox One, and PS4 vs a game that can be played on just about anything.

Women in esports are underrepresented, but that’s no reason for concern as intelligence company Interpreter has released a new report showing positive trends. If esports-focused female gamers are fewer than their male counterparts, women are just as avid about casual gaming as men.

• Women esports viewership grows to 30.4% in Q4, 2018
• Female gamers more likely to engage in casual mobile gaming than men
• More role models needed on the basic level of esports

Developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by EA, “Apex” has shaken the industry by building on many of its shining successes. It has pulled popular elements from other battle royales — a type of video game where players are dropped into a map and fight in a last-man-standing format against up to 100 other gamers — while making a few key changes.

Like “Fortnite” and “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” ”Apex” is free to download and play, making its money by selling outfits and other upgrades for use in the game. Among its key differences: “Apex” players compete exclusively in teams of three and can choose characters with varying abilities, features essential to team-based esports like “League of Legends” and “Overwatch.”

The conference circuit is rife with people preaching about disruption and missed opportunities. Did you hear how Apple redefined the music industry? How about how Uber rearranged the business of personal transportation? I bet you have.

Well, what about that time when the marketing world sat on the sidelines and missed the video game revolution?

Yes, that happened, even though we don’t like to talk about it. As early 8-bit console gaming grew into a $140 billion global juggernaut that captured millions of eyeballs for billions of hours, we never quite figured out the role of advertising within a gaming environment. Aside from a few cool award-winning integrations (e.g., Verizon’s Minecraft phone) and a niche market for in-game programmatic logo placements (think, billboards in car racing games), the gaming landscape is littered with dead pixels from ham-fisted, force-fit attempts at in-game branding that annoyed gamers and disappointed advertisers.