114 - Fortnite vs. Apex Legends, Plus Ciena CEO Gary Smith

You’ve probably heard of Fortnite. It’s a game and more than a game – a cultural moment that’s swept in with all the force of Pokémon Go, and arguably more of the staying power. There’s the game itself, but there are the dances, the addictions.  

Now, here’s a twist: Fortnite has competition. Electronic Arts a month ago dropped Apex Legends, its own free-to-play multiplayer team combat game, and it MIGHT be hotter than Fortnite. It has grown as much in a month as Fortnite did in four. Fortnite’s developer is already copying features.  

So. What makes this style of game so different from what came before? How big is the money involved? And how does it fit into the future of eSports?

Plus:

Gary Smith grew up in Birmingham, then the industrial heart of the United Kingdom. Both of his parents worked in factories. For career day, the high school took the kids to a coal mine and a steelworks. Smith wasn't inspired. 

Smith is now the CEO of Ciena, a networking company with a market value over $6 billion. But at the time, he didn't reject a future in mining because of high-tech dreams. In a recent conversation, Smith told me that after high school, he moved to London to pursue a dream of becoming a photographer; he took commercial photos of buildings, and also shot weddings and other events.  

Only by wading into the job market and trying to make it did he discover technology, and figure out what skills he would need.