Apex Legends continues to drive revenue for publisher Electronic Arts, making it one of the company’s most important games. October 2019 was the game’s best month since its launch quarter, generating over $45 million from in-game spending across PC and console. This is a huge jump from September 2019, which only saw $29 million from in-game spending. Apex Legends took the 9th spot for the highest earnings for console games throughout the month of October. The list was headed up by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, FIFA 20, and Destiny 2. Fortnite, Borderlands 3, and Grand Theft Auto V also placed above Apex Legends.
EA has a long vision for Apex Legends, with a supposed 10-year run planned for the online battle royale shooter. The company is already working towards that goal in the short term, pushing developer Respawn Entertainment to be “hyper-focused” on Apex Legends going into 2020. If the launch support in 2019 is any indication, 2020 has the potential to be a monumental year for EA and Respawn.
Because of Apex Legends‘ success, Respawn has shifted its focus away from Titanfall, with the possibility of a third installment currently up in the air. Although, EA’s CFO Blake Jorgensen said “We won’t forget about [Titanfall],” there are no definitive plans currently to continue the series.
With the launch of the PS5 planned for holiday of 2020, it remains to be seen how publishers like EA handle the launch of big games and how the new system will impact live-service titles like Apex Legends. Backwards compatibility is one of the system’s selling points, but it’s still unknown how this feature will work, especially for free-to-play digital games like Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Destiny 2.
[Source: Super Data]
