EA CEO says a "more meaningful update" of Apex Legends is in development
Despite "performing in line with expectations," net bookings for Apex Legends were down year-over-year during Electronic Arts' Q3 FY25.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson reflected on the franchise's future during the earnings call Q&A, where he laid out the firm's plan to implement changes to improve Apex Legends – including the idea of 'Apex 2.0'.
During EA's Q2, Wilson pushed back against the idea of an Apex 2.0 to fix the franchise, but has now revealed it's in the pipeline.
"The trajectory of the business of that franchise has not been headed in the direction that we have wanted for some time," he explained. "We continue to test and develop more and great content for that community. And I would say we have seen some progress in that, but probably not as much as we would have liked.
"We do believe there will be a time where we need to do a more meaningful update of Apex as a broad game experience, and the team is diligently working on that. You should imagine we probably wouldn't drop that on top of a Battlefield launch [which is slated for 2026]. And so from a timing standpoint, our thinking right now is that that would exist post-Battlefield."
Wilson continued: "On a longer-term horizon, these franchises that exist at this level and have this much fan love don't come often. What I think we've demonstrated as a company is an ability to build franchises that last 10, 20, 30 years.
Our expectation is that Apex will also be one of those franchises, and that some time on the horizon, there will be an even bigger, more meaningful update to that broader game experience – an Apex 2.0 if you will. This will not be the final incarnation of Apex."
EA recorded declines in revenue and net bookings for its third quarter, which Wilson described as "not the financial performance we wanted or expected." This was mainly due to the "temporary underperformance" of EA Sports FC 25.
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