Apex Legends is EA's main shooter for 2020, as company doubles down on live services
Apex Legends will be leading EA's live service charge next year.
EA announced the earnings for Q2 of FY2020 overnight, and shared its plans for the next fiscal year. In particular, Apex Legends is going to be a big focus for the company going forward.
Live service revenue made up a significant chunk of EA's earnings this quarter, exceeding its own expectations. This was mainly driven by the success of sports titles, as well as Apex Legends - so it's no secret the publisher is investing further into that model. Q2 saw Apex Legends expand past 70 million players, with weekly average player hours in Season 3 "significantly above" what they were in Season 2.
During FY2021 (April 2020 to March 2021), EA expects to release Apex Legends on new platforms, including mobile. This is the first time the company has publicly revealed a target for these launches, though they have always been part of the plan.
This focus on Apex Legends will see it released in Asia, including China. EA also plans to launch a competitive esports league for the game, which is expected to boost the game's earnings further in FY2021 and beyond.
Interestingly, CFO Blake Jorgensen revealed that EA views Apex Legends as an annual shooter franchise, only instead of investing in sequels, EA is spending money on creating content and in-game events. Developer Respawn Entertainment has expanded massively as result, and will continue to do so to sustain that growth.
In other EA news, the publisher confirmed that it's not releasing a new Battlefield title in 2020. In fact, it doesn't look like DICE has anything major planned as far as new games next year, though it will continue supporting Battlefront 2 and Battlefield 5.