EA Plans Apex Legends 2.0 After Battlefield, Amid Disappointing Sales

As Respawn's battle royale sensation, Apex Legends, approaches its sixth anniversary, Electronic Arts (EA) has acknowledged that the game isn't meeting the company's financial expectations. During a recent financial call discussing third-quarter results, EA revealed that Apex Legends' net bookings (revenue) have declined year-over-year, yet still align with the company's forecasts.

In a candid exchange with financial analysts, EA CEO Andrew Wilson provided insights into the game's performance. He praised Apex Legends as a monumental launch within the gaming industry, attracting over 200 million players. However, he admitted that the franchise's business trajectory hasn't been satisfactory for some time. EA has been actively experimenting with various strategies to bolster the game, focusing on enhancing the experience for its dedicated community.

Wilson outlined three key areas of development for Apex Legends: maintaining support for the existing community through quality-of-life improvements, anti-cheat measures, and fresh content; experimenting with new content to keep the game engaging; and acknowledging that while some progress has been made, it falls short of their ambitions.

To address these financial challenges, EA is developing a significant update dubbed Apex Legends 2.0. This overhaul aims to rejuvenate the franchise, attract new players, and boost revenue. However, Wilson emphasized that the launch of Apex Legends 2.0 will be timed strategically, to avoid clashing with the upcoming Battlefield release expected before April 2026. Therefore, Apex Legends 2.0 is slated for release sometime during EA's fiscal year 2027, ending in March 2027.

Wilson expressed a long-term vision for Apex Legends, envisioning it as a franchise that could thrive for decades, much like other successful EA titles. He highlighted the ongoing commitment to the game's tens of millions of players and the anticipation of an even more substantial update in the future, indicating that Apex Legends 2.0 is just a stepping stone in the game's evolution.

This approach mirrors what Activision attempted with Call of Duty's Warzone, which saw a 2.0 version release in 2022. While opinions on Warzone's reboot are mixed, EA is keen on learning from the competitive landscape of battle royale games to expand Apex Legends' player base.

Despite its challenges, Apex Legends continues to rank among the most-played games on Steam, judging by concurrent player counts. However, the game has seen a decline from its peak performance on the platform, hinting at a potential downward trend toward record lows.