Apex Legends has achieved a level of success in just several months that its contemporaries have spent countless sequels and console generations seeking. Is that surprising? In all truthfulness, that’s an easy yes.
Following the evaporation of launch hype back in February, developer Respawn Entertainment’s struggle to stay on top of a huge desire for new content and multiple egregious issues such as cheating threatened to kill off the battle royale before it could hit its stride. Eight months later, the game, which had never been expected to be a direct competitor to Epic Games’ gargantuan Fortnite, is now a market leader, having welcomed millions of players through its doors since release.
In fact, such has the ferocity of Apex‘s climb to the top been that publisher EA now considers the title one of its flagship properties. The company confirmed as much when outlining its plans for the next fiscal year in its latest earnings call.
“With the Apex Legends community now growing past 70 million players, we’re focused on expanding to mobile new platforms and new geographies,” reads the report, later adding, “We continue to deepen our long-term investment in the game and its community. With each successive season of new content, we are building, adding to the experience and learning.”
As if that wasn’t already a strong enough statement of intent, EA confirms that from the 2021 fiscal year (April 2020-2021) and likely beyond, Apex Legends will see a level of investment befitting that of its flagship shooter, essentially replacing DICE’s longtime titleholder Battlefield, which won’t receive a new installment next year.
To cut a long story short, then, Apex Legends is here to stay and, as EA’s new favourite child, fans can likely expect the title to enjoy exponential growth over the next 12 months.
Exciting times ahead.