Apex Legends went 'from zero to about a billion dollars' in just two years, EA says

Apex Legends is free to play, but it's also one of Electronic Arts' biggest moneymakers. The company said in today's Q2 2021 financial report that its earnings climbed 24 percent year over year, and it's now expected to bring more than $500 million on the year.

"We started the year expecting Apex Legends to deliver $300 million to $400 million in net bookings. It is now on track to deliver more than $500 million," EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said during an investors conference call. "That is, Apex will have gone from zero to about a billion dollars in lifetime net books in just two years. With this velocity, and the addition of mobile, we believe Apex has the potential to grow to a billion dollars in net bookings every year."

CEO Andrew Wilson added that the start of season 7 of Apex Legends, which also saw the game go live on Steam, has it "on track to be our largest launch day since the launch of the product." It is currently well entrenched in Steam's top ten games, with a peak concurrent player count of over 82,000. 

"Steam in the first 12 hours, performance has been extremely strong. Our new Champion Edition is already a top-three best seller on Steam. We had the most minutes watched on Twitch since the launch of the product," Wilson said. "So it's another testament to the unbelievable inspirational capabilities of our teams and their ability to continue to deliver amazing game experiences and content in the face of these ongoing challenges."

Unfortunately, season 7 of Apex is off to a bit of a rough start from the player perspective: Developer Respawn Entertainment made some changes to "streamline" the battle pass system, and quite a few players are unhappy with the way it's slowed progression.