Electronic Arts showed off two of its newest titles to compete with the success of Fortnite. Where the company has had issues in the past, they seem to have had a change of heart and are striving for the better.
Apex Legends is a free, multiplayer game that was released in February in an attempt to replicate the model used by Fornite. Next month the latest installment will introduce a new weapon, characters, and improvements to the core game. The revenue models inspired the game after Fortnite attracted over 250 million players worldwide.
Respawn Entertainment will also be releasing the highly anticipated title, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. EA hopes that by taking a more traditional feel with a single-player format and elaborate storyline, fans may forgive what the company did to Battlefront.
Vince Zampella, chief executive officer of Electronic Arts’ Respawn Entertainment, is the man in charge of both game development projects and release. He is shaping the games based on fans feedback to try to create a game that will be able to match the revenue gained from Fortnite.
Apex Legends was a success immediately upon release gaining over 50 million players, but it failed to retain those numbers. It is estimated that the game generated $24 million in sales in April, which is only a quarter of the business it had during its first month of release.
Zampella is looking at trying to create a mobile version of Apex Legends which could add as much as $500 million to the 2020 revenue. With the community waiting for the improvements in Season 2, many are feeling validated as Respawn has made attempts to change the game entirely based on player feedback.
While a release date for that is unknown, the company is also working on the upcoming November 15th date in which Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be realized. Zampella is avoiding the mistakes made when Electronic Arts last released a Star Wars game.
Star Wars Battlefront II was released two years ago and angered fans by allowing micro-transactions to improve game performance. The game developers did not listen to fan feedback upon release and instead doubled down on the loot box system.
Zampella has reassured the community that the studio will not include any micro-transactions in Fallen Order and will make updates based on user feedback.
With changes in the air, the future of EA’s projects looks good, and they may be able to rival the numbers that Fortnite is showing.
