EA Shuts Down Apex

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What's in this Lootbox?

• 🤡 EA Hates You

• 🤡 EA Shuts Down Apex...

• 🤡 EA's Earnings Report

• 📷 Meme

🤡 EA Hates You

Electronic Arts reportedly sent a cease & desist letter to professional Apex Legends gamer @HisWatson for hosting private modded Apex Legends events with prize pools.

Huge L for the Apex community. 

R5 for those unfamiliar is an unsanctioned version of Apex Legends that allows people to mod the game. This includes creating new maps / levels and game types. HisWattson had been hosting “prop hunter” and “duck hunter” events with parts of the community, some of which included prize pools. 

Someone even built a replica of the famous CoD map Nuketown. 

If you ever wondered why eSports hasn’t taken off as much as real sports its because of stuff like this. EA obviously would like a slice of these prize pools and/or are worried about negative brand perception. However, the boost in player count would surely be worth it if the community had access to more creative game modes & live events.

If you’re curious how to get a copy of R5 DM me on Twitter.

🤡 EA Shuts Down Apex...

Yep EA is officially shutting down Apex Legends Mobile on May 1st, lasting just under a full year and just after winning Game of the Year for iPhone & Android. (Apex Legends Mobile was released May 17, 2022).

What another massive L for the Apex community.

EA is blaming it on market conditions and the challenges with user acquisition since Apple's ATT changes. This is a lame excuse. 

Here's the deal. Apex Legends Mobile monetization & rewards systems were being led by this guy: click me.

Giovani made a name for himself designing slot machine mobile apps. And that's exactly what Apex Legends Mobile felt like. One big gambling app with a tiny side of FPS battle royale combat. 

Maybe Apex Legends Mobile made a few bucks for EA but it wasn't the knockout live service game they were hoping for. Because instead of building a fun game they built a trashy gambling app.

All they had to do was get rid of the lootboxes like Brawl Stars and everything would have been stellar.

Also fun fact, I interviewed with Giovani last year right before Apex Legends Mobile launched. He quizzed me for an hour on how I'd design a monetization / battle pass system for a slot machine app. I should've seen the signs. Glad I didn't get the job.

More details on the announcement: here.

🤡 EA's Earnings Report

EA reported their quarterly earnings yesterday of $2.71 per share, missing expectations by -11.15%. 

The fully 2022 year saw a revenue of $7.41 Billion, down -1% from 2021.

They blamed the slowdown on Apex & Battlefield 2042 *cringe* underperforming (while FIFA offset most of the gap).

EA is reportedly canceling the Battlefield mobile project in response, and shutting down the studio working on it. 

They're also delaying the release of the new Star Wars Jedi: Survivor from Respawn by 6 weeks till April 28th.

📷 Meme

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