Electronic Arts is about to make some big, albeit unannounced, changes to their battle royale game Apex Legends. EA CEO Andrew Wilson, in statements released during the company's Q2 2025 earnings call, says that "large systematic change is required" after the game failed to pull in enough money.
Wilson says that the company expected to see a lift in monetization following recent changes made to the way Battle Passes work in Apex Legends.
In the quarter, Season 22 and Apex Legends launched with significantly more new features for casual and seasoned players alike, including more modes and new map and new anti-cheat software. Following changes to the Battle Pass construct, we did not see the lift in monetization we had expected. Two things have become clear in the free-to-play FPS category. First, in the competitive landscape where brand, a strong core player base and high-quality mechanics matter more than ever, Apex has proven to be a compelling franchise for us and an industry still ward.
Second, to drive significant growth and reengagement, large systematic changes acquired. We will continue to focus on retention and breadth of content in service of our global community as we work towards more significant innovative changes in the future.
Second, to drive significant growth and reengagement, large systematic changes acquired. We will continue to focus on retention and breadth of content in service of our global community as we work towards more significant innovative changes in the future.
EA will instead try to offer "bigger season drops" that are of "very high quality." Wilson also wants to see more "systematic innovation" in the game moving forward. What this actually means is truly anybody's guess at this point.
As we go forward, we'll really be investing on two vectors. The first is in the growth of our season oriented content, and what you've seen from us over the last few seasons is progressively bigger season drops each time. Very high quality has driven very high sentiment amongst our player base, and we're adding to the level of innovation and creativity on a season-by-season basis.
But to Stuart's (CFO Stuart Canfield) point, as we think about step function growth over the course of time, what we've also observed is a need for kind of meaningful systematic innovation in the game that fundamentally changes the way the game plays more broadly and our teams are working on that as well.
But to Stuart's (CFO Stuart Canfield) point, as we think about step function growth over the course of time, what we've also observed is a need for kind of meaningful systematic innovation in the game that fundamentally changes the way the game plays more broadly and our teams are working on that as well.
