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

(Image credit: Respawn Entertainment)

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.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.