EA’s Best Money-Spinners Include Apex Legends and The Sims 4

What did you think are the most profitable games for Electronic Arts? No surprise that Apex Legends is listed. But the game doesn’t have to be fresh if it’s well updated, and The Sims 4 is an example. Other major moneymakers include FIFA series and casual games like evergreen Plants vs. Zombies series.

Legends Worth The Money

The newest titles are usually the most attractive for players. Recently it’s first of all Apex Legends, driven by mass Battle Royale obsession. Being one of the three flagship BR games (along with Fortnite and PUBG), Apex Legends is free to play, never forcing people to pay to win. Still, it generates solid stable income, with 10+ million people playing it every week. They readily pay to customize their characters and to access special missions. It’s less than the initial 25 million, but the percentage of really devoted players is now higher, as time got curious beginners sifted out.

For EA it’s a big deal, surely. Though these figures can’t be directly compared to those of PUBG or Fortnite, Apex Legends is still a member of the Battle Royale triumvirate. Season 2 raised the interest, and the game remains profitable enough.

The success of Apex Legends inspires the EA officials as well. Blake Jorgensen’s forecast visualizes Apex Legends as a top game even ten years after the release; of course, the evolution will never stop, new events and seasons will follow, the visuals gradually change, and switching to new platforms may even cause a major engine upgrade. But the essence will remain.

Long-time Winners

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that another outstanding revenue generator is The Sims 4, released back in 2014. The scheme Mr. Jorgensen forecasts for Apex Legends is working well with The Sims 4 right now. After the release, EA rolled out more and more DLC and patches; and each year sales grew, at least 55% more than the previous year. For example, in May 2019 EA presented Island Living, the seventh expansion pack for the game. That’s how magic numbers work: the seventh expansion brought seven million downloads.

Thus, EA will still invest in existing titles and evolve them; both OS X and Windows users should be familiar with this. The Sims 4 will go on, despite its age, and bring more and more content.

To understand the importance, look at the antithesis EA has. FIFA series is an example of a totally different model, with every new season having its separate installment, while the changes may be minor. Though driven by the interest in soccer in the world and made with all due effort, FIFA series is a guaranteed success, many players consider the difference not worth making a new title.

As for Apex Legends, there’s one more reason EA wants it unified: its plans include a mobile game (probably fully crossplayable, like Fortnite), a full esports league, and a grand new season. In September 2019, Apex Legends Preseason Invitational will be held in Poland, with over 80 teams from all over the world, and the established prize fund of $500,000.

You Play, EA Wins

The information comes from the EA’s financial report. In total, the company made about $1.21 billion last year, and there’s no reason to doubt this tendency in the next years. As even the reported income is greater than expected, EA’s estimations may be surpassed again.