Apex Legends revenue drops drastically for a second month in a row

[klik]

https://dotesports.com/apex-legends/news/revenue-drops-again


Respawn makes good games but i feel like their post-launch really sucks,just like with Titanfall 2. A great game with mediocre post-launch support.

 

[KoolAid]

Season 2 better be good or the game will be irredeemable, if it isn't at this point

 

[Silky]

Cool whatever, the developers aren't being worked like dogs

 

[Meg Cherry]

I mean, first month was launch & second month was season pass. How is revenue not going to drop?

Exponential growth isn't sustainable, and pretending it can be is a huge problem.

 

[Broadbandit]

https://dotesports.com/apex-legends/news/revenue-drops-again


Respawn makes good games but i feel like their post-launch really sucks,just like with Titanfall 2. A great game with mediocre post-launch support.

Click to shrink...

Uhh I remember TF2 having pretty good launch support.

Not worried about Apex with them. Season 2 will be much improved and will suck people back in.

 

[Kouriozan]

They should probably have gone with a more humble launch instead of betting big with influencers, especially if they are going to slower update pace route.

 

[RTX ON]

Whatever your opinion on crunch the average consumer sees the competition releasing content on a weekly basis, Apex Legends and Respawn offer no such thing and players will get bored.

The industry has set it self up for constant failure with no way of rectifying it without major crunch time.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

This why you should chain your employees to their work stations and every other day throw some grain on the floor for them to eat.

 

[Knight in Shining Armani]

My friends were extremely into it that first month and then completely dropped off.

 

[Deleted member 12129]

The Battle Pass is terrible. They need to revamp for Season 2

 

[Dan Thunder]

$24m will still see them well into profit though.

They need to do something though. There's only so long people will play one game mode on one map with a shooter that doesn't have the the tactical depth of other titles before they move on/back to something else.

 

[Acquiescence]

Chin up TitanFall fans, it looks like 3 is getting made after all!

 

[Zeroro]

They should maybe look into not making every single thing in the store cost eighteen dollars.

 

[jviggy43]

I'm more interested to see the second battle pass. Because honestly I suspect a lot of people wont be purchasing it this time around. That first one was a joke.

 

[Baked Pigeon]

Give me something good to buy besides crappy skins and a grindy battle pass with bad unlocks. I'm waiting and willing to spend more money on the game than I already have.

 

[Deleted member 22750]

new characters

They need new maps or something done to the world...but I'm assuming that isn't happening because they would be bragging about that.

 

[Nome]

No surprise, it's a mechanically sound game with brilliant systems, but it's a flat experience like Respawn's other games.

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

They should maybe look into not making every single thing in the store cost eighteen dollars.

Click to shrink...

That's the problem right there. How are they monetizing this thing without fair pricing? Anedoctal evidence, but I've had several friends say they'd love to buy some cool skins if they didn't feel like such rip-offs. I know what the reasoning behind the pricing is: so you buy lootboxes instead, but that's just exploitative behaviour coming from a dev a respect so much.

 

[beni12]

Uhh I remember TF2 having pretty good launch support.

Click to shrink...

They didn't add a single new weapon.

 

[Strat]

Better throw some more bodies on the fire! Gotta get that content out there as fast as possible! People won't be happy unless they have a $15 skin to buy weekly.

 

[justin haines]

I remember on Reddit respawn saying they were going to be so in tune with community bc they were going to talk to them every single day

They prob should have stuck to that.

I stopped playing after the first week. Cool game tho

 

[Deleted member 56449]

Yeah that's because the game is taking the seasonal update route. I still play it but not like it's first month

They gotta kill it in season 2 or the game won't survive more. Even though it's the best BR game out there for me + the gameplay alone is magnificent

Season 2 we must have a new map ASAP and make the rewards more interesting because Season 1 rewards were bollocks

 

[BDS]

I stopped playing this game within two weeks of launch.

 

[Dphex]

ship has sailed, they didn´t use the momentum(which was paid anyways, but that is another story)

 

[NightShift]

They need to add Titans, wallrunning and double jumps into the game quick.

 

[Fatoy]

This why you should chain your employees to their work stations and every other day throw some grain on the floor for them to eat.

Click to shrink...

I feel like there's a happy medium between these two extremes. Yes, the Fortnite juggernaut has established (or reinforced) a horrible model from a developer's point of view, but the market has lapped it up - and now rapid-fire updates, celebrity and brand partnerships etc. are the norm.

I commend Respawn for not being willing to sacrifice their corporate culture to match the pace Epic have set. But on the other hand Respawn released a game I like a lot that needs live service income to sustain it... and now they're seemingly willing to totally give up a revenue stream that could finance new hires and be reinvested in tools and processes that might allow them to generate new stuff at a medium pace.

I'm happy Respawn purposefully shunned the Fortnite schedule, but I don't like to see them being left behind.

 

[Strakt]

Game could of been so much better if they had actual post launch support

 

[Shengar]

Dota 2 can survive without having to release new hero every months, let alone weekly. Fortnite and modern multiplayer have really poisoned the well in this regard.

 

[Zeroro]

That's the problem right there. How are they monetizing this thing without fair pricing? Anedoctal evidence, but I've had several friends say they'd love to buy some cool skins if they didn't feel like such rip-offs. I know what the reasoning behind the pricing is: so you buy lootboxes instead, but that's just exploitative behaviour coming from a dev a respect so much.

Click to shrink...

The economy for the whole game seems kinda broken. Hope it's something they fix soon.

 

[Jimbojim]

it's still an awesome game and can only continue to grow

 

[cakely]

I (and a million other people, probably) bought the battle pass.

The battle pass was $10 is three months long, and sadly, really not worth the purchase price.

Loot ticks are a $1, and give you a tiny chance of opening something that you'll want.

Every other legendary item on the store is $18.

If this was an experiment to find out how much people would be willing to pay for skins I think Respawn has its answer.

 

[mute]

You get out what you put in.

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

To be clear, game is still very fun and doom-sayers are, imo, way off the mark. You find matches lightning fast here in South America and I still have a blast everyday. We want new content and it's coming. But the game is already a complete experience and easily playable until new content drips.

They didn't add a single new weapon.

Click to shrink...

it had three new maps and a Titan. And, to be honest, there were plenty of weapons - few viable ones, but all of them really fun.

 

[Nome]

I feel like there's a happy medium between these two extremes. Yes, the Fortnite juggernaut has established (or reinforced) a horrible model from a developer's point of view, but the market has lapped it up - and now rapid-fire updates, celebrity and brand partnerships etc. are the norm.

I commend Respawn for not being willing to sacrifice their corporate culture to match the pace Epic have set. But on the other hand Respawn released a game I like a lot that needs live service income to sustain it... and now they're seemingly willing to totally give up a revenue stream that could finance new hires and be reinvested in tools and processes that might allow them to generate new stuff at a medium pace.

I'm happy Respawn purposefully shunned the Fortnite schedule, but I don't like to see them being left behind.

Click to shrink...

There is a medium. There's been a medium established for almost an entire decade by which 90% of successful GaaS titles have followed. Crunch is a shitty excuse.

Respawn's problem is that they're philosophically approaching updates in terms of big seasons, when it's been shown time and time again that you need to make smaller updates with much greater frequency (bi-weekly is pretty standard). That, and their games all have the exact same gameplay-related retention issues that they refuse to solve.

 

[Yerffej]

This why you should chain your employees to their work stations and every other day throw some grain on the floor for them to eat.

Click to shrink...

This is awful. Shame on you. You haven't even given a thought to hydration.

 

[Jakisthe]

I mean, first month was launch & second month was season pass. How is revenue not going to drop?

Exponential growth isn't sustainable, and pretending it can be is a huge problem.

Click to shrink...

There's a world of difference between "exponential growth" and revenue dropping drastically.

 

[EmptyWarren]

I still enjoy just playing it, personally. What I don't like is that there are only like 4 or 5 unique skins for each gun/character.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

I'm happy Respawn purposefully shunned the Fortnite schedule

Click to shrink...

I am too. The problem is that there is always a company in any given field who will happily sacrifice their employees to get ahead. Then when they are rewarded by the consumers it leaves their competition little choice by to follow and we all suffer.

It's 2019 and I want the 2 hour work days George Jetson promised me.

 

[Stiler]

I feel like maybe they could hire more devs and then use a staggered work model, so you have one team working on "x" content and then the other working on "y" content without making either of them do a super intensive crunch.

Then you can release these things closer together without having to work someone like a dog just to do it, all it'd do is cost some more money for the work but int he end if it makes enough money like Fortnite that would seem a reasonable way to meet the expectations of more regular updates from consumers while not falling into the terrible work conditions that tend to come with that.

 

[Indy in the Fridge]

They lost me with that awful Season Pass. I think the game is excellent but I can only deal with the sameness for so long.

 

[ody]

You get out what you put in.

Click to shrink...

this is very good

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

This is awful. Shame on you. You haven't even given a thought to hydration.

Click to shrink...

We ran a cost analyst and found we could save .5% by cutting water fountains

 

[LavaBadger]

I'm not sure how this wasn't going to be the case.

-They game is out of launch
-They released a battle pass that has been widely panned. So new people aren't going to buy it.
-Unlocks aren't good, so people aren't going to be buying levels
-They aren't adding new characters or skins, so there's nothing new to buy.

If they were looking for strong revenue or increasing revenue, they haven't done anything to drive that.

 

[Deleted member 8784]

I would like them to look again at how grindy the Season pass is, how expensive the items in the store are (£15 odd for one skin?), and consider increasing the amount of items that players who don't pay get to keep them motivated and playing.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Uhh I remember TF2 having pretty good launch support.

Not worried about Apex with them. Season 2 will be much improved and will suck people back in.

Click to shrink...

TF2 had amazing post launch support

 

[Vipu]

I'm more interested to see the second battle pass. Because honestly I suspect a lot of people wont be purchasing it this time around. That first one was a joke.

Click to shrink...

1 reason for 2nd season not selling so well could be also because people get it for free if they bought season 1 and saved the coins.

 

[Deleted member 39353]

The game is so awesome, and I love playing it, but they haven't given me a single reason to spend any money on it. I feel kind of bad because I've gotten a ton of enjoyment out of it, but still haven't spent a dime. Maybe I should just buy the battle pass anyway as kind of a "technically I'm just paying for the game" sort of thing.

 

[MegaSackman]

You don't even need new content to make me care about the game. Allow me to earn materials even if it's a tiny bit, allow me to buy skins.

I'm playing a game (I mean I barely play it these days) with no purpose at all, I get absolutely nothing worth it and I have played the same map/mode for nearly three months.

Just let me to earn stuff you already have somehow.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

I play the game basically every day because it's incredibly well designed and very fun.

The "problem", from a mass market/profitability perspective, with Respawn's games is that they value and focus on making good mechanical games first rather than psychological/sociological mechanisms that 'encourage' user engagement. They've been leaning more into the second focus with each successive game, but have still been prioritizing the game/mechanical play first and foremost. Apex is definitely the game they've leaned into the hardest in regards to designing psychological/social systems, but it's still very much a mechanics-first experience.

I respect them so much for this, but the average consumer doesn't value excellent game design and production values in multiplayer games as much as they do strong psychological/sociological systems that keep them coming back and thinking about the product IMO.

No longer can multiplayer games just be fun at a pure, mechanical gameplay level and succeed. The original Titanfall is the textbook example.

 

[Vipu]

Dota 2 can survive without having to release new hero every months, let alone weekly. Fortnite and modern multiplayer have really poisoned the well in this regard.

Click to shrink...

Dota have been developed for 14 years, they have had some time to add so many things that the game is so deep it doesnt need constant updates.