Electronic Arts slides as 'Apex Legends' season 2 fails to convince investors that it can replicate Fortnite's massive success
- Shares of Electronic Arts, the creator of "Apex Legends," dropped by as much as 5.6% on Friday after the release of the second season of the Battle Royale game.
- Investors, gamers, and analysts were all looking forward to the update to see whether Apex Legends could legitimately compete with Fortnite, a cross-platform Battle Royale game with about 250 million players.
- The season-two update included new weapons, skins, a character named Wattson, and changes to the map.
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Electronic Art's Fortnite competitor just received a much-anticipated update that has left investors unimpressed.
Apex Legends, a free-to-play Battle Royale-style game that garnered more than 50 million players in its first month across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, introduced its second season on Tuesday with changes to its map, characters, and weapons.
But EA shares fell by as much as 5.6% on Friday, the most in five months, after the update failed to ease concerns over "Apex Legends'" potential to compete with Fortnite, a Battle Royale game from Epic Games with close to 250 million users worldwide. EA was the worst-performing stock on the S&P 500 on Friday.
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According to Bloomberg, a video also surfaced on Reddit identifying a flaw in the newly released character that can reveal the exact location of the player when using a new perimeter security ability.
Games like Fortnite and Apex Legends are free to play but make money by selling additional in-game items like character and weapon skins. Users can also pay $10 for the Apex Legends Season Two Battle Pass which includes special items, skins, and a new character named Wattson.
The second-season update was hotly anticipated by gamers and analysts alike. Bank of Montreal analyst Gerrick L. Johnson increased his price target for EA from $116 to $130 on July 2 based on positive reviews of previews for the season-two update.
EA is up as much as 16.5% so far this year.
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