The new online RPG Anthem is doing excellently with digital revenues of 100 million US dollars in the launch month of February 2019. It has earned more money than Apex Legends. However, there is a downside: The cash shop of Anthem contributes little to the revenues.
This is how well Anthem sold at release: After initially negative figures came in at the beginning, the situation has now improved significantly:
- Anthem is the “second most successful launch” of a BioWare title of all time, reports the market research institute NPD Group
- At Superdata, they believe Anthem generated 100 million US dollars in sales worldwide in February 2019. Thus, it is a top title on PS4 and Xbox One.
It really seems to be true, as BioWare reported after the launch: Don’t worry, a hell of a lot of people are playing Anthem.
This is how much Apex Legends has earned: The new battle royale shooter from Respawn has a revenue of 92 million US dollars in terms of worldwide digital sales. This is the most successful launch month of a free-to-play title of all time, reports Superdata.
In February 2019, Anthem earned 8 million US dollars more than Apex Legends, even though Apex Legends was released about two weeks before Anthem.
Anthem at this level due to sold games
This is the catch with Anthem: Superdata reports that only 3.5 million US dollars of the revenue in February 2019 came from the “cash shop” and microtransactions of Anthem.
The vast majority of digital revenue comes from the sale of the game itself.
That’s why this is a problem: BioWare is not planning any paid DLCs to provide new content for Anthem, like Destiny. They also do not want to develop a sequel like The Division.
After the release of Anthem, the game is to be financed exclusively through the cash shop. However, this does not seem to have worked too well in February.
While players started with some game currency in February, having a reserve before needing to use microtransactions, it seems there is also little available in the shop that the Lancers want to buy, as player reactions indicate.
It will be interesting to see how BioWare reacts to this situation. The new cosmetic chests will reportedly not include armor skins.
This is the current situation with Anthem: The figures clearly indicate that BioWare was able to reach a large player base with Anthem and convince them to buy the game right at release.
Now, BioWare needs to ensure that the buyers become active players who stay in the game, enjoy it, and are willing to purchase something in the shop.
The beginning has been made for Anthem. The online RPG stands on a solid financial basis. Now it’s about building on this foundation.
This is the current situation for Apex Legends: Respawn and EA generated tremendous hype around Apex Legends at launch, among other things, with the expensively purchased help of star streamers.
This hype could be utilized by Respawn.
The question now is whether they can maintain this level over the next few months.
Because even if Apex Legends is strong in gameplay, in the “cosmetic department”, the developers from Respawn still seem to have weaknesses.
This is how both games compare: Although Anthem generated more revenue in February 2019 than the highly hyped Apex Legends:
- the money from Apex Legends comes entirely from the cash shop, which will also remain attractive in the coming months.
- the money that Anthem made with the launch were one-time revenues.
