Electronic Arts stock dipped 5% on Friday after Twitch viewership numbers were announced. Apparently, the shooter Apex Legends is unable to maintain the highs from February and March as it enters Season 2 in July.
Here’s the news: According to CNBC, Electronic Arts’ stock has dropped 5% on Friday morning.
Between the peak on July 3 ($103.19) and the low on July 5 ($92.01), the stock lost even more value.
What’s the reason? It is believed to be related to the Twitch numbers of Apex Legends, which were revealed on Friday morning. Apex Legends has started Season 2 last week with a major patch, introducing a new legend, Wattson, along with many changes and a new Battle Pass.
While Twitch numbers increased at the start of the season, they could not match the peak in February and March:
- In March, Apex Legends had more than 100,000 average viewers per day – in February at launch, the numbers were even significantly higher.
- By Wednesday in July, the average dropped to 45,000.
Here’s the realization: Apparently, the market expected that Apex Legends would experience a boom with the start of Season 2, continuing the highs from spring.
Apex Legends ended EA’s “Battlefield 1” crisis on the stock market last spring:
A similar exponential growth was witnessed by Fortnite at the end of 2017/start of 2018. There, the golden age began with Season 3.
However, it seems that Apex Legends is not experiencing such explosive growth. At least on Twitch, Season 2 hasn’t brought a significant upswing.
The viewer numbers have doubled, but from a low level.
What’s behind this: It is fascinating how the market reacts to Twitch viewership numbers these days.
If the market expected Apex Legends to have a similar trajectory as Fortnite and be hot during each season launch, that expectation has now been disappointed.
Respawn had announced months ago that they would not follow in the footsteps of Epic and Fortnite.
The big hype surrounding Apex Legends will probably not be triggered by Season 2. It seems clear now that it will not become the “next Fortnite.” The hype from the surprise release in February has faded, and Apex Legends is a good game with its fans, but not a “cultural phenomenon” as it seemed in the first weeks.
Players complain about a lack of new content. The Twitch streamer DrDisrespect once referred to Apex Legends as a demo.
Apex Legends ended EA’s “Battlefield 1” crisis on the stock market last spring:
