EA allegedly shuts down skin revenue sharing with ALGS teams

EA allegedly shuts down skin revenue sharing with ALGS teams after top-tier teams demanded a 50% share.

Recently all top-tier teams have joined together to demand from the publisher of Apex Legends that the skin revenue for the game be split equally between the teams and Electronic Arts. As a consequence, EA has put an end to these negotiation talks.

Monetization problems in Apex Legends

Over the past year, major esports organizations have left the Apex Legends competitive scene. Some organizations, such as Team Liquid, have clearly stated that it is due to monetization problems that led them to make such a decision.

According to some rumors, EA has reneged on an agreement where the developer was to provide revenue to teams from the sales of skins. This breach has led to the teams being unhappy with the situation.

According to information revealed by Digiday, EA had set a price of $60k for each team. However, most teams have asked EA to split the revenue from the skins, half for the teams and half for EA.

Revenue sharing in Apex Legends

Apparently, after EA promised the team’s revenue sharing, they got cold feet, so they offered them only $60k, far below the total revenue.

After that proposal, the teams argued that it was really an unfair amount and referred to revenue sharing in other esports games.

Although they did not specify VALORANT or CS:GO, the teams mentioned their plans for revenue sharing from teams selling in-game items.

The teams are not pleased with EA’s proposal, so Team Liquid and TSM have led the movement to send a letter to the game developers to negotiate better terms. The letter has been signed by 14 of the top 20 teams.

The letter states that the signed teams are uncomfortable with the proposal. In addition, they add that they do not believe that the decisions made by EA were made in the best faith.

In response to this letter, EA made a counter-proposal, offering a distribution according to the best-selling skins. The first three teams get $160k, the next three get $120k, the next six get $80k, and finally, the last get $60k.

The teams didn’t think this was fair, so they responded with the half-and-half proposal. As a result, EA has decided to close any negotiations with the teams.

Special skins for the teams

The release of the team skins was expected last October 2022. However, by the end of September, the negotiations had not been finalized; at the end of that month, a leaker revealed the team skins.

It is important to comment that the skins were not so popular among the fans of the teams, so the sales did not go very well. Some comments even stated that they were items that no one wanted. With such low sales EA was discouraged with the delivery plans.

Due to this failed project, major teams such as Cloud9, G2 Esports, Liquid, NAVI, and SSG have decided to leave Apex Esports behind.

Header: EA