![]() ![]() Teams spent manpower developing the skins. One team executive said design and development of the skins, in collaboration with developer Respawn, began as early as March 2022.Īccording to the emails sent between EA and the teams, team-branded skins were supposed to be in the Apex Legends marketplace in mid-October, but the two parties were still negotiating financial terms in mid-September with no guarantee in place. There have also been leaks of esports team skins in Apex Legends from September last year, around the time EA and Respawn shut the initiative down. There have been rumors for months of insufficient financial proposals by EA, and of an unwillingness from Respawn to accommodate esports teams. “Our collective experience in dozens of esports titles and leagues can provide the ALGS with a different perspective in the pursuit of creating the world’s best esports league,” the email read.Īfter this counter-offer, EA shut down talks altogether, citing tight timelines and so it could “internally discuss how we can best work together with teams to build meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships around Apex Legends and the ALGS.” A dying esport The teams then responded with another counter-offer, imploring EA and Respawn to explore an uncapped revenue-sharing model as close to 50/50 as possible. There was still no revenue-sharing included. The execs offered a counter proposal of an uncapped 50/50 revenue split for in-game skin sales, as well as minimum guarantees.ĮA came back with a revised offer based on sales performance instead of a flat licensing fee: the three orgs whose skins sold the most would get $160,000 the next three would get $120,000 the next six would get $80,000 and the bottom eight would get $60,000. They are as follows: 100 Thieves, Alliance, Cloud9, Complexity, DarkZero, Faze Clan, Fnatic, G2 Esports, NAVI, NRG, Sentinels, Spacestation Gaming, Team Liquid and TSM. The letter was signed by executives from 14 of the 20 orgs involved in revenue-sharing discussions. “We are not comfortable with the proposed licensing offer, nor do we believe that the decisions made around it have been done so in good faith,” the letter reads, which was shared with Digiday. In response to EA’s offer, the teams collectively drafted a letter - led by TSM and Team Liquid - rejecting it. “I make that in one quarter in, times two,” said one senior executive at an org involved in the discussions with EA, in reference to a revenue-sharing arrangement at another title. ![]() For context, tier-one orgs, particularly in North America, can make $1 million or more per sponsorship deal per year. Instead they offered teams $60,000 each as a flat licensing fee - far below what teams felt was fair. EA and Respawn eventually decided against this. ![]()
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