EA is investing in Apex Legends esports by entering partnerships with 12 different organizations, according to a blog post on its website.
The organizations in question are NRG, TSM, T1, Team Liquid, Sentinels, Complexity, Luminosity Gaming, Gambit Esports, Natus Vincere, North, Rogue, and Alliance.
The partnership is said to foster “team health and growth” and to “gather vital feedback” from the organizations. The blog post also includes a link for other teams to use to apply for partnerships in the future.
It’s unclear what the partnership fundamentally means for Apex esports, though. In other esports, partnerships could mean that in-game characters and weapons get skins with the colors and logo of professional teams. It could also be something as simple as adding a “tab” specifically to promote the esports aspect of the game with in-client streams and content.
There are no specifics available about the partnership at this time, but considering how well team skins sell in other titles, it wouldn’t be a shock if that was at least a part of the plan for this partnership.
There will be no LAN events for Apex in 2020, but there’s still a substantial prize pool up for grabs. During the Summer Circuit specifically, $500,000 is available, with a total pledge of $3 million for the duration of the ALGS.
If organizations can stabilize team salary costs with the help of a partnership, Apex esports could be in a solid financial position in the years to come.
