EA Shutting Down Apex Legends Mobile; Battlefield Mobile Development Stopped As Well
The decision comes just a few months away from Apex Legends Mobile's first anniversary.
Story Highlights
- Apex Legends Mobile is a rip-roaring, first-person/third-person shooter and a free-to-play title on mobile platforms, such as Android and iOS. It’s an Apex Legends spin-off that features its own array of improvements and feature additions over the parent game. The battle royale shooter was released on May 17, 2022.
- Being months away from its first anniversary, the supposed PUBG killer — Apex Legends Mobile — has been planned to shut down on the first of May, 2023. The news comes from a blog post by EA, the game’s publisher. The post itself is part of the company’s Q3 FY 2023 Financial Results.
- In addition to the said title getting sunsetted by EA, the publisher has reportedly halted the development of the Battlefield Mobile title as well.
- Under the “Blog FAQ” section of the announcement page, EA has stated that it will not be handing out refunds for in-game items purchased by players with real money. This is as per the terms of the EA User Agreement.
Addressing the community in a blog post, EA has pushed out a development update on Apex Legends Mobile recently. The publisher has stated,
At Respawn, we aim to provide players with games that are consistently outstanding. Following a strong start, the content pipeline for Apex Legends Mobile has begun to fall short of that bar for quality, quantity, and cadence. It is for this reason, after months of working with our development partner, that we have made the mutual decision to sunset our mobile game.”
This breaking news was made to be a part of the Q3 FY23 Financial Results report, which too, has been posted on the official EA web handle. The publisher has given out other crucial information as well in the report, such as FIFA 23 being the biggest game in the franchise history and The Sims welcoming 10 million more players.
However, all that has certainly been overshadowed by the sad news of Apex Legends Mobile’s departure. It hadn’t even been a year since the game was released that news of this manner and form came striking thundering down, as Respawn’s official Twitter account announced on the platform as well.
We have made the decision to sunset Apex Legends Mobile.
We're sure you have a lot of questions. For more information on where things are at currently, including an FAQ, please read the blog below.https://t.co/Yjr4EOJnTq pic.twitter.com/4k3dGzOL12
— Respawn (@Respawn) January 31, 2023
Apex Legends Mobile was supposedly a successful shooter, going strong in terms of concurrent user count and overall stats, so the decision to sunset the title does come as a shocker, especially when EA says, “Despite Apex Mobile’s strong start, the ongoing experience was not going to meet the expectations of our players.”
At the time of its launch, the battle royale shooter blew past its pre-registration count goal, with more than 14 million players pre-registering for it. Coming across as a strong competitor to the dominance of PUBG, it’s unfortunate that Apex Legends Mobile won’t be sticking around any longer come May 1, 2023.
On the other side of the equation, there’s Battlefield Mobile to talk about as well, but there’s nothing good to go over about it, either. EA has the following to say about the first-person shooter currently available to play on mobile operating systems.
We’ve also made the decision to stop the development of the current Battlefield mobile title. As the industry has evolved and our strategy to create a deeply connected Battlefield ecosystem has taken shape, we decided to pivot from the current direction to best deliver on our vision for the franchise and to meet the expectations of our players.”
As for the purchase you’ve made in Apex Legends Mobile, they’re yours to keep and enjoy, but not forever. You may utilize your paid cosmetics, Battle Pass skins, and other items in-game until May 1st, 4 PM PDT. After the game goes down, you won’t be able to opt for a refund or play Apex Legends Mobile.
Seems pretty harsh, considering the wide player base of the game and the supposed amount of money they’ve spent on the game, but it’s by the books. EA says that “[they] will not be providing refunds for real money purchases, per the terms of the EA User Agreement.”
Apex Legends Mobile. Gone too soon. Do let us know what you think in the comments section ahead.
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