Publisher Electronic Arts has announced that Apex Legends Mobile will no longer be playable starting from 1 May 2023 at 4pm PDT (2 May 2023 at 7am GMT+8), and that Battlefield Mobile will cease development.
Launched back on 17 May 2022, the short-lived mobile game will have been online for no more than one year.
EA explained in a statement that “despite Apex Mobile’s strong start, the ongoing experience was not going to meet the expectations of our players”. Another statement by the developing studio Respawn Entertainment provided further clarification, stating, “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”.
In EA’s Q3 2023 earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson mentioned three main reasons for the cancellation of Apex Legends Mobile. In terms of gameplay, “there is a level of immersion and complexity to Apex gameplay in particular, which is very much about what Apex is about, verticality of gameplay and team-based play, that didn't translate quite as well to mobile devices as we had hoped “, explained Wilson.
Concerning player retention, Wilson stated that while Apex Legends Mobile had successfully engaged core players and attracted many new players at the start, “it didn't retain the more casual user at the rate that we needed it to. And in a game that relies a lot on team play and competitive play, liquidity of the overall player base is really, really important as you think about the future experience for players over time”.
Last but not least, Wilson acknowledged the challenge brought by the mobile market due to “evolving player personalities”. However, he reaffirmed EA’s interest in venturing into the mobile market, and that these lessons learnt “will be very, very important as we reimagine Apex Mobile”.
Wilson also mentioned that reasons for the cancellation of Battlefield Mobile were similar. “We anticipated that while Battlefield had also been in development for some time and was making good progress, given the construct of that game, it also was probably going to run into some of the same challenges. And rather than continue to push against that, we wanted to come back, take a breath, reset, and really think about the broader franchise strategy and allow the leadership to build a true cross-platform immersive game experience around a reimagined battlefield in the future”.
As of now, it is confirmed that all Apex Legends Mobile Web Store content will no longer be accessible, including those on third-party web stores. Past purchases and existing in-game currency balances will be available until 4pm PDT on 1 May 2023. EA also asserts that no refunds will be provided for real money purchases, as per the terms of the EA User Agreement.
