Electronic Arts has announced the unfortunate sunset of their mobile platform adaptation of the famous console and PC battle royale game Apex Legends. Respawn Entertainment, the game’s development studio, broke the news in a recent tweet on February 1, 2023. Apex Legends mobile was launched in 2022 and would have celebrated its first birthday on May 17, 2023. 

Reasons behind the Shutdown

As per the announcement by Electronic Arts on its official website as well as the tweet by Respawn Entertainment, after a strong beginning, the quality, quantity, and tempo of the content pipeline for Apex Legends Mobile has started to lag behind the premium standards upheld by EA and Respawn Entertainment. 

Therefore, they have mutually decided to shutter their mobile game for this reason after working with their developer partner for quite some time. Despite the setback born out of uncontrollable circumstances, they believe in the incessant efforts they have put into the game and are proud of the game they released. EA added that they are appreciative of the Apex Legends community’s support, and are certain that this is the best course of action for the gamers.

It has also been alleged that the revenue numbers have also been hit severely due to the rapid rise and fall in the active players of the game. This signals that the shutdown can be a consequence of decline in cost viability of the game in EA’s portfolio thus, marking it a loss making investment for the publishing house.

The bursting of mobile FPS games’ bubble can also be attributed to the demise as well as the unfortunate shutdown of Apex Legends Mobile. Persistent decline in the popularity of this genre has been an alarming issue to be dealt with amongst the leading FPS players in the mobile gaming market. 

What can the players expect next?

Players can anticipate from this forth that after the announcement date, that is, February 1, 2023 there will be the start of a ninety (90) day time period until the game is shut down. EA will be turning off all in-game real money in-app purchases at 1 PM PST, January 31, 2023 and taking the game off from both Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Players are allowed to use their pre-existing Syndicate Gold during this time to continue enjoying the full functionality in-game and play the game as usual. On May 1, 2023 at 4 PM PST, Apex Legends mobile will stop operating in all regions, and the game will not be accessible any longer.

Refund Policy

EA has indicated that, as per the EA User Agreement the players are not entitled to any refunds for their purchases made in-game before the suspension of in-game currency purchases. The pre-existing virtual currency in a player’s account can still be used to buy items and skins until the game servers are functional.

Is this the end of the Apex Legends franchise?

The decision is made independently from the PC and console versions of the game, this announcement only applies to Apex Legends Mobile. According to the publisher, Apex Legends is a successful franchise and they look forward to bringing intriguing additions to the game in future. Respawn Entertainment also mentioned that they are still hopeful for the mobile platform and are actively looking forward towards opportunities to serve the mobile gaming community.

Conclusion 

Uncontrollable circumstances, fund problems and lack of innovation seems to have plagued the rise of mobile FPS champion, Apex Legends mobile. Despite being voted as the ‘best mobile game of 2022’ in the Google Play Store rankings, the game has lost its steam before even completing one year in the scene.

This also beckons at the fact that genre trends in mobile platforms have changed quite significantly and publishers are looking to save their resources for better opportunities in the market. This can also be confirmed with the announcement by EA which halted Battlefield 2042’s development for mobile platforms in lieu of pivoting their current development strategy.

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