EA has already removed Apex Legends Mobile from app stores, as the studio behind Battlefield Mobile is shut down completely.
In the last few weeks, we’ve seen major job cuts at Microsoft, as well as many other non-gaming tech companies, and that trend is likely to continue as they suddenly realise that the boost they got during lockdown is not going to continue.
It’s not clear whether something similar is going on at EA at the moment, but they’ve just announced that they’re shutting down both Apex Legends Mobile and the developer behind Battlefield Mobile.
Apex Legends Mobile is the most surprising news as the game had gained a relatively large userbase, although there had been controversy over it featuring characters not in the main game, with EA explain that the ‘ongoing experience was not going to meet the expectations of our players.’
EA didn’t provide any more explanation but Respawn, went into a little more detail, saying that, ‘Following a strong start, the content pipeline for Apex Legends Mobile has begun to fall short of that bar for quality, quantity, and cadence.’
In other words, there wasn’t enough new content coming out quickly enough – even if shutting down the entire game seems like a bit of an overreaction. But then Respawn does have a lot on their plate at the moment and if Apex Legends Mobile was seen as a distraction the decision makes a little more sense.
Respawn wasn’t making the game entirely itself though, as it partnered with various external developers, including PUBG Mobile developer Lightspeed. The studio is increasingly acting in a supervisory role with many of its new projects, including a raft of new Star Wars games beyond the Star Wars Jedi series.
Speaking of which, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has also been delayed today, at the same time as EA announced its latest financial results, whose now weaker forecast caused a 10% drop in their share price value.
Canning Apex Legends Mobile may have been intended to prove that EA execs are willing to make tough decisions, including shutting down Battlefield Mobile developer Industrial Toys.
The little known studio was founded by Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian in 2012 and was given the unenviable task of trying to make Battlefield work on a smartphone.
‘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,’ is all EA said on the matter.
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When will Apex Legends Mobile shut down?
Battlefield Mobile never got as far as a public launch but Apex Legends first released in May of last year. It’ll just miss out on its first birthday though, with plans to shut it down on May 1.
However, the game will be removed from Android and Apple app stores today, at which point it will become impossible to make in-app purchases using real money.
If you’ve already paid real money for anything in the game though, EA has no plans to offer any refunds.
