Jay Hunter

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Why is Apex Legends Mobile shutting down?

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Earlier this week, EA announced its plans to shut down both Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile. For most players, this comes as a shock, especially after Apex Legends Mobile launched less than a year ago on May 17, 2022.

EA stated that it was forced to shut down Apex Legends Mobile due to “factors beyond [its] control” that have prevented the company from maintaining the high-quality experience and content its players deserve. Players can still play the game now, but it will officially go offline on May 1, 2023, at 4 PM PDT.

Battlefield Mobile, a shooter game that EA has developed for quite a while now, has been canceled too. It’s clear to say that Battlefield Mobile was a hot mess and nowhere near as great as Apex Legends Mobile, so the news doesn't shock most people.

EA stated that it wanted to “pivot from its current direction of the series and focus on something more appealing to the players.” In regards to what “something more appealing” means, it’s hard to say. Adding to this, EA has subsequently shut down Industrial Toys, a mobile game development company.

Despite Apex Legends Mobile being nominated for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards and also winning Game of the Year at Apple and Google, it seems achievements aren’t enough to keep things afloat. Although there’s a lot that goes into factoring Apex Legends Mobile’s downfall, EA CEO Andrew Wilson felt that the game’s biggest problem was that it didn’t seem “deeply connected to the broader franchise.”

Apex Legends Mobile players couldn’t really properly translate their progression over to PC and console—it also seemed like playing one version of the game came with more benefits than the other. In saying so, a lot of players wanted to compete against other players across platforms too, Wilson said. This created tension and a bigger gap between the ported mobile game and the PC and console versions that seemed to weaken the franchise. In addition to this, since Apex Legends Mobile was developed externally by Tencent’s Lightspeed and Quantum, the game would have its own seasons and characters, which made some PC or console players upset—further expanding this gap.

Although this might not be the complete reason that EA decided to shut down Apex Legends Mobile, it’s apparent that it was one of them and quite a large one at that. As for Battlefield Mobile, I’m not surprised that it’s being canceled. Out of all the games that EA could’ve canceled, Battlefield Mobile was one of the more logical and sensible choices. Despite EA stating it wanted to pivot and try something new, I think most people that played the game can say Battlefield Mobile was an absolutely, down-right terrible game. From the graphics to the gameplay, interface, and controls, Battlefield Mobile was an utter disappointment, so I'm relieved that it's going.

At the end of all this, I’ll miss Apex Legends Mobile and I know a lot of other people will too. However, in the wake of this news, I think it’s proper to say goodbye. To one game that’ll be missed sorely and to another nobody will remember—goodbye and so long, Apex Legends Mobile—but good freakin’ riddance Battlefield Mobile.

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Comments

Kastle

it was the best shooter on mobile so idk why they'd do this😭

02/06/2023

Michiboi14 Gaming

as an asian player i find those top ups a bit expensive if you ask me that prolly the reason cause why would a game close if it is not selling but ill miss the game cause apex let me feel like im playing a pc game with its style and graphic environment..

02/07/2023

Jay Hunter

Author

Apex Legends was amazing. It will be missed.

02/08/2023

crombo

As someone who had official comms with devs and Community Manager of Industrial Toys, you have no idea how wrong you are about Battlefield Mobile lol. More and better updates were coming, airplanes, helicopters, new skins, vehicles and new maps and obviously new graphics and audio system. Just before EA ceasing its development, there was a huge patch coming. Plus, judging the game before its global release is just freaking funny xd. You have 0 knowledge about game development. Almost every beta of the games have its issues. So, there is no point in judging the game that is still under development. So, I see your review as huge disappointment here. Both games had their issues but none of them deserved it. My contacts from EA told me, it was more because of Apexm than BFM because they didnt want that to happen with BFM. Seems like you aint BF fan either cuz you say "huge disappointment". Some people said that game was even better than pc versions. Check your facts better next time. Ofc, you have right to express your opinion but you are hella wrong.

02/07/2023

Jay Hunter

Author

I played the early test and the other testing phase of Battlefield Mobile last 2022. The game was terrible, probably one of the worst ones I've played in 2022. I really wanted to enjoy it too, but it just felt tremendously subpar from what I'd expect from EA and for a franchise like Battlefield. There's nothing much more to say, Battlefield Mobile in its early stages was hideous and such a bad game. Had I wished it'd been better? Yes, and I hoped it to. First impressions are pretty important. As for the speculations, it allegedly said that EA wants to pivot with Battlefield Mobile and try something different. The decision was allegedly made in correlation of Apex Legends moving away from the franchise and EA didn't like that, so it called it quits.

02/08/2023

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Cyclone Arti

Battlefield Mobile didn't even get released in the first place so people could play it , Wowzers

02/06/2023

Jay Hunter

Author

Glad it didn't

02/08/2023

J Hard

don't worry guys We are promised three powerful games: Rainbow Six, Valorant, and Warzone.

02/06/2023

ThePolishJoker

Yeah... and All Will Be Closed Too 🤣👍

02/07/2023

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Gela Alde

It's devastating to know about this. :( EA did everything to bring the experience on mobile phones, however, there are bigger titans like Call of Duty mobile. there's also an upcoming Warzone mobile. nevertheless, it's completely devastating. now that I was able to acquire a phone that can handle heavy graphics games.

02/06/2023

Jay Hunter

Author

It was a great port too! It really captured the game from PC and console and brought it down to mobile.

02/08/2023

User77340068

Yeah man its also shocking to see this game is going forever 😔😔

02/06/2023

Jay Hunter

Author

Maybe EA might bring it back? Who knows

02/06/2023

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Roshi Rana

it was good and competative while it lasted.

02/06/2023

Jay Hunter

Author

At least the game's still on PC and console

02/06/2023

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ninjaHattori

EA did what EA does best when stuff doesn't make money

02/06/2023

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Guardian Koala

maybe they're shutting it down because it doesn't generate as much money as they hoped it would've.

02/06/2023

Jay Hunter

Author

Probably a reason too! It must've been hard going against titans like COD Mobile

02/06/2023

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