Apex Legends Is Shutting Down
Respawn Entertainment has announced it's shutting down it's free-to-play game Apex Legends.
In addition to announcing the delay of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Respawn Entertainment announced that Apex Legends, a free-to-play battle royale hero shooter game, is also shutting down. Respawn stated that the game has fallen short of its bar for quality, and it will no longer be available, along with all the in-game purchases after May 1. Both the Android and iOS versions of the game will be removed from digital storefronts in all regions, while the PC and consoles version of the game will remain operational for the time being.
According to Electronic Arts’ blog post, Apex Legends: Mobile has failed to fulfill the company’s financial expectations despite the game’s strong start. Unfortunately, the content pipeline for the game fell short of the bar for quality, quantity, and cadence, and both EA and Respawn came to a mutual decision to sunset the mobile title. Though disappointing, Electronic Arts stated that they’re proud of the game they launched and expressed their gratitude for the support provided by the Apex Legends: Mobile community.
In terms of what Apex Legends: Mobile players can expect from the shutdown, EA and Respawn have already disabled all the real-money purchases in the game, followed by the game’s very own removal from mobile digital storefronts. Still, during the 90-day grace period, which ends on May 1, 2023, players can still spend their existing Syndicate Gold and continue playing their favorite game unhindered. However, starting May 1, 2023, the game’s servers will cease operation, and the game will no longer be playable.
Unfortunately, EA also won’t provide any refunds for real-money purchases, as per its own User Agreement, which might feel like a slap in the face to those players who invested their cash into the game. That seems a bit “scroogey,” considering that Epic Games has offered refunds to Rubmleverse players after both the publisher and developer of that game have announced its shutdown. Then again, EA is well known for such tactics, and the company has been called out several times for the predatory nature of its monetization tactics used in games.
While this is the conclusion of a single chapter in the Apex Legends universe, unverified rumors suggest that EA and its development partners have plans to reimagine a connected Apex Legends mobile gaming experience in the future, with EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson stating that mobile will be a growing vector for the Apex Legends franchise. Assuming that the rumors hold true, Wilson’s statement would reflect the current trends in the gaming industry, where more and more titles are also ported to smartphone platforms.
Lastly, besides announcing the shutdown of Apex Legends: Mobile, EA also canceled the development of the Battlefield mobile game. The game was supposed to be a part of a larger, connected Battlefield universe, similar to how IO Interactive bundled up the latest Hitman game. Unfortunately, due to the poor debut of its latest Battlefield 2042, EA had to make a number of changes to the franchise, resulting in the aforementioned cancelation.
The Lord of the Ring title, currently developed by one of EA’s studios for mobile, remains unaffected by these shifts.
