Only eight months after its debut, the free-to-play game would be discontinued on May 1, 2023
Just over a year after its global premiere, Apex Legends Mobile’s creator, Respawn Entertainment, has announced that the game is officially being discontinued. The decision has been characterised as “difficult” and as not having “come easily,” but regardless, the firm will be shut down on May 1, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. After this, players won’t be able to play the game anymore. Players also received the additional unpleasant news that any items or bonuses they bought in Apex Legends Mobile will also be lost after the game is over.
What does Respawn say?
In a Twitter post, Respawn said that they have made a painful decision to shut down Apex Legends Mobile. The decision wasn’t easy for them but the factors were beyond their control and prevented them to maintain the high-quality experience and content that the players deserve.
Due to these reasons, the game will be discontinued from May 1, 2023, at 4 pm PDT after which it will no longer be playable. Respawn further showed gratitude to the players and teams for joining them on Apex Legends Mobile, even if for a short time.
Respawn elaborated on this choice in a FAQ blog post, mentioning a decline in the game’s quality content that caused it to start falling short of publisher expectations.
No Refund Policy
Since its release, Apex Legends Mobile has gained a reputation for including changes that users would have loved to see in the full game, such as new game types, additional abilities for current legends, and two legends that are only available on mobile devices, Fade and Rhapsody. The game will be removed from app stores as of Tuesday at 4 PM ET and real money purchases in-game are no longer possible. On May 1st, it will end in full at 7 PM ET.
However, according to the company’s FAQ, “under the provisions of the EA User Agreement,” EA is not issuing any refunds for actual money transactions. Players who invested money in the free-to-play game were disappointed to learn that it was shut down just eight months after its inception and now they can’t even claim any refund for that.
What might the future hold?
It appears that Apex may one day appear on mobile devices. CEO Andrew Wilson of EA stated during the firm’s earnings call that the company and the developer partner decided to end work on this “edition” of the game and that there are “plans to rethink a connected Apex mobile experience in the future.” Later Wilson stated that the Apex brand’s future growth vector will be ‘mobile’.
The makers of the game say that Respawn and the Apex Legends team are enthusiastic about mobile as a platform and look forward to additional chances to serve players in the future, which suggests that gamers may see Apex Legends on mobile gaming platforms in near future.
