What is up with 2023? The year has barely begun, and every day I’m sitting down to write about yet another game that has been cancelled, delayed or shut down. It’s crazy and, if I’m being frank, tiring. But here we go again.
This morning, Electronic Arts came out with an announcement no one wanted to hear and announced that Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile would be shutting down. For good.
“Despite Apex Mobile’s strong start, the ongoing experience was not going to meet the expectations of our players. After months of working with our development partner, we have made the mutual decision to sunset the mobile game.
We’ve also made the decision to stop the development of the current Battlefield mobile title. As the industry has evolved and our to create deeply connected Battlefield ecosystem has taken shape, we decided to pivot from the current direction to best on our vision for the franchise and to meet the expectations of our players.” – Electronic Arts.
We have made the decision to sunset Apex Legends Mobile.
We're sure you have a lot of questions. For more information on where things are at currently, including an FAQ, please read the blog below.https://t.co/Yjr4EOJnTq pic.twitter.com/4k3dGzOL12
— Respawn (@Respawn) January 31, 2023
The official sunset date for Apex Legends Mobile will be May 1, 2023, at 4 pm PST, after which the game will no longer be playable in any respect. And while no date was given for Battlefield Mobile, the studio behind it has announced that they are being shut down altogether.
However, this goodbye might not be forever as Electronic Arts have said that they will keep the door open on circling back to Apex on mobile at a later stage, just with a completely different approach.
“The biggest new launches that are seeing the most success are the ones that are deeply connected to the broader franchise where there’s not always cross-play but certainly cross-progression and the feeling that they’re part of a single unified community and a single unified game experience.”
They’ve also reiterated that Battlefield Mobile might return somewhere down the line. As of writing this post, Apex Legends is being removed from all existing storefronts, and all real money in-app purchases are being disabled. Players who already have in-game currency can continue to spend it in-game until the games sunset in May; however, no refunds will be provided.