EA has announced the cancellation of Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile, as well as the closure of developer Industrial Toys, which was working on the latter game.
News of the cancellations arrived alongside EA’s latest financial results, with the publisher saying it had opted to end development on Apex Legends Mobile – which launched last May – because the “ongoing experience was not going to meet the expectations of our players”.
A separate statement by Apex Legends studio Respawn Entertainment shed a little more light on the concerns surrounding the game’s development, saying, “We aim to provide players with games that are consistently outstanding. Following a strong start, the content pipeline for Apex Legends Mobile has begun to fall short of that bar for quality, quantity, and cadence.”
“It is for this reason,” the statement continued, “after months of working with our development partner [PUBG Mobile developer Lightspeed and Quantum Studios], that we have made the mutual decision to sunset our mobile game.”
As a result, Apex Legends Mobile will officially shut down on 1st May this year. However, the game will be pulled from storefronts and all real money in-app purchases will be disabled as of today. In stark contrast to today’s Rumbleverse closure announcement, EA will not be refunding any real money purchases made by players, citing the terms of its User Agreement.
As for EA’s decision to end development on Battlefield Mobile, the publisher explained, “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.”
News of Battlefield Mobile’s cancellation was accompanied by confirmation that its developer, Industrial Toys – which was acquired by EA in 2018 – will shut down. Industrial Toys was founded by Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian in 2012, and created a number of mobile-focused shooters, including Midnight Star, prior to EA’s purchase. The studio was revealed to be working on Battlefield Mobile in 2022. EA has not yet said how many employees will lose their jobs as a result of its decision to close Industrial Toys.
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