EA cancels mobile Apex Legends and Battlefield games, shutters Industrial Toys studio

The mobile versions of Apex Legends and Battlefield have been cancelled, according to Electronic Arts. It is also closing its Industrial Toys game studio as a result.

The popular Apex Legends shooter game from Respawn Entertainment was first released on mobile devices with Apex Legends Mobile last year. It was named Google Play's and Apple's Game of the Year for 2022. The game will now end after 90 days. Battlefield Mobile will also end after its soft launch.

Respawn Entertainment explained the decision to discontinue Apex Legends Mobile in a blog post by pointing to the game's deteriorating update quality. EA made the declaration while announcing its financial results for the third fiscal quarter that ended on December 31.

“At Respawn, 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,” the blog post said. “It is for this reason, after months of working with our development partner, that we have made the mutual decision to sunset our mobile game. Although disappointing, we are proud of the game we launched, are grateful for the support of the Apex Legends community and are confident that this is the right decision for players.”

A seasoned mobile game studio that produced ambitious shooter games like Midnight Star has unfortunately closed its doors. In 2018, when Industrial Toys had 14 employees, EA acquired the company. Whether Seropian will remain on board is unknown. From the moment the studio's opening was announced, we covered them. Next, EA announced that Industrial Toys was developing the Battlefield Mobile game.

It's unclear how many jobs will be impacted by the closure of Industrial Toys, which was founded in 2012 by Tim Harris, Brent Pease, Alex Seropian, and co-creator of Halo, Alex Seropian. By discontinuing Apex Legends Mobile, EA is giving up on a game that, according to Data.ai, received 47 million downloads and brought in $55 million in revenue. India had the most downloads (9.3 million), while Japan had the highest revenue ($18 million). Recently, that revenue has only been surpassed by four EA games. A seasoned mobile game studio that produced ambitious shooter games like Midnight Star has unfortunately closed its doors. In 2018, when Industrial Toys had 14 employees, EA acquired the company. Whether Seropian will remain on board is unknown. From the moment the studio's opening was announced, we covered them. Next, EA announced that Industrial Toys was developing the Battlefield Mobile game.

“Mobile continues to lag, down year-over-year and at a $1.2 billion run rate, when they were at $700 million before Glu Mobile and Golf Clash (acquisitions),” said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, in an email to GamesBeat. “Those two should have added $800 million ($1.5 billion run rate), so mobile is tracking down about 20% vs. where it should be.”

Respawn will stop allowing players to make any in-game purchases using real money as of today, January 31, in addition to taking the app down from webstores. Players may use their current Syndicate Gold during this time to continue enjoying the full game. On May 1, 2023, at 4pm (PST) which will be May 2nd 5.30am (IST), Apex Legends Mobile will stop operating in all regions and become unplayable.

Respawn will stop allowing players to make any in-game purchases using real money as of today, January 31, in addition to taking the app down from webstores. Players may use their current Syndicate Gold during this time to continue enjoying the full game. On May 1, 2023, at 4 p.m. Pacific time, Apex Legends Mobile will stop operating in all regions and become unplayable.

Respawn said it will not be providing refunds for real money purchases, per the terms of the EA User Agreement. This decision for Apex Legends Mobile is platform-specific and is independent of the game on PC and Consoles.

“As a franchise, Apex Legends is strong, and we’re looking forward to sharing exciting updates in the future,” Respawn said.