EA shuts down Apex Legends Mobile, refunds won’t be issued

Apex Legends Mobile has been a great success for EA and Respawn, but it looks like the recent decline in earnings and the developer’s inability to provide new content on a regular basis forced the publisher to take a rather radical decision.

EA and Respawn announced today that they have decided to sunset the game come May 1, 2023. According to Respawn, after a strong start, content updates for Apex Legends Mobile lagged behind and they have fallen short of the bar for “quality, quantity, and cadence.” That appears to be the main reason the mobile game will be sunset.

Along with the announcement, Respawn and EA also revealed that January 31 marks the beginning of a 90 day window before the game will be shut down. All real money in app purchases in the game have already been disabled and removed from webstores.

During the 90 day window, Apex Legends Mobile can spend what in-game currency they have left, as well as continue playing the game. However, on May 1, 2023, at 4 PM PDT, Respawn will cease operations in all regions, and the game will no longer be playable.

If you’ve bought something in the game, all purchases will remain available in your account until Apex Legends Mobile is shut down. Unfortunately, EA will not be providing players with any refunds for real money purchases, a decision that lines up with the publisher’s User Agreement.

Of course, the PC and console game will continue to exist and receive content updates. The decision for Apex Legends Mobile is independent of the game on the other two platforms.

Apex Legends Mobile made about $40 million in revenue since its launch back in May, 2022. However, earning and downloads have been declining lately to the point that the game made just $3.5 million in December 2022, down from nearly $7 million in May.