Apex Legends Mobile, the handheld version of the popular battle royale title, has officially shut down after its sunsetting was announcedearlier this year.

Back in February, Electronic Arts announced that they were not only cancelling development of their Battlefield Mobile title, but also of Apex Legends Mobile as well as shuttering development studio Industrial Toys. It was part of a raft of bad news that also saw a sharp decline in EA’s share price by around 10% and triggered a slew of analysis and discussion about why what seemed to be such a surefire hit was suddenly on the company’s chopping block.

In a Twitter post marking the shutdown, Respawn Entertainment offered a statement to players. “From everyone here at Respawn, we would like to express our most heartfelt thanks and gratitude to everyone who played Apex Legends Mobile and the amazing community that formed around the game.

“We enjoyed every second of bringing the magic of the Apex universe to an even larger audience. Thank you for the memories, the battles, and the shared adventures!”

The death and undeath of live services

Since the initial announcement the discussion around the numerous live service titles on mobile shuttering has brought many new revelations. Including the potential difficulty being faced by Apex Legends Mobile as it trailed behind main competitor Call of Duty: Mobile, to say nothing of battle royale heavyweights like Fortnite which it is at least competitive with on other platforms.

So it was perhaps no surprise that when the game failed to meet expectations EA felt there was nothing to do but wash their hands of it despite it pulling in critical acclaim including being Apple and Google's game of 2022. In his guest article on the discussion around the dearth of live service titles being culled, Oscar Clark noted the challenge that live service titles present. “Consider the pressures on those teams and licences, especially established IP where the challenge includes moving from a successful pay-upfront model to one focused on recurring revenues.

“This is not an easy transition to push through for any team, especially where the targets are set so high. You have to not only take your players with you, but you bring along your corporate leadership and shareholders at the same time.”