14 DAY TRIAL // Gaming on mobile devices is increasing its value each day, and Electronic Arts is preparing to take its share by releasing Apex Legends on phones.
Apex Legends literally came out of nowhere back in February 2019, when it just showed up in the EA’s Origin store. The game is developed by Respawn Entertainment, a studio responsible for the Titanfall franchise, which ensured the game had a proper pedigree.
Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment didn’t release a trailer or an official announcement. And the strategy worked because Apex Legends quickly became one of the most played battler-royale type games around, and it’s now hovering at around 50 million players.
EA plans don’t match reality
The announcement about an upcoming Apex Legends port for mobile devices was made during a recent earnings call (via Seeking Alpha), headed by Blake Jorgensen, COO for Electronic Arts. Granted, it’s not the best avenue to release this type of information, but at least we know about it.
“We are in advanced negotiations to bring Apex Legends to China and to mobile, and we will update you on timeframes when those negotiations are concluded. We are self-publishing Apex Legends in Korea. The game offers an opportunity for us to build a direct connection with our players there, and we hope to be able to leverage this for other games,” said Jorgensen.
There is a major problem with the statement, given China’s strict governing of everything released in their country. Just recently, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) was banned in China and replaced with a more tame alternative, developed by themselves.
EA has no guarantee that Apex Legends will be accepted in its current state and it’s very likely that whatever version arrives on the Chinese market, it’s going to be very different from what we have right now.
It’s also worth pointing out that no timeline was given for the release, but we can surmise that it’s already in development.