Despite the death of Apex Legends Mobile, players won’t see characters or other specific content from the mobile version coming to the base game—at least not for now, Respawn Entertainment clarified in a press conference last week.
Apex Mobile launched on May 17, 2022, and Respawn Entertainment announced its “sunsetting” last week. Its servers will officially shut down on May 1, meaning the game will have spent less than a year on the market. During its short lifespan, Apex Mobile created some unique content that fans may want to see in the base version of the game, though it may not necessarily reach the servers in the near future.
“I think the content we created in Mobile is intended for one type of experience and HD [the regular version of Apex Legends] is a different type of experience,” game director Steven Ferreira said. “Not to say that we couldn’t do that in the future, but right now, we are not planning to do that.”
Apex Mobile gave birth to two unique legends, Fade and Rhapsody, who are tuned specifically for mobile. The game also brought Team Deathmatch to the mix before its debut in the HD version, launched legend-based perks, and created the Pythas Block Zero map in season two, which is connected to Rhapsody’s story. Though Team Deathmatch made the cut in Apex, the two cast members and the new map may not be so lucky.
Fade was one of the faces of Apex Mobile when it released, celebrating his status as the first mobile-only legend. He was developed specifically with mobile gameplay in mind, however, which may not translate too well into the HD version of the game. This focus on mobile also helped set the two versions of the game apart by leaning into the strengths of each.
Despite the divide between the two games, the legends coexist in the same universe. Fade has Phase Tech and powers similar to Wraith’s. Rhapsody hails from a party district in the planet of Solace, which houses Kings Canyon, Mirage’s Paradise Lounge bar, and other elements that appear in the lore. Respawn may not be ready to send them to the HD version of Apex for now (or ever), but there is a strong thread connecting them to the setting of Apex if that intent changes. The legends would likely need some balancing adjustments to fit in the sandbox of the base version.
Despite Fade and Rhapsody not making the cut, though, Apex‘s season 16 is introducing the long-requested Team Deathmatch mode, which featured in Apex Mobile—and Ferreira didn’t close the door on other features potentially swapping franchises in the future.
