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Apex Legends Mobile beta coming soon, will not feature cross-play

EA and Respawn have issued the first details on Apex Legends Mobile, which will be its own game and not crossover with the current Apex Legends.

Ozzie Mejia

April 19, 2021 10:00 AM

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Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment had hopes to bring Apex Legends to mobile devices before the end of 2020. Those plans didn't end up materializing, but it looks like the mobile version of the hit battle royale is indeed on its way. On Monday, the team at Respawn discussed the mobile incarnation of Apex Legends in more detail, announcing dates for the game's first regional test.

First announced back in June, Apex Legends Mobile is being built from the ground-up with handheld devices in mind. That means touchscreen controls, as well as a gameplay experience that's optimized for most modern phones. Unfortunately, because it's being built specifically for mobile devices, it means that any hopes of cross-platform play with the current Apex Legends have been dashed for the time being.

While Apex Legends and Apex Legends Mobile will be two separate products, Respawn pledges that the current development team will have a hand in both products, with an unnamed mobile developer assisting with the latter. However, both of these games being separate products also means that they'll each have their own free-to-play quirks. Battle Passes, cosmetics, and unlockables will all be separate to each version and will not cross over.

Those looking to try out Apex Legends Mobile may have to wait a while. Respawn is first rolling out the playable beta to India and the Philippines in the coming weeks. The beta will only be available on Anroid with an iOS beta coming later down the road. Respawn will offer registration details in the near future.

Meanwhile, Respawn is looking ahead to its next update for the mainline Apex Legends, which recently hit the 100 million player milestone. Season 9 is set to begin on May 4. We'll be looking to cover that in more detail here at Shacknews, so keep it here for the latest details. For more on today's Apex Legends Mobile announcement, be sure to check out the Apex Legends website.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?