Electronic Arts is doubling down on mobile gaming. And it could make the biggest splash this year with an Apex Legends “soft launch.”
Speaking at an EA fireside chat this week, the company’s CEO Andrew Wilson expects Apex Legends to be in “soft launch by the end of this year,” meaning it will likely hit mobile devices in beta form. Wilson didn’t say exactly when the game would launch on mobile or for which platforms (iOS, Android, or both).
Wilson’s comments come amid EA’s expanded mobile strategy. EA’s mobile game Plants vs. Zombies 3 was initially released in the Philippines and later in other countries as stability improved and bugs were addressed. It could be the template EA follows for Apex Legends later this year.
Wilson added that EA “six or seven other [mobile] games in various stages of incubation or production or in finaling phase.” He didn’t identify what those games are but did say EA feels “very good” about its mobile division overall.
While EA is best known for its console and PC success, the company is expanding its presence in mobile as more players turn to their smartphones for gaming. Some of EA’s biggest franchises, including Madden, FIFA, and The Sims are available on mobile devices. Still, EA’s mobile division is much smaller than that of traditional platforms. Last quarter, EA’s mobile division made $186 million in revenue, 16% of EA’s $1.2 billion total revenue and a 19% drop from the $231 million it generated in the first quarter of 2019.
Bringing the wildly popular Apex Legends to mobile, however, could be one of its most important moves yet. Although Madden, FIFA, and The Sims are all well-known, Apex Legends’ popularity has soared to more than 70 million global players who battle each other on tethered consoles and PCs. And last week, EA said it would bring Apex Legends to the Nintendo Switch and Steam later this year with cross-play support. Although, Wilson didn’t say whether the mobile Apex Legends would also offer cross-play. A mobile version would allow them to pick up and play on the go and could attract the many mobile players who aren’t console or PC gamers.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.