Apex Legends Mobile clone made by Tencent is coming to China

Apex Legends Mobile was one of the most anticipated mobile game releases over the past year. Yet, less than a year after its global launch, EA is pulling the plug on the game on May 1, 2023.

While that happens, Tencent is developing a new Apex Legends Mobile clone for China, multiple pictures of which have appeared on Twitter.

Tencent is developing an Apex Legends Mobile clone for China

Twitter user TheLeakerBot posted pictures about the supposed Apex Mobile clone coming to China. The Chinese name of the game translates to “High Energy Heroes,” per Liquipedia editor Hesketh.

Additionally, the title has already received approval from the Chinese authorities. The Asian country has really strict regulatory laws on gaming, so getting approval is a big deal. The game is currently open for pre-registrations and is set for a 2023 release. The preview images show familiar legends from Apex.

Gameplay hasn’t been shown yet.

It is to be noted that while Apex Legends Mobile was released globally in May 2022, it never came to China. It is currently unclear if this game is being released in a partnership with EA or is an independent title by Tencent. In the latter case, it’s possible that the Chinese game developer could bring the clone to other regions as well.

Additionally, EA reportedly partnered with Tencent to develop Apex Legends Mobile. EA published the game globally, though.

Not the first mobile game clone – and probably not the last

In the world of gaming, clones of popular titles are really common. But, in mobile gaming, they are even more apparent and many times, blatant.

A recent example is Hyper Front, an obvious copy of VALORANT developed by the Chinese game company, NetEase. From the characters, map, and mechanics, NetEase didn’t attempt to hide how obvious of a copy it was. And sure enough, Riot Games sued the game in December 2022 across multiple courts in the UK, Germany, Brazil, and Singapore, per a report by the Polygon.

Riot said in one of its filings that Hyper Front copied “substantial parts of VALORANT.”

Related: Riot Games is suing NetEase for making an alleged VALORANT clone

Another example is Area F2, a copy of Rainbow Six which was released on mobile devices back in 2020. It was developed by the Chinese tech company Alibaba-owned Ejoy studio. Ubisoft sued the developer along with Google and Apple just a few months later demanding that it be pulled down. The company complied with this lawsuit and canceled Area F2.

If EA is not involved with Tencent’s Apex Legends Mobile clone, it’s possible that the company could take legal action.

For players of the game, though, you can continue to enjoy the original Apex Legends Mobile until May 1, 2023. While the game is shutting down, EA recently hinted that it could bring it back in the future. In the Q3 Fy23 Quarterly Results, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that the company has “plans to reimagine a connected Apex mobile experience in the future.”