If April was a big month for Android gaming, May somehow managed to darken it. Not only did Apex Legends Mobile finally release, but Fortnite is now back on mobile. After a long legal battle with Apple, Epic managed to get Fortnite back on iOS and Android officially using Microsoft’s Cloud gaming platform. If you missed some of the big news this month, here’s exactly what you want to know.
Apex Legends Mobile is launched worldwide
Apex Legends Mobile made its worldwide debut after several regional beta versions and a soft launch earlier this year. It will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming months and whether it can maintain its player base, but season 1 looks promising. Respawn has already stated that Apex Legends Mobile is a separate device from Apex Legends on console and PC, so it will have its own roadmap with different seasons of content and an independent update cadence.
I spent a while playing it for my review and had a lot more fun than I expected. There will definitely be growing pains as Respawn optimizes controller support and people get used to the touch controls and gameplay flow on mobile devices, but that makes the franchise much more accessible to new players.
Respawn has even designed a Legend exclusively for mobile. Fade is about movement to try to speed up the gameplay. His passive talent, called Surge, gives players a quick boost of speed after performing a knee slip. His tactical, Flash Back, transports him back 60 yards to his former location.
All in all, Apex Legends Mobile has got off to a solid start.
Warcraft Arclight Rumble announced
Blizzard’s mobile venture continues with Warcraft Arclight Rumble, a PvE fundraising strategy game featuring a single player campaign, quests, dungeons and raids. Players are supposed to collect a series of minifigures, which can then be used in matches. These battles take place primarily in handmade lanes, where troops are sent to march down one or more lanes to defeat a boss eventually.
We were able to go hands-on for an early preview and found that even though it has the basics down, it definitely needs some extra polishing before it is ready for launch. The team at Blizzard is also still discussing which game modes should co-op or not.
“We’re still figuring out the details of what modes the co-op will be in. One of the things that made WoW Classic so great was playing dungeons with more people, playing Raids with more people,” Adam said Balls, associate game director at Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re testing it out, we want to see how our audience responds to finding the right thread for it.”
Do I want to try the game myself? Probably not. It’s not my kind of game, but I’m glad more people will be able to experience the Warcraft universe in a new form.
Fortnite available on any screen through the cloud
Fortnite has had a tough life on mobile devices. It was not officially available in either the Google Play Store or the App Store for the longest time – it was notoriously pulled from iOS, resulting in a pretty big lawsuit between Epic and Apple and for similar reasons in the Play Store – but it could be the side load on Android. Thanks to the power of Xbox Cloud Gaming, virtually any device can now run it.
Microsoft partnered with Epic to bring Fortnite to its Xbox Cloud Gaming service so almost anyone with a phone and an Xbox account can stream the popular Battle Royale. Even better is that streaming means it can be played with the highest possible settings, provided your internet connection is stable and up to snuff. Best of all, it’s free; you do not need an Xbox Game Pass subscription to play it!
GeForce Now even joined the Fortnite action, bringing what’s just a PS5-level graphics upgrade to mobile devices. Its touch controls are also not crooked anymore, so that’s nice.
EA brings Lord of the Rings to mobile
The Lord of the Rings receives treatment for mobile games. EA announced that they are making a free collector’s RPG titled The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth. Although the company has not provided a wealth of details, we know it will feature “immersive storytelling, turn-based battles, deep collection systems and a wide list of characters” from the beloved universe, according to a press release.
I absolutely love more games based on Lord of the Rings, but they need to be done right. Monolith’s Middle-earth series was amazing with its Nemesis system, and it makes me wonder what EA can bring to the mobile. There’s also The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is due out later this year, but I do not know how I feel about it.
Catalyst Black hits Android
Developer Super Evil Megacorp released its battlefield shooter Catalyst Black on May 25th. This comes almost a decade after the studio released Vainglory, one of the very first MOBAs to hit mobile devices. While Catalyst Black is not a MOBA in itself, it takes lessons from Vainglory to create an even better experience where each player has a chance to become the hero.
It joins the growing array of Android games being released this month, and given that the team has made a great effort to listen to player feedback during early access, it should have a long life ahead of it.
Genshin Impact Update 2.7 is finally released
Genshin Impact Update 2.7 was mysteriously delayed due to unknown reasons, which broke a long-lasting consistent update cadence, but HoYoverse revealed that it is finally ready for gamers to enjoy. Update 2.7 hit all platforms on May 31st, and the developer even stated that update 2.8 would follow shortly after July 13th.
While Update 2.7 adds Yelan and Kuki Shinobu as playable characters, HoYoverse also teased what players can expect in the coming months by announcing Shikanoin Heizou, a “young detective from the Tenryou Commission,” described as “liberal and unruly, but cheerful and lively.”
Let’s see what’s being announced this summer
It’s still unknown what the summer will offer for announcements about Android games, but players should probably expect some big news in the coming months. Although EA was upset with The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, I would not be surprised if we hear about it sooner rather than later. But again, my predictions are often wrong. So who knows 🤷.
Until next time 👋
– Jennifer Locke