At long last, EA and Respawn Entertainment have officially announced a mobile version of Apex Legends. As you might expect, Apex Legends Mobile is a battle royale game designed specifically for touchscreens. There will be streamlined controls and, according to Apex game director Chad Grenier, "thoughtful optimizations that result in the most advanced battle royale combat available on a phone."

Like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile and other games in those franchises, this is entirely separate from Apex Legends. So, don't expect to play with people on consoles or PC.

The first regional beta tests take place later this month on Android in India and the Philippines with a few thousand players. Respawn will test Apex Legends Mobile in other regions before a broader rollout on Android and iOS.

Like the original game, Apex Legends Mobile will be free-to-play with microtransactions and battle passes for cosmetic items, some of which you won't find in the PC and console versions. The Apex Legends Mobile team is collaborating with the Apex Legends crew and other partners as it develops the game.

A mobile version of Apex Legends has been in the works for some time. EA confirmed it was working on the game in early 2020, partly with a view toward cracking the Chinese mobile market. Still, it shouldn't be too long until you can get a fix of Apex Legends just about anywhere (at least without tethering a Nintendo Switch to your phone's data connection).

Meanwhile, Respawn has offered the first look at what it calls one of the biggest updates yet for Apex Legends. A new trailer gives a peek at what appears to be the next character to join the roster, Valkyrie, who could be arriving alongside season nine on May 4th.