If your PC can't handle the regular Apex Legends release but you're eager to get in on the action, learning how to play Apex Legends Mobile on PC might be your next best bet. Despite the mobile moniker, it's perfectly legal to play EA's latest mobile offering on a traditional desktop device.
Before we get into things here, it's worth mentioning that playing Apex Legends Mobile on PC means running an emulator. Unlike your average videogame emulator, though, this isn't some fan-made workaround - it's provided by the Tencent, who had a hand in developing the game. It's not as simple as firing up Steam, but it isn't far off. If you don't want to ticker around a little, move on.
For more game guides for launch, check out our Apex Legends Mobile weapon tier list. After that, our guide on how to get 60fps in Apex Legends Mobile will work whether you're playing on your phone or your PC. It's an important thing to aim for if you're hoping to stay competitive.
How to Play Apex Legends Mobile on PC
Playing Apex Legends Mobile on your PC, laptop, or even your Mac is a relatively simple affair. It requires running an Android emulator, but with one being made by the publisher behind one of the game's developers, it's a perfectly safe, legal, and legit way to running the mobile game on something a little bigger than your phone.
To get started, you need to download GameLoop. This is the Tencent-developed Android emulator many use to play other Tencent-handed games like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile.
Once that's downloaded and installed, you should be able to find Apex Legends Mobile on the general start screen as an add. Go ahead and download it from there; otherwise, open up Google Play Games via the emulator and download it like you would on a phone.
Once it's downloaded, just fire up the game as you normally would. Because it's designed to make mobile games accessible on a PC, GameLoop should automatically map the most essential touch-based controls to your mouse and keyboard.
These usually take the form of hotkeys overlayed on the screen, meaning each key you press will mimic a tap on the specified area of the screen. If you use the in-game settings to move these onscreen buttons around, you'll have to tweak the emulator's settings to match these new positions. That's just something to be aware of.
Likewise, Apex Legends Mobile has automatic gamepad detection as well. So if you want to play with a controller, GameLoop should manage this on its own as well. Or, rather, the game will.
What Is the Best Apex Mobile Emulator?
From a purely legal standpoint, we have to side with GameLoop as the best Apex Mobile emulator out there. It's developed and managed by Tencent: the publisher that owns Timi, the main Apex Mobile development team. Because of that, it's expected that GameLoop not only access to properly optimize Apex Mobile for its emulation software, but that it's completely legal as per the game's terms of service as well.
You're free to use other emulators like BlueStacks and Nox Player, but they're not officially supported by the game, could risk being flagged as hacking software by the game, and may not perform as well as Tencent's own emulator for its own game.
Do PC Players Matchmake With Apex Mobile Players?
Emulators are flagged on games like PUBG Mobile, keeping things fair by only putting you in a group pool with other mouse/keyboard users, and the same appears to be true for Apex Mobile as well.
Apex Mobile is a completely standalone product next to the original Apex Legends. Even if you're playing on a Nintendo Switch, you won't matchmake with mobile players.
When it comes to playing Apex Mobile on a PC, the same is true - you'll only be able to play with other Apex Mobile players.
Keyboard and mouse support on a PC emulator should mean that you're only matched with other PC players, but we don't yet know if that'll be the case.
And it's as simple as that. For more mobile battle royale goodness, check out how to download PUBG Mobile 2.0. We've stuffed that one full of the update's best features. It's a little old now, but it's still worth checking out.
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