Image: Electronic Arts
Apex Legends is making radical changes to its Battle Pass, and everyone hates it.
Developer Respawn Entertainment has announced massive changes coming to Apex Legends’ seasonal Battle Passes. The developer claims that these changes will, “improve your experience and progression goals,” by giving players two Battle Passes per season instead of one, but continuing to charge them full price for both.
While the new system somewhat benefits free-to-play players, those who choose to buy each season’s Battle Pass will now have to pay twice as much for it.
Apex Legends’ Battle Pass gets more expensive, players protest changes
Respawn Entertainment is implementing some rather controversial changes to Apex Legends from Season 22 onwards. Instead of the usual seasonal Battle Pass, the developer will now split each season in half, and give each half its own mini-Battle Pass. Each split Battle Pass will consist of 60 tiers of rewards compared to the usual 110 and cost roughly the same as the old Battle Passes would have despite carrying less content.
Players used to be able to purchase Battle Passes for 950 Apex Coins each, with 1000-coin bundles on the store costing $9.99. Starting from Season 22 however, Respawn is ditching the Apex Coins to make players fork up real money for its Battle Passes. A half-season Battle Pass will now cost $9.99, with an extra Premium+ purchase available for $19.99. The Premium+ Battle Pass will give players 10 tier skips, two Legendary skins, and full access to the playable roster for the duration of the half-season.
The removal of Apex Coins also means that players can no longer earn enough currency in one Battle Pass to pay for the next one. They will now be forced to pay twice per season if they want to enjoy the additional cosmetics and perks locked away in the paid Battle Passes. If you simply want to stick to the free Battle Pass tier, however, you will technically get double the rewards simply because there are two Battle Passes now. For the duration of a season, you could pick up 14 Apex Packs, two Epic character skins, and more cosmetics spread across both Battle Passes.
Respawn claims that it has, “improved the value,” and, “reduced the time needed to unlock high-end items,” with this new Battle Pass system. Granted, the Battle Passes now grant much more rewards for the duration of a season, with twice as many Crafting Materials in a half-season compared to the entirety of Season 21. You are getting more rewards, so long as you’re willing to pay at least $20 every three months to keep up.
Naturally, the Apex Legends player base has not responded kindly to this move. Respawn’s official announcement on Twitter/X currently has 6.9K replies, with the overwhelming majority of them protesting these changes. On the game’s Subreddit, players are practically in revolt, claiming that they have uninstalled the game or simply won’t purchase a Battle Pass ever again. The game is sitting at ‘Mixed’ reception on Steam as well, as players lambast it with negative reviews.
These changes are set to come into effect when Apex Legends Season 22 launches sometime in August.