Respawn Entertainment’s decision to change the Battle Pass system, and especially its pricing, has not garnered the kind of response the developers may have been hoping for. While the announcement largely focuses on the rewards, the decision for the price changes and its explanation paints a strange picture of the overall situation.
Let’s talk about the changes first: Apex Legends battle pass used to cost 950 Apex Coins, a virtual currency. Now, players can only purchase the battle pass using real-world money, by spending at least $10. Spending that amount will only unlock the first half of the season.
Players used to receive 1,300 Apex Coins for completing the Premium Battle Pass after purchasing it for 950 AC. Respawn has increased the Crafting Material rewards from 1,200 to 2,400 per battle pass in a season.
The situation for Apex Coins is different. For players to actually earn twice the amount of Apex Coins rewards than before, they would have to buy the second half of the battle pass as well, which will cost another $10. While you can earn a lot more Apex Coins in a season than before, the value has not decreased.
Fans are particularly not happy with how the battle pass has been priced, as Respawn and EA took away the option to purchase it with Apex Coins. This was a currency where it was possible to earn the battle pass for free via the free battle pass route available in each Apex Legends season. With each battle pass offering 200 Apex Coins upon completion of required levels, it was possible for players to organically earn 1,000 Apex Coins and unlock the next season’s battle pass using 950 Apex Coins.
Wait, we cant use the Apex coins from last season to buy the new seasonpass?
— DANNYonPC (@DANNYonPC) July 8, 2024
That's awful.
There is also a concern among fans that asking players to pay $40 each season for Premium+ Battle Pass is expensive, and its rewards do not justify the costs attached to the offering.
Moreover, the old premium battle pass offered 1,300 AC upon completion of the battle pass. So, if a player completed all required levels, they could continue to get the premium battle pass for every season without having to purchase any AC. With the new system, players would have to spend at least $10, removing the incentive for many to complete the battle pass so as to not pay for the next one.
This is what I have done twice in Apex Legends as well, having saved up AC to get the battle pass, only then to end up not completing it but it does not sting when you’ve not spent actual money on a battle pass.
It is also interesting that Respawn and EA have made this decision at a time when the player count for Apex Legends has been dwindling. Apex Legends recently recorded its lowest active player count in 24 hours since December 2021. It remains to be seen if the player count will see a further decline or a much-needed bounce back from Respawn’s perspective.
Some players have also pointed out that the game has long been suffering from crashing servers and cheaters. It has also annoyed fans that instead of aggressively working on ways to fix those issues, Respawn and EA have spent time reworking the battle pass structure instead.
