EA's Apex Legends Battle Pass changes for Season 22 earn backlash from fans. Read on to learn more about their announcement and its players' reactions.
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$20 For Apex Legends Battle Pass?!
Apex Legends Gets Two Battle Passes For Season 22
Can Only Be Bought Using Real Money
EA recently announced that on Apex Legends’ Season 22, there will now be two $10 Battle Passes per season, where they will each be available for each split. With this change, EA will split the season into two different battle passes for the same price, with fewer levels in total as well. More importantly, players will not be able to use Apex Coins, the game’s in-game premium currency, to buy them anymore. In the previous season, the battle pass could be purchased for 950 Apex Coins and ran for a full season with 110 levels in total.
Each battle pass rewards players with Apex Coins that they can use to buy future Battle Passes as these cost around $10 each season. They claim that this offers greater value to the players as they will have access to the battle passes’ premium items earlier. Additionally, EA introduces a new tier called "Premium+" which offers a 10 level skip and two exclusive Legendary Character Skin Variants.
In short, EA decided to have shorter Battle Passes with one for each split in a season, changed up the rewards contained in each pass so that premium passes can only be bought using real money, and lastly, added an increased tier that costs $20 called Premium+. EA also followed their article, saying, "We’ve seen the numbers, and things need to be more approachable and realistic for our global player community. Each of these updated aspects allows us to make the Battle Pass more attainable and valuable for your time and money."
Fan Backlash
To no one’s surprise, fans are outraged about the whole announcement. User @Nokokopuffs called it "the most EA s*** I’ve ever seen," and another user @mokeysniper also pointed out how the whole change is preying on longtime fans that can potentially double their earnings and that it’s all about making the battle pass unobtainable for players that they don’t care about. Moreover, many are calling to either quit the game or to actually focus on fixing the many issues that are plaguing the game instead of trying to milk the game to its last dime.
While EA did say that this announcement is still up for change in their footnote based on community feedback, it sets a very scary precedent for the game’s future and live-service games in general as more and more games have been looking to add a different way to profit from battle passes from price hikes, additional passes, and more.
Source(s):
Apex Legends players criticise plans to shake-up how Battle Passes works
Respawn doubles Apex Legends' battle pass price in systemic overhaul
Twitter - Apex Legends
