Respawn and EA announced some massive changes to its Apex Legends Battle Pass system, and players are not thrilled with the overhaul.
The Battle Pass restructuring, announced on July 8, changed the system in three major ways: Players can no longer buy the pass with Apex Coins (the in-game currency), the pass is now attached to splits (not seasons), and a new Premium Battle Pass tier was introduced.
The Apex community has quickly criticized these changes for adding even more transactions to the game, despite the announcement framing the overhaul as good for players as it rewards them with more content overall.
Based on social media outcry, the shift away from allowing players to purchase the premium pass using Apex Coins has irked players the most.
Starting with Season 22, we’re evolving the Apex Legends Battle Pass to improve your experience and progression goals.Read on to learn everything to know about the upcoming changes or check out the infographic below to learn more. 📃: https://t.co/kg5NhlFfVq pic.twitter.com/i516ktP9ma
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) July 8, 2024
“Wait, we can’t use the Apex coins from last season to buy the new season pass? That’s awful,” one player said on X.
In previous seasons, players could buy the premium battle pass and save up the Apex Coins earned from completing it to put toward the next season’s pass.
This allowed players to buy the Battle Pass once and get the next few for free so long as they played the game enough to earn more Apex Coins.
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“Respawn realized they were losing money because people were just saving the coins from the previous battle passes to buy the next ones so they decided to not fix any of the large issues with the game and make a new version of the battle pass instead,” Apex Legends content creator SoaR Lumi said.
Others pointed out how, by attaching the pass to splits instead of a full season, EA and Respawn are charging players effectively double compared to the old system. If a player wants to purchase the highest premium tier for the entirety of Season 22, they will have to fork over $20 for the first split and $20 for the second.
“$40 a season for the battle pass and you can’t even purchase with apex coins anymore. EA has made some money-hungry decisions in the past but this might be the worst one yet,” Apex pro Hambino said on social media.
These changes come just as Apex is experiencing a massive dip in active players as Season 21 draws on. Many are pointing to the lack of quality-of-life improvements as the reason people are abandoning the title.
Whether these changes will impact the game’s player numbers come Season 22 remains to be seen. The developers are letting players try out the new system for free at the start of the new season, so sentiment could change once the new content rolls around.
