Earlier this month, Apex Legends announced it would overhaul its battle pass system, resulting in a price hike for players and them no longer being able to use in-game currency to earn the pass for free. After a weeks-long backlash resulting in over 70,000 negative reviews on Steam, Respawn Entertainment says it won’t move ahead with getting rid of the option to buy battle passes with Apex Coins after all.
“You’ve spoken, and we’ve listened,” a statement on Twitter read. “With the release of Season 22 we will restore the ability to get the Premium Battle Pass for 950 Apex Coins. We recognize that we could have handled the Battle Pass changes better—that’s on us.” While the studio will still be splitting battle passes from one 100 rank one per season for $US10 to two 60 rank ones for $US10 each, the partial reversal has addressed the part players were most frustrated with.
When the first split of the next season arrives on August 6, players will be able to unlock the first premium battle pass for free by completing a simple set of in-game challenges. September 17 is when the new system will really kick-off, though Respawn stresses that the higher prices are coming alongside “better rewards” and “re-tuned battle pass challenges.”
The Apex Legends community started melting down after the original changes were first announced, with players flaming the game’s social media accounts and leaving thousands of negative reviews on Steam. But they also shared frustrations over the broader state of the game, its matchmaking health, and its server performance, with the price hike coming at precisely the time when some long-time fans were already feeling burnt.
“Moving forward, we recognize that we need to be more timely, transparent, and consistent in our communications with you,” the statement continued. “Your priorities are our priorities: cheaters, game stability, and quality of life updates are top of mind. We need to get better and it’s why we’re acknowledging them here.” It remains to be seen if that first-step is enough to start winning back over some of Apex Legends’ more disillusioned fans.
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