Apex Legends Battle Pass is “evolving” to be less player friendly

Only purchasable with real currency and two times per season

EA

Respawn Entertainment and EA shared some controversial changes to the Apex Legends Battle Pass: Instead of one Battle Pass per season which can be purchased with the in-game currency earned through the previous Battle Pass, there will be two Battle Passes per season which can only be acquired with real currency and cost $9.99 USD per split for the standard version – it’s double that price for “Premium+”.

“We’ve seen the numbers, and things need to be more approachable and realistic for our global player community,” the official announcement post said. “Each of these updated aspects allows us to make the Battle Pass more attainable and valuable for your time and money. The reward should always be worth the time you choose to spend in the Outlands, and now it is.”

Making the Battle Pass “more attainable and valuable for your time and money” is kind of a rich thing to say when you just transformed what was essentially a one-time purchase into what’s for all intents and purposes a subscription service.

Players are, quite naturally, furious. People are calling the move “shameless money grubbing”, a “rip-off”, and “next-level greed” – among other, more colorful things.

EA stated that the “decision to move from AC to real world currency is not one that we made lightly, but it does allow us to decrease the price of Premium+ for our community. The new Premium+ Battle Pass comes in at $19.99 USD and offers additional value; a cost difference of ~29% when compared to the discontinued Premium Battle Pass Bundle at 2800 AC.”

The publisher is justifying the decision by citing how much more content players will be able to unlock while investing less time – the new Battle Passes will have 60 levels each instead of the 110 of the current iteration. If you’re eagle-eyed, you may be able to spot that 60 times two is not less than 110 – it is, in fact, a little more than that. So you’re actually not only expected to pull out your wallet two times per season, you’ll also need to grind at least as much as previously, if not more. After all, modern gaming doesn’t only run on revenue, but “engagement” as well.

If it sounds like this deal is getting worse all the time, then that’s because it is. 

The community reaction against these proposed changes has been very unified so far and keeping it that way may be the only chance at getting Respawn and EA to reconsider.