Recently, Respawn announced a horrendous change to Apex Legends Battle Pass systems, but they’re now making a U-Turn on that terrible decision that partially sets things right.
Apex Legends is free to play, but it’s also heavily monetized. There are Apex skins, there’s the heirlooms, tons of ways for players to pour money into the game. One of the biggest is the Apex Legends Battle Pass.
Most free-to-play games offer these, for a set fee you get a set of items and skins. They’re usually better value than the item shop, but recently Respawn announced a change.
They were planning a change that effectively doubled the amount of Battle Passes per season. With it making players pay a much higher price. Along with removing the option for paying for it with currency for the last pass, making them considerably more expensive.
The Apex Legends Battle Pass changes were heavily controversial. Maybe the most anger-inducing Apex Legends news in its lifespan. Which is why Respawn has just announced a massive change to how they work. They’ll be going back to normal starting with Season 22, or something a bit closer to normal.
Season 22 of Apex Legends will kick off a fresh Battle Pass set in-game. It’s also when Respawn is making some key changes, or reversals to changes, to the Apex Legends Battle Pass.
Starting with the new pass, players can once again purchase it for 950 Apex Coins. This allows you to roll one pass into another. They had tried to force a real-world purchase with every Battle Pass, a much less accessible system.
Alongside restoring the ability to purchase it for in-game currency, they’re making a few other changes. The goal is to make the pass better value for players in Respawn’s words. But Really it’s reversing some horrible changes they’ve made only recently.
- Challenges to Unlock the Pass – You’ll be able to complete challenges in-game to unlock the pass
- Split 2 Pass – The second pass will be the one that institutes the change to restore in-game currency purchases
The next change is that they’re having “better rewards”. Or at least that’s how Apex is explaining it. The pass should once again offer higher-quality items. It’s also being made only 60 levels.
This will allow players to get through it a bit quicker, less grinding through BR or Rumble, and more rewards.
The big statement for the Apex Legends Battle Pass included an apology and a promise to do better. It’s definitely an improvement, even if it’s just reversing an obviously horrible change.
Along with a general reversal of the Apex Legends Battle Pass changes, Respawn has provided a graphic of how things will break down. Is it restoring a bit more value to the Pass?
They’ve provided information on how much of each item is going to be included in Apex Legends Battle Passes going forward.
Free Pass Rewards
- 18 Items total
- 200 Apex Coins
- 7 Apex Packs
Premium Tier Rewards
- 92 items total
- 1,300 Apex Coins
- 1,200 Crafting Materials
- 14 Apex Packs
- 10 Exotic Shards
Ultimate Tier Rewards
- 92 Total Items
- 1,300 Apex Coins
- 1,200 Crafting Materials
- 14 Apex Packs
- 10 Exotic Shards
- Instant Rewards 8 Packs 1,200 Crafting Materials
Ultimate + Tier Rewards
- 95 Total Items
- 1,300 Apex Coins
- 1,200 Crafting Materials
- 14 Apex Packs
- 20 Exotic Shards
- 2 Legendary Skin Variants
- Instant Rewards – 8 Apex Packs, 1,200 Crafting Rewards, All Legends Playable
As you can see, there are still quite a lot of different tiers. Respawn has improved the value of the pass compared to previous changes. However, they’re still making a big difference between free and premium tier players. There are now a few definitions of premium in Apex though.
Some rewards are odd too. Anyone paying for the highest level probably already has access to the best Legends, but it’s always nice to get something extra. Especially now the cast of the game is so big.
Is It Enough?
The changes are an improvement. But given how bad the last change was, it’s not saying too much that this is better. However, it is much better value.
The major problem with this update is frankly how complicated everything has been made. It’s definitely an annoying system for new players to try and get on board with and probably discourages making that leap from trying out Apex to a dedicated player.
As more live service games compete for your subscriptions, some are going to get creative with these Battle Passes. While it’s not a perfect system, the Apex Legends Battle Pass is a lot better than it was. Hopefully, Respawn can follow up with their promise of better communications going forward.
Ashley is a dedicated Fortnite player, in hour 3,000 of trying to finish above 90th.
