Two weeks ago, Respawn announced changes to the Apex Legends battle pass that really, really upset players – and understandably so. Since Apex released, it was always the case that the battle pass could be purchased with the in-game premium currency, Apex Coins.
Buying Apex Coins was of course the fastest way to get the battle pass, but if you didn’t mind grinding for a few seasons, you could earn the amount necessary to pay for the battle pass without paying at all. And even if you did buy the coins to fast-track that grinding, so long as you got to the end of that battle pass, you’d earn enough Apex Coins to purchase the next one, without needing to drop another $10.
But two weeks ago, among other changes, Respawn said no more – you’d have to purchase the battle pass with real money, and to boot the battle pass went from being one per-season with 110 levels, to two per-season, each at 60 levels. What followed was an onslaught of backlash from the community and thousands upon thousands of negative reviews on Steam.
Today, Respawn has backtracked on that significant change, and announced that players will still be able to purchase the battle pass with Apex Coins.
In a statement published on Twitter, Respawn took responsibility for handling the change how it did, and said this change came about by listening to the community.
“You’ve spoken, and we’ve listened. 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,” the statement began.
For the first split of Season 22, players will be able to earn the premium battle pass through gameplay, while the battle pass for the second split will be purchasable with Apex Coins.
Playing through the current battle pass to completion will still earn you the Apex Coins needed to purchase the next one, but there will still be two premium battle passes to purchase per season.
“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. As a next step, there are a number of improvements and game stability bug fixes coming in Season 22 that will be outlined in the patch notes dropping on August 5.
Thank you again for all your passion and time in Apex Legends because we couldn’t do this without you.”
Respawn also posted a new breakdown of the different battle pass levels, which you can see below.
It’s good to see that Respawn listened to the community this time, and that Respawn acknowledged it could’ve gone about making changes to the battle pass in a better way.
But what’s arguably most significant is its admittance that it needs to improve on how it communicates with the community. Game studios and publishers not speaking to their communities on a consistent basis makes times like what Respawn just experienced blow up far more than they might’ve.
Hopefully Respawn’s promise to be more communicative and transparent is one they immediately begin to make good on as Season 22 kicks off.
Source – [Respawn]