Apex Legends Demands More Cash in New, Dodgy Battle Pass Strategy | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

Instead of just one premium Battle Pass, how would you feel about paying for two… per season? Oh, and you can't use the currency accused from the previous Battle Pass to buy it. That's the new strategy Apex Legends is taking from the beginning of Season 22, which has drawn heavy criticism from the Battle Royale's community. According to Respawn Entertainment, the change will «improve your experience and progression goals».

Essentially, once the update comes into effect, seasons will be split into two with a Battle Pass to accommodate each half, split into three tiers: free, premium, and premium+. You could unlock the first Battle Pass on the premium path if you play during the first two weeks of a season and finish a set of challenges, but you'll always need to buy the second one if you want the rewards available — all Battle Passes are priced at $9.99. If you don't play in the first 14 days and want those premium rewards, you'll now need to fork out $20 per season to cover both Battle Passes. Double that cost if you want the Battle Passes on the premium+ paths.

This is likely to sound confusing, so observe the graph below for a better idea of what's happening:

Such a drastic change was never going to go down well with the game's community, but what makes the matter even worse is you can no longer use any of the Apex Coins (the premium currency) you have to buy the Battle Passes anymore; you must use real-world money through a charge via the PS Store.

This is a move away from how other live-service titles operate Battle Passes, where the incentive was if you completed every tier, you'd have more than enough premium currency to buy the next season's Battle Pass, essentially making it free. Respawn Entertainment states the decision to make this change was «not one that we made lightly, but it does allow us to decrease the price of Premium+ for our community».

The new Battle Passes will offer double the amount of crafting materials, more Apex Packs, and new