Respawn Entertainment and EA unveiled the new Apex Legends Battle Pass system for Season 22 on July 8. Respawn is apologizing for how it handled the shift and is making some adjustments in reaction to criticism, given that many of the new Battle Pass modifications have proven to be controversial.
The original Battle Pass revisions meant that there would be two Battle Passes for every season split rather than just one and that neither could be obtained with the in-game premium currency Apex Coins. Players were consequently unable to use Apex Coins from the previous Battle Pass for the upcoming Season. Although no additional information was provided at the time, EA did confirm that players may earn the first half of Season 22’s Premium Battle Pass benefits by finishing a series of tasks during the first two weeks of launch.
By dividing the Battle Passes in half, the total amount spent for the entire season was also doubled, coming to $20 for the Premium and $40 for the Premium+. The community responded negatively to this, and as of the time this article was written, Apex Legends‘ Steam shop page has 76,872 primarily unfavorable reviews.
Respawn apologized for their handling of the prior announcement and changed the structure of Battle Passes in an update that was released today, July 24. The most recent updates allow players to once again purchase the Premium Battle Pass for 950 Apex Coins. The number of Battle Passes per season is still two.
Ultimate and Ultimate+ are the two new Battle Pass tiers that have been added. Almost identical to the Premium, Ultimate costs USD 9.99 and cannot be bought using Apex Coins. Along with eight Apex Packs and 1,200 Crafting Materials instantly unlocked, players receive all of the Premium goodies.
As the highest tier of the Battle Pass, Ultimate+ comes with twice as many Exotic Shards as Ultimate and Premium, two Legendary skin variants only available to Ultimate members, eight Apex Packs, 1,200 Crafting Materials, ten Battle Pass Level unlocks, and the ability to unlock every Legend in the game. In addition to costing $19.99, Apex Coins are not accepted for purchase.
Respawn added that all players would be able to obtain the Premium Battle Pass for Season 22 by finishing a sequence of easy in-game tasks during the first split.
Battling Over Battle Pass
It was kind of important to find something that seemed like it was better tuned again in a way that was more playable for most of our gamers. We returned to a season split arrangement for our rated season, exactly like we did for season 20. It was only logical for us to proceed in that manner with the Battle Pass as well. It is intended that you can still unlock the same amount of awesome content and other items, but you will have 45 days to do so. Additionally, the Battle Pass offers a greater and faster pace and cadence of interaction over 45 days as opposed to 90. That was the initial step. As previously said, the data revealed that a significant proportion of users were not completing the Battle Pass’s whole content during that period.
With 45 days to go, it is hoped that more people will make use of the complete Battle Pass. The second point I made was that, after gamers had accessed the content, they were, for the most part, not interacting with it. Because of this, we did not see players donning that item. As a result, gamers were unlocking a lot of items from the 90-day Battle Pass without truly appreciating their worth. In their usage data, they were, at least, informing us that they were not receiving any of it. One of the things we attempted to do was to rearrange the Battle Pass so that it would highlight the material—or content kinds—that players were equipped with as opposed to those that they weren’t.
Regarding that objective, another point to consider is that we believe the elements that gave players options were providing them with enjoyment. For this reason, there has been a shift in emphasis toward currencies and other items that provide users discretion over where and how much they spend their money. Instead, there are 110 levels to unlock compared to customized content.
