Apex Legends is "evolving" its Battle Pass by splitting it in two and charging players twice
To make it "more attainable and valuable for your time and money".
Apex Legends' upcoming Season 22 will make significant changes to the free-to-play shooter's Battle Pass "experience", developer Respawn Entertainment has announced, by releasing two Battle Passes per season instead of one, and then charging full price for each.
As of Season 22, Apex Legends is ditching its current season-long Battle Pass in favour of two half-season Battle Passes - one launching at the start of a season and another at its mid-point "split" - each featuring 60 levels of rewards, compared to the previous version's 110.
Despite the truncated number of progression levels, each new half-season premium Battle Pass costs approximately the same as the older season-long version. Previously, a premium Battle Pass cost 950 Apex Coins (a 1000-coin bundle is priced at $9.99 USD), and Respawn's new half-season Battle Passes are $9.99 each. A new Premium+ tier (replacing the existing Premium Bundle) is $19.99 every half-season, and a free tier remains available.
Notably, Respawn's overhauled Battle Pass will no longer be purchasable using Apex Coins (previously, coins earned in one Battle Pass could be spent on the next) and is only available in exchange for real money. "The decision to move from [premium currency] is not one that we made lightly," the studio writes in its announcement post, "but it does allow us to decrease the price of Premium+ for our community."
It also insists the Battle Pass changes are required to make the system "more approachable and realistic for our global player community", and that the "updated aspects... make the Battle Pass more attainable and valuable for your time and money".
Respawn's "value" argument more specifically relates to the reward "refresh" it's making across all three tiers of its Battle Passes. These adjustments have seen the removal of lesser-used rewards, twice as many Crafting Materials now being awarded across a season, three more Legendary/Epic Apex Packs per Battle Pass, plus additional rewards for the Premium+ tier as per the infographic below. Respawn claims these changes amount to "double the Battle Pass rewards across the entire season".
Unsurprisingly, the community response to Respawn's Battle Pass changes has been far from positive, with comments over on the Apex Legends' subreddit calling the move everything from an "abysmal decision" and "a truly embarrassing money grab" to "the worst fucking shit I've ever seen". The announcement on Twitter/X has over 2.9K replies at the time of writing, and the general sentiment is overwhelmingly negative.
Will the community outcry be enough to convince Respawn and publisher EA to reverse the decision? Time will tell, but for now, Respawn is hoping to reel players into the new system by giving away Apex Legends' first half-season Battle Pass for free when it launches alongside Season 22 later this year - but it'll only be free for those players who log in and complete a set of challenges within the first two weeks of its release.
Apex Legends' 21st season, Upheaval, started in May and is due to conclude in August.