Not gonna lie this is the dumbest * apex has done the battle pass was fine we didn't need two battlepasses for a season one a season was enough and you could grind it out to get the battle pass for free now you have to spend money for the battle pass and it's dumb your old system worked because I didnt have to fork out actual cash but now i do like why do this dumb *

Not going to lie, this change makes me not want to play S22.I don't care how cool the new map is, or how they rework legends, or any of that if they're going to change the core battle pass we've all known for 21 seasons to this non-sense. (Well, 20 seasons since S1 was a bit different). This is clearly a cash grab and it was already annoying when they kept releasing recolors after recolors and were throwing milestone events at us, but this new battle pass system? Really? You also cannot use existing coins, (or future coins), to buy the battle pass, meaning you MUST buy it outright twice per season if you want the battle pass.I suppose I could always just play the game completely for free and ignore the battle pass. However for me, having a battle pass to finish has been one of the reasons why I kept playing besides ranked.Now I might as well uninstall the game and never look back because I won't be buying the battle pass. Not to mention that if you don't own the battle pass, the pop-up window won't stop spamming you until you buy it. One of my friends was getting reminded to buy the battle pass after every single match, while another one was getting reminded each time they leveled up the battle pass. This pop-up notification will drive me crazy. Its already annoying being frequently reminded I still have heirloom shards I could use and the event page popping up every 5th or so match, so an additional pop-up window would be the last straw.This isn't the first time they've done something like this either. Back in the first year or so of Apex, they gave away the battle pass for free to any player who had the EA Play Pro subscription, then after a few seasons, they no longer included it in the subscription which was sometime in 2020, as that's when I had a subscription for a year. They gave no word or warning that they were going to make this change either until AFTER the new season was released.I decided to rebuy the battle pass and move on. Not this time. I'm not paying near twice as much for one pass and then pay again just to have both passes. EA made it perfectly clear that they want money and the players have also made it perfectly clear that this is NOT the way to do it. With the lack of respect, I'm shocked players still buy cosmetics, let alone EA games, just look at the Sims 4. Yeah, the Sims 4 became free two or so years ago, but if you want every DLC, its well over a thousand to own every single one of them.In the end, vote with your wallets and don't buy the battle pass. Afterall, that's what Respawn told us to do after the Peacekeeper heirloom event. The more people buy in, the more they're going to charge us until the game is completely dead. Besides the lack of respect, I'm also surprised that players are still buying cosmetics considering that nothing is really being done about the cheating, smurfing, bots, no audio, awful servers, etc.I don't understand whoever decides on these types of changes because its like they want to speed run games until they die. Like, instead of having a game be healthy for many years, it gets milked for money as quickly as possible and then tossed aside. Its like one of those questions you'd sometimes hear, where its like "would you like a million now, or a hundred thousand a month?" EA is going the "million now" route every single time even though in this example. After a year, they'll have $1,200,000, and Apex been around since 2019, which is about 5 years now. So, it would be $6,000,000, (again, with this example).If I was running a game like this, the battle pass would be free and have cosmetics that are worth grinding for, (closer to the end of the pass, of course). The cosmetic store would be well worth buying and there would be extra optional things players could buy to boost themselves while supporting the game, like maybe more XP or something like that. Overall, make spending money optional for the players so they wouldn't feel pressured and like its worth spending money, rather than making everything cost money. I wouldn't be surprised if they one day charge money to play ranked, or even charge to play any of the modes at all. I'm surprised they haven't done that or thrown in a bunch of ADs yet.If you look at games like Genshin Impact, Star Rail, and now Zenless Zone Zero, you'll see the games are free to play, free to enjoy, and spending money is completely optional. Where they get players is through the gotcha system, where you could spend money to then be able to pull new characters and weapons. But, if you really enjoy the game, you can completely play for free and earn the items for pulls, rather than spending money.I've gotten Venti and Wanderer from grinding when I was actively playing Genshin Impact. It felt so nice and rewarding that I ended up buying the Welkin Moon pack a few times along with the battle pass. I've also had a friend who, (for some reason), spent over $300, (although now that I think about it, it might of had something to do with the wishes having several characters and weapons that they wanted).Also, "MiHoYo made more money than either EA, Activision Blizzard and Embracer. According to recent financial news, MiHoyo - developers of Genshin Impact - made more profit in 2022 than major players like EA, Activision Blizzard and even Embracer Group." (MiHoYo is what HoYoverse is called in China). On top of that, Genshin Impact, Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero are all owned by HoYoverse. That means that if all three games are successful, they're actively getting money from the players that want to spend money. The amount they've made off of Genshin Impact alone is a lot, now imagine how much they're getting from all three games. Just saying, there's better ways to make people be willing to spend money, and in a way that isn't a cash grab.EA seems to like playing "5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel", (its a Steam game), with everyone's wallet but they completely miss the mark pretty much everytime.EA also needs to consider that prices are going up; that housing is getting more expensive, food is costing more, etc. People may be cutting out things like cable and even streaming services that any extra money they do end up having should be spent on things they actually want, rather than another collection event. EA could have $5 items here and there, where more people would buy them if they think it was worth it, (and issues like the cheating was getting resolved). Instead, its $300+ "events".Something I love about Nintendo is that even though they started charging for online play, they understood that people have a budget, and so it costs us $20 for one person a year, or $35 for up to 8 people a year. It would be cool if Xbox and Playstation did that too, but on top of buying the online membership, players are also given access to a large library of games. Basically Xbox/Playstation's version of EA Play and its usually the games that are exclusive to their platform, like how Playstation has Spiderman games, and Xbox has Halo games.Lastly, this is to EA. Its okay to release things that don't instantly make money, (or make any at all). Players, (at least I do), would rather see the effort in games released, said games being updated properly and not with bugs, and having a market that isn't out for money. If Titanfall 3 was released and it has an awesome story mode and the online play was amazing, players more than likely would pay the $60 to own the game and maybe more for cosmetics to enjoy as long as the game is fun to play and not a shakedown. (Yes, I'm calling Apex for what it is, a shakedown).

@bloodrose356789 It is BS sales stuff. I won't be buying any Apex coins until they do something about cheaters, smurfs, server performance, and matchmaking.

I assume you just answered your question already!for me it is very simple and i have been playing this game since season 0 and bought all BPs. But if i cant use coins anymore, i will not buy it anymore. as simple as this!Especially as packs are useless as well bc there are no heirlooms anymoreEA cares all about money and not about the state of the game and it shows heavily now! It shows hard! 10 dollars for each split is just pure madness"Instead of just talking about it, we want players to experience the new Battle Pass format for themselves. All players will be able to earn the first split’s Premium Battle Pass at season launch by logging in and completing a set of challenges within the first two weeks. This first one is on us." whatever this means! lure them in and make'm pay anyway!they should have revamped the rewards with leaving the acquisition method untouched THAT would have been something and maybe also something to attract OGs back to the game but this? driving even more away

EA is changing the battle pass to be only purchasable in the PlayStation store and not purchaseable by apex coins. Why? Why did they do this? We’re too many people getting multiple battle passes by just buying one? Do you just want to milk us for money more?

@bloodrose356789This is a wake up call. The question each player has to answer for themselves is: a wake up call to what? Stop spending money on a free to play game? Stop supporting a developer who, with a dwindling population, has to find ways to maintain revenue? Stop mistaking battle pass for things that matter like anti-cheat, anti-smurf, and functioning matchmaking? You tell me.

Why change the battle pass | EA Forums

54 Replies

KlariskraysNHL
Hero+
1 year ago
I'm super disappointed with the changes they are making. I'm not blaming the developers of the game at all. This is definitely coming from higher up wanting to greed their playerbase more, but it's just gonna kill the playerbase down even more. I actually would spend the $10 each season and buy it instead of spending the AC I would get back, but this now having to spend $20 per a season isn't going to fly with me. Maybe if they remove the new currency and replace those with heirloom shards it would be more tempting.
But overall I'm boycotting the season because this isn't very community friendly even if they try to spin it as that.
Airish85
1 year ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U1xL0UZnHY
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uFpfsI3Msv4
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AA5EjXZyAHU

Guys, its the new normal.
RockDokRock
Seasoned Ace
1 year ago
The new normal. Certainly feels like it.
Really, all they need to do is change the basic tier battle pass to something you can earn each season (or split) to get the next one; like you have now. They took that out to go for the cash grab.
Why not make skins/cosmetics a reasonable price? They have been massively overpriced for ages and many people won't touch them. Paying for fancy pixels for the price of a new game is unreasonable.
I can only assume this decision was done either because they need to enhance their revenue to make the game feasible (lower cosmetic prices?) or it's just plain greed (that seems to be an EA thing... FIFA points anyone? Where is the value in those?).
Being able to earn a basic battle pass by engaging with the game enough should be a given staple. I think that is what has surprised me the most; the fact they yanked this away from people (and making the coins I ground for on the current BP useless for what I had intended). Also its a slap in the face to those who have *already* purchased coins for cosmetics and maybe have some left over to do the battle pass next season.... they've already got your money so that's what they think of you; you're a walking ATM - pony up. Not great optics.
Just seems really poorly thought out. The explanation on the EA site starts off with "we listened to the community, etc"... yeah, but no. I am pretty sure nobody asked for this. Nobody.
Midnight9746
Hero+
1 year ago
@Airish85 EA has been doing it for years though. Its not a "new normal". Not to mention that FIFA gets a new "game" every year, (which is the same thing as a recolor at this point).

It just boils down to the shareholders not being too happy with any one company, and then those companies scramble in the worst way to make up the money.
reconzero
Seasoned Ace
1 year ago
@Airish85

"I am old enough to remember playing games for the fun of them. Fun was the reward."

Amen, brother. Amen.

"So how would YOU make the money so that there is no discrimination or Pay-to-Win to keep competitive integrity?"

This is the question we should have been asking from the start, and yet at the same time the question as it's phrased rules out the one obvious answer. The obvious answer to me is to look at all the money cheat makers are taking in... and take it back. Make and sell the cheats yourself. Have them be off limits in ranked modes and good to go in pubs. Obviously on the understanding that anything that makes you better at the game will improve your mmr and matchmaking will find you enemies accordingly. So in reality no appreciable benefit, and yet people would line up to shell out any amount for a perceived boost even if the developer made it plain that the actual result would be tougher matches.

I'm sure there are consequences here that I haven't fully thought through, but I keep coming back to the analogy of illegal drugs. Make them legal, tax the living daylights out of them. Everybody wins.
Ka1adeen
1 year ago
If they were making these changes with any level of transparency AND/OR intention to improve the game I'm sure the response wouldn't be this strong.

If they would tell us that they would actually invest X% back into the game. That XYZ would be worked toward and eventually fixed, most players would jump at the opportunity to help the game get better. Why don't they tell us these things? Either because they're "brain dead" OR because they don't intent to actually invest anything reasonable back into the game they just want to pad their wallets and improve shareholder dividends.

I get that people say that buying the BP with coins each season doesn't earn them money but that doesn't take into account that the health of the game depends on those consistent players that stick around for the whales and others to play against. Time = money and putting time back into the game means the player base is healthier and eventually as people feel like the game has earned it they will spend money.

I've been a player since S2 and put thousands of hours and despite paying for most of my BP's with coins, I've also put $350+ into this game. My wife and I are uninstalling until they revert this change. I don't expect things to turn around but I really hope they will. If you treat people like objects to be taken advantage of they'll just leave.
BallisticMVP
1 year ago
Greed
Realthing707
New Adventurer
1 year ago
RIP next season battle pass... ☹️
Aldebera
Seasoned Veteran
1 year ago
As an old school gamer who cut his teeth on an Atari 2600, and Commodore Vic20 and 64, I fell in love with Nintendo of course beginning with the NES. My passion was their branded characters with my favorite being LoZ. Through other platforms later on, I was introduced to The FPS genre, Wolfenstein being my first. Every FPS I played shared the same complaint save for 2 titles. The complainant was that I could not get invested in the gameplay where I could perceive myself as the character on screen. The mechanics did not feel natural at all. But I also discovered I didn't like entirely realistic mechanics because again, I would not be able to mentally invest and perceive myself as the character. It is hard to describe, but that has always been my preference.
Loyal to my favorite brand, I own a switch. My fave console of all time was GCN. So I play most games using a GCN style pro controller. My kids wanted to get me into PvP online FPS since I would do well with other non online shooters. They recommended Fortnite, but I don't like 3rd person aspect for shooters. They then recommended Apex legends. I came in the over half way through the season prior to Maggie's release. The hours spent in the range! I found that I didn't like BR, owing to the fact that my old school mentality prefers to be able to respawn quickly. I fell in love with arenas. Fuse, Valk, and Mirage became my mains. It was tough. Took until the end of Maggie's season that I was winning 50/50. I bought Maggie's battle pass since I appreciated the structure. I could earn the right to get the next season BP through investing in the game, and grinding 100 levels. I felt that I was being thanked for that investment of time on my parts even though I had to endure a lot of "cannon fodder" matches. If I played, helping to ensure a diverse and healthy player base, I was rewarded for that work in the form of a renewed BP. Earning the AC was the driving force to invest in the game in the form of my time and effort.
Getting back to my earlier point. I have invested time and effort in this game, also because I am mentally invested in the game. It feels so natural. I love playing this game. I have tried the competition, and nothing compares IMHO. As and old school gamer, I am quite content playing this on my Switch. Others laugh at the fact that the graphics suck compared to other platforms, and I have endured much ridicule and scorn because of my choice. But when you can get mentally invested with Atari 2600 titles, to me the graphics are more than adequate. The audio is incredible as I can perceive depth and dimension through the audio feedback which allows me to be able to determine direction.
I am and always will be a Pub player. I wish I still had arenas, but have learned to adapt to mixtape to some degree. TDM and control have become adequate replacement for arenas.
On my mobile I play another EA title, SimCity Buildit. EA made a similar change to that game's pass quite a while ago, and offered less whilst basically charging more. I stopped buying the top tier pass at that point and in fact have basically stopped playing since without actual value there is no incentive for me to play.
This move is going to do this every thing to a LOT of this community. You are taking away people's incentive to play and invest time into your product, ensuring a healthy and diverse player base to draw from. Where we used to feel valued for our time, we are now instead told to now spend actual currency for the privilege to play a game that is riddled with issues, and try to say we, as a community, asked for this??? The rewards are a better value for the free track alone.
Personally I would like to feel this is a community. It a group of people who choose to participate and we were rewarded commensurate with our investment of time and effort. This is more satisfying than grinding for the purpose of getting "value" for my money, especially when there is no word on what this alteration of time investment to financial investment will do for the community. Server improvement? QoL enhancement? Audio improvements? Cheat and exploitation prevention? And if so, to what degree? How much will the shareholders get? EA's reputation is not the greatest. Silence on your part is not helping to mitigate that.
IMHO,your entire business model needs to change. The common theme echoing through the various communities EA titles support is greed. It is your downfall. The greed reaches a point where even your most addicted and loyal fans abandon titles. Personally, if I was a shareholder of EA, I would demand this. I think it would be far more profitable to find a balance of affordability, and ensuring the health of the supporting community. This franchise has the potential to be top 10 for DECADES! It requires better investment on your part to achieve this. The return on investment for that would be far more lucrative.
Hopefully, I spoke for others like me. Hopefully I added to the foreshadowing of the consequences of your decision to modify the BP.
Only 2 FPS titles. Apex, of course, following by the Metroid Prime storyline. Don't destroy this creation. Please.
drevinum9
1 year ago
@bloodrose356789 They are losing players, a lot of players, and fast. They need your money to get good annual report for stock holders....