No one enjoys making unpopular decisions. Especially when those decisions are going to affect others. Being the person in charge of firing someone or cutting someone’s subsidy is terrible. But sometimes, unpopular decisions just seem selfish. Maybe because they don’t seem to have consequences in people’s lives, they don’t seem serious and therefore, they seem like a good way to do things.
This is what Electronic Arts might have thought when they decided that in Apex Legends, their most popular game after EA Sports FC, the battle pass could no longer be purchased with the in-game currency, Apex Coins. This generated a lot of animosity among the audience. And in a move that honors them, they have decided to rectify it.
According to Respawn Entertainment, developers of Apex Legends, the public has spoken and they have listened. With the release of season 22, they will restore the ability to purchase the Premium Battle Pass with in-game currency. No conditions. No asterisks. No price increase. It will still cost 950 Apex Coins and, in fact, they have acknowledged that it was their fault and they could have handled it better.
All of this comes after Electronic Arts announced significant changes to the game at the beginning of the month. The most important of all was how they were going to divide the battle passes into two, and how they could only be purchased with real money to add more value to the players. This caused anger within the community, to the point that, less than a month later, they have decided to reverse the situation.
Although the decision was disastrous and doesn’t make sense, at least they have been able to rectify it quickly. That doesn’t mean it sets a precedent and it’s possible that they will try again in the future, maybe with other games. But for now, at least, we can be happy that they have decided to do the right thing with Apex Legends.
Cultural journalist and writer with a special interest in audiovisuals and everything that can be played. I’m not here to talk about my books, but you can always ask me about them if you’re curious.
