Apex Legends announces 'improved' battle pass structure that actually sucks for players, removes option to pay with in-game currency

One thing you never want to see as a player of a live service game is a convoluted new spreadsheet—they're rarely if ever a bearer of good news. Case in point: The «improved» Apex Legends battle pass structure, announced today with a blog post and headache-inducing chart, has immediately led to protest planning.

Here are the two biggest changes:

So, instead of spending 950 Apex Coins (approximately $9.99, but alternatively earned by playing) on each season's premium battle pass track, players are now invited to spend $9.99 cash per «half season» premium battle pass track. A $19.99 Premium+ track has also been introduced for each half season battle pass, replacing the old premium bundle.

What makes this nouveau structure better, according to Respawn, is that it'll be easier to get the most desirable items in each of the smaller half-season passes. Their 60 tiers will still include the same number of legendary skins as the old season-long passes, with a Reactive weapon skin at the top tier, plus more Crafting Metals and Apex Packs. Meanwhile, items that weren't seeing much use, such as weapon charms, will appear less frequently.

«We've seen the numbers, and things need to be more approachable and realistic for our global player community,» said the developer. «Each of these updated aspects allows us to make the Battle Pass more attainable and valuable for your time and money.»

A player who purchases a half-season battle pass premium track should therefore get as much for their money as they did with one of the old season-long passes, but faster and with less filler. Meanwhile, players on the free track will now get twice as many Apex Coins and Apex Packs per season (because there are now two battle passes per season), as well as a small assortment of epic skins each half-season.

It's not all bad—I like the idea of cutting out filler items—but removing the option to pay for the premium track with Apex Coins obliterated any possibility of a cheerful reception. It