Greed is a deep-seated issue in many industries, including video games. In pursuit of higher profits and investor satisfaction, many gaming companies make unpopular decisions and policies, often at the expense of their primary consumers – the gamers.
This is exactly what has happened with Respawn and EA’s hugely popular battle royale game, Apex Legends. With the recent change making the Battle Pass only purchasable with real money, rather than in-game currency, players have started to voice their discontent.
The backlash hasn’t been limited to social media rants and boycott calls; the Apex Legends community has taken to Steam to express their protest, similar to past incidents with other games. Within just a few days, thousands of negative reviews flooded Apex Legends’ Steam store page, plunging its latest review status to “Mostly Negative.”
Nearly all the negative reviews share the same outcry against the new Battle Pass scheme, with some directing their frustration at EA, believed to be the force behind this change.
As of the writing of this article, Respawn has yet to respond to the backlash over the Battle Pass alteration. Will this outcry be enough to prompt a reversal, or will the policy remain unchanged? Only time will tell.
