The ‘Iron Crown Event’ for Apex Legends Season 2 was hyped up and seriously exciting: new skins were releasing that looked much nicer than any fans of the game had seen before, including a crazy Bloodhound Gladiator skin and a ferocious-looking Wraith skin. Alongside the new skins was a much-requested solo mode, coming to the Apex arena for two weeks. At the outset, everything looked good.
However, on the day of release the drama began. EA sponsored several of the largest Fortnite streamers to play Apex, boosting the game to number-one watched on Twitch. It backfired somewhat. Streamers like DrDisrespect and Shroud were stunned by the in-game shop. Apex Legends players soon caught on that the prices in the shop for those awesome skins were astronomically expensive.
Each Iron Crown Pack – basically a normal ordinary Apex Pack with an increased chance of a legendary item – is 700 Apex Coins. That’s about $7 USD. To unlock every item in the Iron Crown Event you need to purchase 22 packs in total, including the two free packs you earn through completing in-game challenges. To be able to purchase the new Bloodhound heirloom (apparently he’s one of the most-played legends in the game…right) you need to unlock all the items and then pay over 3,500 Apex Coins. It’s a cool axe you get to run around with. That’s it.
As expected, the community, especially on the Apex Legends subreddit, were not happy about the Microtransactions. For the following two or three days the top posts across the subreddit were all people’s negative reactions to the game. Titles like “Apex Legends, You’ve Lost Me” and “Do Not Purchase These Packs!!” were highly upvoted and awarded with gold several times. It’s not so much the price that concerns fans – it’s the predatory loot box gambling that EA recently called ‘surprise mechanics’ that has upset them.
There was no response from the devs for two or three days. Eventually, however, they released a post apologizing for the insane prices.
For those well-versed in EA’s Microtransaction practices, this post should come as no surprise. EA has a history of introducing predatory microtransactions and reducing their prices after internet backlash. Battlefront II, Titanfall, Battlefield, etc have all been subjected to similar treatment.
Apex Legends is a FTP game and as a result, microtransactions will always exist. As stated in the post from Jayfresh, these cosmetic items do not affect gameplay. It’s an optional choice.
