Why Apex Legends Players Are Disappointed With The Battle Pass

The first Apex Legends season, titled The Wild Frontier, has just launched. The season includes the release of new Legend, Octane, a Battle Pass and a patch with some major balance changes.

While many are excited for the upcoming season, scores of players have been left disappointed by the Battle Pass’s rewards. So, what exactly does the Battle Pass contain, and why are players complaining about it?

What’s In The 'Wild Frontier' Battle Pass

According to EA’s website the pass will instantly unlock 3 new skins; the Lifeline Revolutionary skin, the Wraith Survivor Skin and the Mirage Outlaw skin. Rewards for leveling up include a new skin for Octane, Apex Packs, Season 1 Stat Trackers, Intros, Banners, and weapon skins.

Oh, and lots of badges.

Why Players Are Disappointed

There are several discussions about the Battle Pass on the Apex Legends subreddit and the focus appears to be on the lack of diversity in rewards. The main sticking points are badges, skins, and what’s missing.

Apex Badges

Apex badges are a display of your accomplishments, being awarded for achievements such as wiping out an entire enemy squad or dealing over 2000 damage in a single game. In the Battle Pass, it would appear a badge is awarded every 5 levels, which makes up 20% of the total rewards.

20% of Season 1 rewards are badges.

Not only are these easy goals compared to most which award badges, but the vast majority of players care little for the badges in the first place.

RELATED: Our Beginner's Guide To Octane

With this in mind, the large percentage of the rewards they comprise has been heavily criticized, with many hoping the badges will come with something extra, like an Apex pack or crafting materials.

Skins

In terms of skins, the lack of diversity, especially when compared to existing cosmetics, is mentioned often, with one Reddit user equating the Battle Pass skins to “rare skins with face paint”.

This has also led to inevitable comparisons to Fortnite.

While Apex Legends has a very different style, preferring realism over the goofy over the top style of Fortnite, it does mean that their skins are very limited. While Epic can offer wild, wacky and vibrant cosmetics, Apex players are left lamenting the samey nature of many of its offerings.

If you don’t play as Lifeline, Wraith, Mirage (who is an unlockable character), or Octane (also has to be unlocked), then you won’t get any new skins at all. All the other skins are for weapons, unless you get lucky with the Apex Packs.

Missing Items

The final complaints center around what else Apex fans feel is missing.

Players were clamoring for unique character and weapons skins, animated banners, kill quips and executions. Many were also hoping for crafting materials, in the hopes that you could craft an item of your choosing by the end of the season.

Instead there are 20 badges, 9 stat banners, 10 xp rewards and 9 intros, which are described as “filler” by irate gamers.

There is also the issue that rewards are limited to specific legends, meaning they have no use if you don’t play as that legend, and there are no kill quips or executions at all.

Respawn's Response

To its credit, Respawn has quickly addressed players concerns in a post on EA’s website.

In the blog, Lead Product Manager Lee Horn outlines the philosophy for the Battle Pass, saying “Season 1 is about keeping it focused and allowing players to earn a lot of rewards at a great value.” He goes on to explain “we’ll begin adding more and more innovations each season, as we evolve the battle pass.”

The post also talks about wanting players to “just play and learn the game” and how the Battle Pass is structured to encourage that.

You can earn the next Battle Pass by playing this one.

Horn also mentions the fact that you can recover the 950 Apex Coin cost of the Battle Pass by playing through to level 97. This means the cost of the first season Battle Pass is essentially recouped and these coins can then be used to pay for the next one, a nice touch which may sweeten the deal for disgruntled players.

Apex Legends Season 1 is now available for free on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The Season 1 Battle Pass is available in game for 950 Apex Coins.