Apex Legends‘ latest event, Fight or Fright Collection, is scheduled to kick off next week, October 15th and once again, the battle royale is coming under fire for the cosmetic items included within. More precisely, EA and Respawn’s pricing models for each of the Halloween tie-in’s purchasable items have elicited an overwhelmingly negative response from players on social media, with the general consensus seemingly being that the character and weapon skins on offer are grossly overpriced.
If you felt the unmistakable feeling of déjà vu wash over you after reading the above, don’t worry – it’s not just you.
Back in August, the ever-evolving shooter received its first proper event in the form of Iron Crown Collection. Similarly to the upcoming Fight or Fright, the limited-time occasion boasted a wealth of new unlockable cosmetics to obtain, but with a catch. Only by dropping a sizable amount of cash on special event loot boxes could fans be in with a chance to secure their favourite wardrobe addition.
Only compounding the issue was the introduction of a special Heirloom item for Bloodhound which could only be purchased with real money after buying everything else on offer. Following a back and forth on social media between developer and player, the former has made a number of changes but not enough, it seems.
See below for just a few of the comments over on Reddit:
They’re looking out for our wallets, if you think about it. They make the microtransaction model SO BAD that you never spend your money anyway. Thanks guys!
why do they think cosmetics for their game are worth that much? they are crazy
Yeah it’s gonna be a no from me, dawg.
As for the newly-minted Heirloom for Lifeline, the pack containing the sought-after item is unlocked in much the same way as Bloodhound’s, though this time, no additional purchase is required. Once a player has unlocked all 24 Fight or Flight cosmetics, it will be unlocked at no additional cost. That doesn’t take into account, of course, the potential $170 required to even gain access in the first place, as noted by one commentator:
Lifeline mains gonna start a GoFundMe, lol
$170 is a “FREE” heirloom btw. Lol, no thanks EA
For the sake of transparency, Respawn has divulged the odds (gallery above) of obtaining one of the new rewards from its event boxes, which cost an eye-watering seven times the price of a normal loot cache.
Is Apex Legends headed for yet another PR disaster? Only time will tell, but one thing we do know for sure is that Respawn has yet to find a universally acceptable price point for its potential customers. While we await further developments, let us know where you stand in the usual place below.
