Christmas has returned to Apex Legends in the form of a rejigged event from last year and, in a gameplay sense at least, fans are loving it.
What folks aren’t so excited about, on the other hand, is what many believe to be a blatant attempt at squeezing money out of players’ wallets. As is usually the case with limited time affairs, Holo-Day Bash introduces several cosmetics for Respawn’s battle royale. While some are brand new, others return from previous promotions, though all are affected by the same issue. Similarly to most free-to-play titles with optional skins, Apex offers a number of ‘themed’ DLC packs for purchase at certain times of the year. These usually include a modestly-sized collection of character and/or weapon skins all sharing an identical pattern as part of a matching set and are sold together.
In this case, however, items clearly intended to be paired have been split and distributed in individual bundles, ultimately resulting in huge backlash among the game’s outspoken community. For an idea of how the system has been changed, see the gallery below.
Unsurprisingly, the development has led to accusations that the studio has once again strayed directly into anti-consumer territory by intentionally requiring that users purchase multiple bundles just to get matching skins for their favorite Legend.
Unfortunate circumstances, then, though it’s worth noting that this could all be the result of an unintentional mix-up. Respawn has, after all, made similar mistakes regarding Apex Legends in the past – such as accidentally increasing the price of a skin bundle from 6,000 to 7,300 Apex Coins without notice – so it’s worth giving the developer the benefit of doubt, at least until an official statement is released.
