As if by magic, Apex Legends developer Respawn has managed to turn a PR disaster into love and adoration. Not even a month ago, huge portions of the player base were threatening to send the battle royale’s various social media channels into meltdown in regards to poorly-managed monetization models. Voicing their collective criticism of overpriced cosmetics included with August’s Iron Crown Collection event over on Reddit, various members of the development team lost their cool in responding to the outrage.
So unfolded an ugly war of words between the two parties that left relations in such disrepair that Respawn CEO Vince Zampella felt it necessary to issue an apology on behalf of his staff. A brief period of quiet later, last week saw a new event, Voidwalker, make its way into Kings Canyon. As before, a large number of exclusive cosmetics are tied to the event, though this time around, players have been infinitely more receptive of the new gameplay elements included with the Wraith-themed affair.
See below for a sample of the renewed positivity:
A brilliant turnaround, then, but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The new limited-time mode and map changes bundled with Voidwalker may have gone down a treat with the majority, but qualms concerning pricing models still persist. Many players have requested that Respawn make it possible to either earn the new character skins through play or via Apex’s crafting system. At the very least a price cut is on order, says one player.
Another reiterates that $20 for a single Voidwalker skin is still “completely absurd” and “needs to change”.
Whether or not the above will be enough to make Respawn alter its plans in regards to Apex Legends‘ pricing model remains to be seen, but at the very least, it’s nice to see some positivity for a change.