Apex Legends is set to take center stage at the Esports World Cup in just a few days, with a tournament running from the 1st to the 4th of August. However, recent controversial changes to the game have caused the overall community sentiment to plummet, and on Steam, the game is being review-bombed, crashing down to ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ as a recent rating.
How much will this harm the viewership at the Esports World Cup, and further down the line, the upcoming ALGS Split 2 Pro League?
Not So Legendary
One of the biggest scandals to emerge of late was Respawn’s decision to remove the ability to purchase in-game battle passes with Apex Coins. Of course, Respawn was quick to explain why this is a good thing, reflecting on the value boost that has come as a result of making it a cash-only battle pass, but it still rankled with the community and led to so many thousands of negative reviews.
In May, Electronic Arts revealed that Apex Legends has racked up more than $3.4 billion since being released in 2019. That figure resurfaced recently in arguments driven by players suggesting ‘EA has made enough money from Apex’.
Typically, a portion of the community will always be displeased with a change. Either something will be rebalanced to make a Legend ‘unplayable’, or a weapon will be tweaked to take it out of the meta, but this latest change appears to have pissed off everyone. It impacts anyone who purchases a battle pass, and even if you’re used to paying to get hold of your pass, it’s a huge change that you can no longer buy them with Apex Coins.
From XDefiant to Call of Duty, battle passes are traditionally purchasable using in-game credits that can be earned by grinding a battle pass. That means that, theoretically, you can buy one, play through it, and earn enough credits to buy the next one using coins or tokens.
That’s no longer the case for Apex Legends.
Does this threaten the stability of the Apex esports scene in terms of viewership? Comment your feelings below!