Apex Legends Devs Seem Sorry Not Sorry, Unprofessional In Iron Crown Money Grab Fiasco
Gamers and fans of Apex Legends aren't at all happy with EA and Respawn Entertainment right now. The pricing structure for the skins and other items in the Iron Crown event has angered players and heaped ire onto the developers of the game. Players are angry because it costs about 700 Apex coins to open a loot box for the chance to get the skin you want. That means if you pay until you unlock all the cosmetics, it would cost you $154 and then you have the chance to buy the heirloom set for another 3500 coins.
Respawn has made a statement about the Iron Crown event where it promises to rotate the legendary items that are exclusive to the game into the store, so players can buy them directly and get the skin they want. The 700 coin Iron Crown Apex packs will still be available too. The image below shows the schedule starting on August 20 for what skins will be in the store on what days. The devs also promised to be more transparent with the community in the future and promised never to sell a competitive advantage for gamers. They also note that selling items the way they do in the Iron Crown event keeps the lights on. It all sounds like a sorry, not sorry kind of situation to most.
Other than the high price, players are also angry because the devs don't seem to care how much the stuff costs. Some devs in Reddit threads in the past have claimed that the reason it's so hard to unlock items is to give players a "sense of accomplishment." Players feel like the point is to make the cosmetics so hard to unlock that they get frustrated and pay the money for the skin.
Some of the devs have also taken to less than flattering commentary in their interactions with the community members, suggesting some are "freeloaders" and raising more ire against Respawn. Players have also noticed the janky math that Respawn has used to justify its pricing. One Reddit thread talked about how devs said reducing the prices didn't result in more sales. Players were quick to point out that while the sale the devs were talking about reduced skin prices from 1800 coins to 1200 coins, the odd amounts the skins cost meant the player still had to buy $20 worth of coins at both prices to get the skin because of how coins are bundled. The sale really wasn't a sale at all, if you didn't have coins in your account already. You can read more about the pricing that started the backlash against Respawn.
