I know what everyone is thinking EA losing due to greed again. How many franchises and companies have they systematically destroyed due to their actions? I lost count after Maxis and later Bioware games. APEX Legends has long been a game I forgot about. Recently though it jumped into the easiest way to destroy your entire fanbase. In APEX much like other live service games you can pay for a battle pass through real world or in game currency. This allows you to get specific bonuses and clear challenges quickly. Further, since you can buy the battle pass with in game currency if you are patient or skilled enough you never have to spend real money. APEX is free to play and up until a recent update has somehow managed to avoid too much scrutiny. The update removes the ability to buy the pass with in game currency. This was met with backlash several players protested others left over 70,000 negative reviews on Steam alone. Now while it is easy to say EA caused this and its just their usual let a game build an audience and treat players right then greedily take all their money Respawn was asked if this was an EA decision they pushed on the team. Given history with Bioware and other companies it is easy to see why, but in an interview a Respawn spokesperson said this was what Respawn wanted and pushed for and I think that is the most shocking development of all. EA abusing their developers and gamers alike is something that earned them the Worst Company in America vote multiple times over to the point people are used to blaming EA when decisions that are particularly greedy this is the first time in awhile the developer has been to blame. They have tried to walk back the decision, but we all know how these work they will return to using the old system, but make it grindier and harder to obtain currency to the point you will have to use real money and eventually lose majority of their audience if they haven’t already.

Yong Yea. “EA & Respawn respond to Apex Legends battle pass backlash after 70,000+ negative reviews on Steam” YouTube, Jul 26, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W-wxBilDFg