First Apex Legends Battle Pass Date Released
It's finally happening, folks. According to EA, the first Apex Legends Battle Pass (called Wild Frontier) is officially scheduled to kick off tomorrow, and we have to say — it is very, very similar to Fortnite's.
To start, players will be able to purchase the Battle Pass on its own for 950 Apex Coins. Those coins, as you've probably imagined, only come in packs that are more expensive than the thing you probably want to buy. Spending $10 on your storefront of choice gets you 1000 Apex Coins, which likely means you're doomed forever to have a remainder of these Coins, a world we swore we left behind when Microsoft did away with Microsoft Points years ago. But again, Fortnite does this same thing. We digress.
Players can also purchase what's called a Battle Pass Bundle for 2,800 Apex Coins, and this particular option is more a shortcut for those who don't have a lot of time to play. It not only includes the standard Battle Pass, it also unlocks the next 25 levels you have coming up. So if it's the first day of the Battle Pass and you want a bit of a head start, purchasing the Battle Pass Bundle will bump you all the way up through level 25. And if it's the last day of the season and you're only at level 75, you could purchase the Battle Pass and hit the top level of 100, unlocking everything the season has to offer.
And yes, that means the Battle Pass works much like Fortnite's does. Each level in the string of 100 will unlock new rewards for you, whether they are Apex Coins, weapon skins, badges, XP bonuses, or even characters, apparently. Octane appears to be unlockable at level 48, though we're honestly not sure if the unlock is for the character itself or for an Octane skin. If EA and Respawn could do one thing better here, it would be to tell you exactly what you're getting. It's easy to figure out in Fortnite, where your character is basically generic until you throw a skin on. In a game that has unlockable characters and unlockable character skins? It's a little more unclear.
Another thing we're in the dark about is what will happen with the game's current leveling system. Will it get a hard reset and instead be tied to the current season's Battle Pass? Or is the Battle Pass something entirely separate from the level your character currently possesses? EA makes mention on its website that players will progress through the Battle Pass by leveling up, which we assume will be done as it always has been — through gameplay. We're just curious about what will happen for those higher-tier players who've climbed the ladder significantly, as it seems leveling up becomes more difficult the higher you get.
And finally — the character unlocks. We're honestly not sure how we feel about them just yet. It does feel like Respawn wants to keep balance at the forefront with Apex Legends, but the studio is really playing with fire when it comes to these unlockable characters. Any player of any hero-based game will tell you that there comes a point where the meta crowns a certain character the winner. And if we experience that in Apex Legends, and that character is locked behind a Battle Pass or a one-time purchase, the game quickly enters pay-to-win territory. That's not a place you want to be in, but we'll have to wait for more characters before we know if we've reached that point.
Otherwise, we have to say that we're quite looking forward to the Apex Legends Battle Pass, as Respawn and EA attempt to turn this surprise hit into something sustainable, if not an outright cash cow. And we're pleased to see Octane finally joining the roster in an official capacity. It's become clear over the past month or so that Apex Legends could really use more depth in its roster — something more akin to the size of Overwatch's character select screen. Octane is a good start, but we're definitely looking ahead to the days when we won't have to see the same few characters running around the map.
Don't want to take part in the Battle Pass just yet? There are still a few things for you to unlock, too. EA reports that 1 Wild Frontier Legend skin, 5 Apex Packs, and 18 Wild Frontier stat trackers can be obtained outside of the paid Battle Pass, giving even free players something to grind toward over the course of the season. Not much, but it's something.
Apex Legends' Wild Frontier Battle Pass launches tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.