Apex Legends Developer Vents Frustrations Against Fans

Apex Legends is in a rough spot lately. There are cheaters running wild in the game's Solos mode. Fans have been blasting Apex's microtransactions (particularly in the Iron Crown Collection event). Now developers are beefing with the player base, creating a situation that can't be described as anything other than combustible.

It all started with some of those aforementioned microtransactions. Apex Legends rolled out a new event called Iron Crown Collection, with cosmetic items that were trapped behind very expensive loot boxes. Fans lashed out, and after a few days, Respawn backtracked and issued both an apology and a promise to fix things.

Then things got ugly.

Players took to Reddit to complain about the exorbitant prices for the Iron Crown Collection event cosmetics (example: $18 for a skin). And then a Respawn developer using the handle "dko5" showed up and started replying to some of the more unsavory fan comments, matching them with equally unsavory language. In one instance, dko5 called some players "d-cks," and we don't mean ducks or docks. In another comment, dko5 referred to some commenters as "a–hats." And there was a comment that focused on cosmetic pricing that called most players — those who don't purchase microtransactions — "freeloaders."

Apex Legends fans responded with a post on the subreddit that, at this time, has over 15,000 upvotes. It claims Respawn Entertainment "committed the ultimate cardinal sin" by getting "personal" with the player base. And it warned that the studio had "chosen to bring in a new era of hostility and bitterness."

So yeah, it's safe to say it's not all sunshine and puppy dogs over in the Apex Legends community.

Regardless of how the Apex Reddit community was behaving itself, it's hard to believe fighting fire with fire was the best approach. We have a feeling there might be some apologies on the way in the near future. This is the same studio putting out Jedi: Fallen Order later this year; the last thing another EA-published Star Wars game needs is bad press.

We'll keep you up to speed should Respawn issue a statement.