Apex Legends Dev Issues Mea Culpa For Iron Crown Cosmetics

Respawn, the studio behind Apex Legends, is admitting fault in the rollout of cosmetics for the Iron Crown limited-time event, and trying to set things right. In a statement posted on the EA Blog, Respawn project lead Drew McCoy explains what went wrong and how the studio intends to fix it.

In short, the Iron Crown event offered several new cosmetics that could only be obtained through Apex Packs purchased with real money. You could obtain a couple packs through play, but to get the full collection–and a special heirloom axe that’s only purchasable if you earned all the other items first–you would have to spend over $150.

“With the Iron Crown event we missed the mark when we broke our promise by making Apex Packs the only way to get what many consider to be the coolest skins we’ve released,” McCoy said.

To address the issue, Respawn will be offering the twelve event-exclusive items into the store for 1,800 Apex Coins (roughly $18), the standard cost for a Legendary skin. That rollout will begin on August 20 and continue over the course of the week as more skins are added. The studio also promises that in future events, it will provide more ways to obtain items aside from Apex Packs. Previously the only way to obtain the skins was to buy Apex Packs for 700 Coins.

The blog goes on to state that Respawn recognizes it needs to be better at letting players know what to expect from its event structures. This event works differently than previous events like the Legendary Hunt, and McCoy says future events may be different still in other ways. He says this event has reminded the studio that it needs to be better at communicating what to expect from events as the studio tries new things.

“Our goal has not been to squeeze every last dime out of our players, and we have structured the game so that all players benefit from those who choose to spend money–events like Legendary Hunt or Iron Crown exist so that we can continue to invest in creating more free content for all players,” McCoy said. “This week has been a huge learning experience for us and we’re taking the lessons forward to continue bringing the best possible experience to all of you.”

The main draw of the Iron Crown event is the new limited-time Solos mode, which lets players compete just like the regular game while attempting to be the last single player standing. Apex Legends has been a team-based battle royale since launch, and Solos has been a heavily requested feature from the community. But like all Solos modes in traditional team-based games, some people have found to be forming alliances outside of the game and teaming up for a competitive advantage.