Respawn kicked off an Iron Crown Collection event in Apex Legends earlier this month that landed with a thud for a lot of fans. The biggest issue was that some in-game items, particularly Legendary skins, were only available through event-exclusive Iron Crown packs. It was a complicated event but the simple version is that costs were very high—the "Raven's Bite" Heirloom weapon for Bloodhound effectively costs $170—and players weren't happy.
Apex eventually acknowledged that the event "missed the mark" and moved Legendary skins to the standard Apex Store on a rotating basis, but that apology just led to further recriminations and some strongly-worded pushback from multiple developers, all of which ultimately culminated in an apology to the fans from Respawn CEO Vince Zampella.
Amidst all of that, there was some actual information about the game itself, specifically with regard to future events. Respawn said when it announced the updates to the Iron Crown Collection event that future events would be structured differently, and said that its "messaging for expectations needs to be clearer." Today, it began the follow-through on that with a broad overview of the three types of events—Season Launches, Collection Events, and Themed Events—coming to Apex.
Season Launches are the big ones, and will, generally speaking, feature a major map update, a new Legend, new items, "meaty" changes to the meta, updates to the Ranked mode, maybe some new features (like Ranked mode), and a new Battle Pass.
Themed events, like the Legendary Hunt, will take place during a season and will—again, generally—have a time-limited mode, event-specific challenges with cosmetic rewards, and "a mix of event limited and evergreen cosmetics available for direct purchase." There may also be a "town takeover" or small map changes, and possibly some new lore.
Collection events like the Iron Crown will be very similar to themed events, but on a somewhat smaller scale; Respawn also emphasized that cosmetics offered during Collection events will be available in both event-specifc crates and for direct purchase.
"The main goal for all these events is to add new ways to play, so that we are keeping the game fresh and exciting for our players. Each of these events has a unique theme with a variety of components, but share the same general framework," director of product management Lee Horn said. That framework includes:
- One or more new gameplay changes such as permanent and limited-time modes (Ranked or Solos respectively), map updates and town takeovers, balance changes, new characters, new weapons, and more
- New free progression content via challenges or the free Battle Pass track
- Purchasable cosmetics via Battle Pass, Packs, and/or the Shop
"While these are our three main event structures, we’re also always working on new features, bug fixes, balance changes, and quality of life improvements that come out in periodic patch updates," Horn said. "As always, we appreciate all of your support and feedback. We hope this blog gives y’all a better sense of what to expect in a season of Apex Legends."
The next Apex Legends themed event will kick off in early September and will be focused on "a certain Phase Expert"—I take that to mean Wraith—while a new Collection event will run in October.
