In the last week, the Apex Legends Iron Crown Collection Event has become embroiled in controversy. Shortly after the start of the event, there was a widespread backlash from players over the handling of monetisation in the event. (And the breaking of a pledge made by the studio relating to monetisation.) Shortly after an apology was issued by Respawn and changes were made, the studio’s CEO had to issue another apology; this time for comments from staff on social media who got into an argument with angry fans. However, despite all of this controversy, the event has reportedly been a success for Respawn, with the game’s player count up since the start of the event.
Apex Legends Iron Crown Event Boosted the Game’s Player Count
Problems began for the Apex Legends Iron Crown Collection Event almost immediately after launch. Prior to the start of the event, Respawn had released almost no information about it. Indeed, most of what it includes was under wraps until the launch. When players became aware that Apex Packs were the only way to get the new event cosmetics, there was a swift backlash on social media. Fans pointed out that cosmetics could cost over $100 to acquire. Plus, the system actually broke a pledge made by Respawn about their approach to monetisation in Apex.
As a result, Respawn swiftly issued an apology for the system and their poor communication. In this statement, they also explained changes which were implemented to the event on Monday; making it possible to acquire new cosmetics in other ways. However, shortly afterwards, staff attempting to explain the changes on social media got into an argument with angry fans, promping the studio’s CEO to offer a formal apology.
However, among the controversies and apologies, it seems that the Iron Crown event has, on the whole, been a success. (At least, commercially speaking.) Responding to questions on Reddit, Respawn developer ‘dko5’ stated; “in reality the Iron Crown event has been a success, both with revenue and player engagement. Our numbers are up across the board”. Indeed, this may serve to highlight a disconnect between social media and the game’s total player count. After all, a large majority of most games’ audience aren’t active on social media. Simultaneously, a very large majority of gamers rarely, if ever, purchase micro-transactions of any kind. Indeed, with changes now implemented and apologies issued, it seems likely that Apex will be able to put the unfortunate parts of this event behind them.