'Apex Legends' Season 1 Battle Pass, Start Date, Challenges, Cost, and More
'Apex Legends' is about to get much bigger.
by Corey PlanteRespawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends took the world by storm with its surprise release in February, and the game’s burgeoning community is about to get even bigger when Season 1 launches in March.
Fortnite’s biggest free-to-play battle royale competitor will soon have a nearly identical seasonal structure that includes a premium battle pass available for purchase.
Shortly after Apex Legends’ official launch, executive producer Drew McCoy penned a letter to fans via an EA blog post and confirmed the game would include Fortnite-styled seasons and a battle pass system.
“The team is already hard at work on tons of top-secret new stuff we’ll be adding to the game this year and beyond,” he wrote. “First up will be the launch of Season 1 in March when we introduce a Battle Pass.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Apex Legends Season 1, including the start date, cost of the battle pass, characters, and so much more.
When Is the Apex Legends Season 1 Release Date?
We’ve known Season 1 would be sometime in “March” since the beginning, but it wasn’t until March 18 that Respawn confirmed via Twitter that it would launch on Tuesday, March 18 at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
Several fans noticed on March 12 that the Origin landing page for Apex Legends included a new banner marking the launch of Season 1. The image (featured below) was shared on Reddit and has since been removed from Origin. That was exactly a week before the actual launch date, so did someone mix up their calendar and hit publish too soon?
This image released prematurely on Origin might've spoiled Season 1's launch.
This led plenty of fans to assume Season 1 might begin on March 12, but later that same day, Respawn issued an announcement via Twitter and Reddit acknowledging the leak. In the Reddit post, Respawn community manager Jay Frechette wrote plainly, “It’s not coming out today.” He also called the above image an “unintentional update.”
Frechette also commented on the accuracy of leaks via data-mining, writing, “Finding this stuff by no means confirms that it’ll ever come out.” Gamers should therefore not believe every leak they see. Many prototyped ideas and features never make it into the game.
An official Apex Legends FAQ says, “Each season will run for approximately three months.” That corroborates what’s on the the official Year 1 roadmap showing that Season 1 will run from March through May.
'Apex Legends' has a pretty clear roadmap for Year 1.
What’s Included in Apex Legends Season 1 Battle Pass?
On March 18, EA published a blog post outlining what looks like all of the Season 1 battle pass rewards. There’s a mix of simple cosmetic items, with the most interesting being weapon skins and a skin for the new Legend (playable character) called Octane that unlocks at Level 48. New Wild Frontier skins for Lifeline, Wraith, and Mirage unlock at Level 1.
A February 6 blog post also confirmed the assortment of items. “Season One kicks off in March, introducing the debut of our Battle Pass as well as new Legends, weapons, loot, and more,” CEO of Respawn Entertainment Vince Zampella wrote.
“Loot” refers to the myriad of cosmetic drops players get from Apex Packs. “Legends” is the term used for playable characters, so Apex Legends is adding more characters at a steady pace, along with new weapons.
In the official Apex Legends FAQ, Respawn confirms, “The Battle Pass gives players exclusive cosmetic items and Apex Packs” totaling out to “around 100 different rewards” consisting mostly of “exclusive seasonal cosmetics.” Season 1 looks to have precisely 102 because the Level 1 reward is three Legend skins together.
The aforementioned FAQ that “Legends will not be included in the Battle Pass.” New characters will almost certainly still cost plenty of Apex Coins, and that’ll be totally separate from the cost of a battle pass.
I would not pay money for any of these character skins. Would you?
Will the Apex Legends Season 1 Battle Pass Include Challenges?
For Apex Legends to truly compete with Fortnite: Battle Royale in the long-term, Respawn will have to include exclusive challenges as part of the battle pass and offer enough high-quality rewards to incentivize purchasing one. So far, there’s no indication that there’ll be challenges.
Fortnite has become such a cash cow in part thanks to its third-person gaming perspective, allowing players to always see their own skin. But there’s also a competitive social aspect that feels like a rite of passage. One simply has to get the battle pass and earn or purchase certain exclusive skins to be cool. Apex Legends might be no different in that regard.
If Respawn has proven anything so far, however, it’s that Apex Legends can beat Fortnite at its own game by doing something different.
Players have two different options when purchasing the battle pass.
How Much Does the Apex Legends Season 1 Battle Pass Cost?
Respawn officially confirmed in a blog post that the Season 1 battle pass price would cost 950 Apex Coins, roughly $9.50. But for 2,800 Apex Coins, they can get the battle pass and automatically unlock the first 25 levels.
Similar to Fortnite’s V-Bucks, most players will have to buy 1,000 Apex Coins for $9.99 (or a larger bundle of currency) to then purchase the battle pass — or purchase a higher bundle of the in-game currency for the bundle deal.
Apex Legends is currently available on PC via Origin, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Season 1 begins March 19.
Related video: Here’s what it’s like to open 40 loot boxes in Apex Legends.
