Heirlooms are the most coveted cosmetic inApex Legends. The rare items can either beearned by playing the game(and therefore opening free packs), or by paying for them. Regular Collection Events offer new heirlooms, or recolours of old heirlooms if you buy every item, costing around $150.
Another way tobuy heirlooms, if you have money to burn and hate fun, is to simply buy 500 Apex Packs, costing around $500, as all players are guaranteed a ‘pity heirloom’ after opening this many. But most players just wait patiently until they’re bestowed the rare red Apex Pack by the Gods of RNG.
It’s all a big money spinner forRespawnandEA, but it’s one of the better ones in gaming. Expensive skins in Apex orWarzonedon’t make much sense, as they’re first-person shooters. But unique weapons with bespoke animations to set you apart from your teammates as a reward for consistently playing the game? It’s pretty cool.
Except, they’ve been getting less cool. I mentioned recolours earlier, which come across as cheap cop-outs. Some of them come with brand new animations which are also bestowed on the original heirloom, but what about all the Legends who don’t have an heirloom yet? I’m lucky in that my mains Bloodhound and Fuse both have theirs, but Maggie Enjoyers and Newcastle mains are still out in the cold. Why do some Legends have two heirlooms (including recolours or the newer heirloom skins that come with unique finishers) when others have none?
No Legend released in the past six seasons, a time period spanning over two years, has an heirloom. Luckily, leaks suggest Apex Legends has a plan for that. Unluckily, leaks suggest it will set you back $700.
Here’s the usual caveat to take leaks with a pinch of salt. All leaks are to be treated as lies until proven otherwise. However, it’s worth noting these leaks come from established sources with good track records.
Recent leaks suggest that Apex’s next heirloom will be universal, meaning that you can equip it with any Legend. This is similar to therecent Buster Sword R5, which cost around $270. The one-winged angel death box heirloom, which you only see when you kill people or when you’re killed yourself, cost $360. Obviously profits from this crossover event will have been shared between Respawn/EA andSquare Enix, but its success suggests the higher-ups at Apex will embrace this extreme pricing going forwards.
It seems, the leaked universal heirloom will cost a similar amount, requiring players to buy out a 36-item Collection Event in order to get the new cosmetic. However, that’s not the only cost. The heirloom will then be customisable, and all the upgrades will set you back that same price again.
This is the worst case scenario for Apex’s heirlooms. What were once carefully crafted, bespoke items, are now becoming generic. As well as losing the character and soul of the items, the price is increasing dramatically.
This is the fate of live-service games. Apex has fallen to the greed of corporate meddling. Someone has seen that players will empty their wallets for luxury death boxes and doubled down. If this expensive universal heirloom comes to be, it will be the epitome of live-service greed. Minimal effort for maximum profit.
At this point, we can only hope that this universal heirloom doesn’t come to pass. Or that nobody buys it and Apex reverts to making custom heirlooms for its Legends. Because rumour has it that Apex is stopping unique heirlooms completely in order to go all-in on this new system. Future heirloom events will presumably be for new animations or new parts to customise the universal heirloom. While it makes sense that more players would be interested in a universal heirloom, rather than making them just for the fraction of the playerbase who main each Legend, it’s a dull, soulless way of thinking.
This $700 heirloom, which will probably increase in price as Apex releases more customisation options, is the death of creativity. It’s the heavy handed weight of corporate practice weighing down on a game that has consistently innovated over its five-year lifespan. This doesn’t mark the end of Apex Legends, but it’s an indictment of the state of live-service games in 2024. Instead of further innovating with great LTMs like Straight Shot, instead of designing cool cosmetics that match Legends’ personalities and backstories, this is using the lowest common denominator to make as much money as possible.
Over the years, Apex has dialled back the lore, stopped telling as many stories with its characters – has Seer ever been involved in a storyline? – and provided more and more expensive Collection Events. It’s clear where the game’s priorities lie. I wish it wasn’t the case, but, while the gameplay is still stellar and ranked arguably better than ever, the game now feels like it’s about making money rather than providing a great gaming experience. The old heirlooms proved you could have fun while making money. The new one just reeks of greed.
