You can’t buy Apex’s first season 22 battle pass with Apex Coins—but you can get it for free

The first split’s battle pass for season 22 of Apex Legends still can’t be bought with Apex Coins, but it can be earned for free through completing a series of in-game challenges.

Attempting to buy the battle pass from the Store tab will only show two options for players this split: $10 for the Premium tier, and $20 for the Premium+ tier, with only real money options available. Following Respawn’s announcement they were walking back the controversial new battle pass system, the official social media account confirmed that Apex Coins cannot be used this split, as the battle pass will instead be free for all players to earn through playing any game mode and completing limited time challenges, with the new pricing system set to start in split two when ranked resets in the middle of the season.

Several players online initially cried foul over the lack of an Apex Coin purchase option for the battle pass, as previous posts from Respawn made it seem like that option would be available at the start of the new season. But it’s not all bad news.

With the launch of season 22, Shockwave, Respawn included a free list of challenges that are available to all players. Similar to the four year anniversary event where new players could permanently unlock legends by completing character-specific challenges, any players who complete all six challenges will unlock the split one battle pass. These challenges aren’t particularly difficult, either—the editor of this piece completed two of them in his first pubs match of the season.

Challenges involved with unlocking the battle pass highlight the new features introduced or reworked in season 22, such as playing matches on the new map E-District, playing the Recon and Controller legend classes to utilize their new class passive abilities, or trying out the new Akimbo hop-up for pistol weapons in any game mode.

Season 22 introduced a new battle pass system that separates content between the two splits, reducing the grind for players to earn all the rewards, but generating major backlash from the community for removing the ability to buy the battle pass through Apex Coins, the game’s premium currency, and forcing players to pay out of pocket for each new split, until Respawn reintroduced the ability to buy each split’s battle pass with Apex Coins. This allows players to earn enough Apex Coins to unlock the next battle pass if they fully completed the previous one.

Shockwave is now live for all players and platforms, with split one running for six weeks, ending on Sept. 17 at 12pm CT. The battle pass challenges will be available for all players for the entirety of the split, with Apex Coins returning as a standard buying option for the Premium tier in split two, while players will only have the option spend $20 for the Premium+ version of the battle pass.