Apex Legends' surprise team-up with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn't going down well with fans, with complaints over cosmetic prices and suspicions of AI artwork in promotional material rife online.
Set to launch tomorrow and run until January 13, the Final Fantasy 7 takeover introduces a Limit Break system and new items you can chance upon during a match, like the iconic Buster Sword or Hop-Up Materia that grant abilities. So it goes with events, though; what's catching the eye are the cosmetics involved.
The Final Fantasy 7-themed event features 36 new items you can obtain through event packs, including six 'Iconic' skins you buy outright if you'd rather.
That's not how things typically go in Apex, though. Events in the popular battle royale usually include an heirloom item that is unlockable once you get everything else on offer – something that fans reckon will set you back $160 on average per event. Here, though? The heirloom item is available in event packs, though the odds of getting one are so low that you'll likely need to buy 36 packs, at which point you'll likely have spent over $360 to get the Buster Sword heirloom, which is different to the one that can be picked up in-game.
The event also comes with a One-Winged Angel-themed death box that only unlocks once you've got everything else, which, as fans have worked out, likely means a hefty investment. One player has put together a list of things you can apparently buy instead, including an Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, and much more.
EA and Respawn are also courting controversy over accusations that marketing material for the event leans on AI. As shared online, several images have some irregularities that you often see when AI is involved, though some have speculated what you see is a result of in-game capture being fed through an anime filter of some sort.
AI has become an increasingly popular trend in the games industry over the past several months, as developers flock to adopt it while writers and artists fear what that could mean for their jobs. FPS of the moment and Apex Legends challenger, The Finals is no stranger to those conversations, having openly leaned on AI for voice work.
The general mood toward AI, coupled with the lofty sums involved in getting Final Fantasy 7 skins in Apex Legends, means the sentiment around the popular battle royale isn't grand at the moment. At the time of writing, Respawn hasn't acknowledged either pain points.
