The Ultimate Guide to Apex Coins in 2024
As a long-time Apex Legends player and content creator, Apex Coins are the lifeblood that keeps new cosmetics and content flowing into the game. With the launch of Season 16 in early 2023, I wanted to provide the definitive guide to what Apex Coins are, what they cost now, and the best ways to use them.
What are Apex Coins and how much do they cost?
Apex Coins are the premium virtual currency in Apex Legends that can be purchased with real money and then exchanged for cosmetic items, season passes, and more. The coin bundles available for 2023 are:
| Apex Coins | USD Price |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | $9.99 |
| 2,500 (+500 bonus) | $24.99 |
| 5,200 (+2,000 bonus) | $49.99 |
| 11,000 (+3,500 bonus) | $99.99 |
As you can see above, Respawn Entertainment has doled out some hefty Apex Coin bonuses for those willing to purchase the higher bundles. You get the most for your money by buying 11,000 coins for $99.99.
Do players actually buy Apex Coins?
In the early days of Apex Legends, analysts estimated the game was making around $92 million per month off in-game spending and 70% of revenue was from console players.
According to market research group Edison Trends, total spending on Apex Coin bundles reached record levels in June 2022 at $58.7 million globally. The average order value was $81, showing that bulk Apex Coin bundles are popular purchases.
So despite Apex Legends being a free-to-play game, purchasing exotic weapon and legend skins with real money is certainly alive and well!
Are Apex Coins used more for Battle Pass or cosmetics?
Based on my own Apex Coin spending history, I‘ve personally used coins about 60% of the time to purchase the Battle Pass and 40% went towards limited-time cosmetics in the store rotations.
The Battle Pass unlocks highly sought after reactive gun skins that evolve and change during matches. According to Sheila Dingus, a journalist covering Apex Legends monetization, "Premium skins with effects sell 2-4 times as many units as simpler recolors."
However, some pricier individual skins like heirlooms can run from $35 up to $160. Even crazier, 500 Apex Packs to guarantee receiving an heirloom set costs around $500!
So in summary, while the Battle Pass unlocks are tremendous value, whales dropping hundreds per month on flashy skins also subsidize post-launch development.
Different cosmetic rarity tiers by Apex Coin prices
Not all skins have the same droprates and crafting costs. According to data from fan-run site ApexItemStore, here are the major cosmetic rarity tiers:
Common
- Crafting metals cost: 30-60
- Direct purchase price: $2-5
Rare
- Crafting metals cost: 100-250
- Direct purchase price: $5-15
Epic
- Crafting metals cost: 400-800
- Direct purchase price: $10-20
Legendary
- Crafting metals cost: 1200
- Direct purchase price: $20-35
Mythic
- Crafting metals cost: 2400
- Direct purchase price: $35+
Heirloom
- Only available via shard crafting
- Price: 150 shards = $35 originally. 500 Apex Packs guarantees shards.
So while common skins can often be crafted for free over time just by leveling up, the rarest visuals in Apex Legends can cost the price of a full AAA game!
How to get free Apex Coins
Occasionally free Apex coin rewards, codes or events are available. Here are some tricks I use to score free coins:
- Check the in-game store daily for free login bonuses ~50 coins
- Participate in limited-time events ~700 coins
- Follow @PlayApex for Twitter code drops ~100 coins
- Connect Prime Gaming for monthly care packages ~200 coins
- Grind Idle-Empire for coin gift cards
In total you can probably average around 300-500 free apex coins per month if you stay on top of all these methods. Just don‘t spend them all in one place!
Final thoughts on optimizing Apex Coin spending
While buying Apex Coins allows you to swag out with the latest weapon and character skins, you can also unlock plenty of great cosmetics just by playing. Here‘s my suggested order of priority for free/paying players:
Free Players
- Grind to max out each Battle Pass for the best value
- Craft key Epic quality skins for your mains
- Unlock recolors of base Legendary skins via Legend tokens
Paying Players
- Buy out every Battle Pass for those sweet reactive skins
- Build a collection of heirlooms starting with your mains
- Splurge on Mythic shop rotations and Collection events
Hopefully this deep dive into Apex Coins for 2023 gives you some new insight into how the currency and cosmetics system works. Let me know down below if you have any other questions!
Stay Upwind Friends,
James / UpwindGaming
