长文：从游戏体验的角度解析Apex Legends的盈利设计

原作者：Roman Szomolai 译者：Willow Wu

引言

Apex Legends（下文简称Apex）的盈利机制最近引起了我的注意，更具点说就是两个关键应用：个性化装扮和创造需求。这是一款F2P游戏，所以重点就在于它如何获取用户、留住用户，最后从他们那里盈利。由此我坚信游戏一定有部分是为盈利而设计的。

这篇文章的目标是深入了解Apex设计方案的具体内容，我们如何从需求创造/满足的角度来看待它，以及我们可以从中学到什么。首先，我会先简单介绍游戏的基本信息，包括游戏流程，然后我会给你们展示相关的框架设计，以及开发者是如何处理的。最后，我将提出一些想法、做些比较。

在开始之前我先快速声明一下：本文中的观点是我的个人见解，并不一定与我现在雇主的观点一致。

分析

Apex是一款以团队为主的battle royale F2P游戏，由EA旗下的Respawn Entertainment团队开发，发行于2019年2月。Battle royale就是玩家赤手空拳开局，并在不断缩小的安全区域内对抗其他人，让自己生存到最后。我将根据Nicholas Lovell的框架理论将游戏划分为基础层，留存层和盈利层。我会向大家交代必要的背景知识，从而体现出游戏盈利设计的相互关联性以及复杂性。基础层和留存层我不会详述，但是保证能让大家理解二者对盈利作用。

1. 基础层

游戏的基础层就是长达半小时左右的对抗赛。每场比赛，玩家都可以从若干角色中挑选英雄。每个角色都有三个特定的技能属性，分别是被动技能、战术技能和绝招。选人不可重复。

游戏流程

1）玩家在大厅中开始和朋友或者其他人配对。如果你们的团队人数不够，系统将会匹配别的玩家，这样你们就能组成一个三人团队。

2）加载——玩家能看到上次选的角色，以及自己的名字标签。系统提示需要等待其他玩家。

3）到角色选择界面，每个玩家选择一个英雄角色。

4）玩家小队一览

5）冠军小队一览

6）赤手空拳开始——玩家背着喷气飞行器出现，决定小队什么时候跳，降落在哪里。完全自主决定游戏起始地，同时也可以考虑其他家的降落位置。每场对战开始时，玩家的物品栏都是空的，他们必须在战斗过程中收集战利品(武器，盔甲，武器附件，消耗品)。

7）对战阶段

·死亡地带——在战斗过程会出现特定的圆圈区域，在范围外的玩家会受到伤害。这块安全区会阶段性缩小，因此玩家与玩家之间的距离会被逐渐拉近。

·战败界面-> 如果玩家死亡，可开启观战模式

·获胜界面-> 玩家小队成为游戏中最后生存下来的团队

8）对战数据总结，返回大厅。

2. 留存层

玩家账户的进阶就是Apex的留存策略核心。每个账户都有一个等级，随着对战次数增多而升高（游戏邦注跟《守望先锋》类似）。参与游戏的基础层可以获得经验，同时还能得到软货币奖励（传奇代币），有时会得到战利品宝箱（Apex组合包）。在后续的特定等级也会相继解锁更多角色和个性化内容。

除此之外，游戏近期还加入了战斗通行证。这又是另一种留存机制，因为玩家可以在拿到通行证的同时获得额外奖励。通行证分为两种：一种用Apex金币购买，另一种免费，需逐级解锁。它是季节性的，只能在特定的时间段内激活。下一赛季又会有新的活动、新的奖励。之前所有的任务进度都会被清零，需要重新开始肝通行证（这是我基于业内一贯的赛季通行证设计而推测的，毕竟在写这篇文章时，Apex才推出了第一张通行证）。

货币

·制造金属（CM）——从Apex组合包中获得，用来合成特定的个性化物品。不同物品耗费1200/400/60/30CM。玩家最多可以从组合包中获得60个制造金属。

·传奇代币（LT）——玩家在升级时会得到传奇代币，用于解锁角色和购买个性化物品。不同物品耗费10500/12000LT。玩家升级时最多能获得600代币。

·Apex金币(AC)——游戏中的硬货币，需要用真钱购买。用于游戏内购。大概100~115AC等同于1美元/欧元。（虽说美元和欧元的价值不同，但是商品标价是一样的，我认为这就是利用所谓的“魔幻定价”）

3. 盈利层

其实Apex这个游戏的盈利层并没有表面看起来的这么复杂。玩家必须花真钱才能得到硬货币（AC），用于购买战斗通行证、个性化物品、角色或者组合包。我认为，游戏中价值最高的物品就是各式各样的装饰，因此激发出玩家对这些物品的欲望就是Apex盈利设计的主要目的，这就是我的理论。所有的个性化物品都有对应角色/武器，这里的个性化物品指的是角色旗帜、角色/武器皮肤。

战斗通行证的销售分为两种：1.单独购买通行证 2.通行证组合包。前者是花费950AC获得付费通行证。后者是花费2800AC获得付费通行证外加解锁第一赛季前25级奖励。

游戏商店内的单个商品售价1800AC，Apex组合包每个售价100AC。解锁角色需要花费750AC。

需求框架

事实证明，有些游戏确实会出现用户基础雄厚但是玩家不愿意掏钱、盈利不理想的情况。Apex Legends是一个F2P游戏，也就是说它依靠游戏内购挣钱。因此开发团队的目标不仅仅是让游戏变得好玩，还有就是激发玩家的购买欲。在实施了必要的激发策略之后，团队就得提供方式去满足他们的欲望——在这种情况下就是消费。需求框架（desire framework）这个概念是我从Nicholas Lovell那里学到的（但我不确定它的最初来源）。

创造欲望与满足欲望在游戏垄断市场的某个具体例子中也可以看成是供求关系。游戏内商品的唯一销售者就是开发团队，因此Respawn Entertainment就是Apex的垄断者。问题不在于抢资源或者是赢得竞争，而是为游戏中的物品创造需求。

创造需求

玩家的需求可以从两个方面激发：认知和情感。根据Bartle分类法，认知手段更适用于杀手（干扰游戏世界的运作或其他玩家的游戏活动）和成就者（通过克服游戏世界的挑战，不断积累声望等），而情感手段则注重玩家的基本需求，比如说自我表达、社会认同或者是关系的建立。在理想情况下，开发者应该可以同时使用这两种手段达到创造需求的目标。在Apex中，我把徽章、玩家账户等级和战绩归为认知方面，其它归为情感方面。

接下来，我会罗列出Apex中用来创造需求的策略。

1）环境辅助

·冠军小队一览——玩家可以看到战绩和徽章。

·战败界面——玩家看到击杀者ID，可能会无意识地将他们的技能与装扮联系起来。考虑到这类游戏(游戏邦注battle royale)的本质，有可能你再也不会遇到这个对手了，而这种展示方式能确保玩家至少有机会看到他的装扮。击杀者也知道你能看到他的旗帜。

·剧情旗帜——游戏中随处可见，还有类似于商业广告的机制也应用了。游戏就是能给玩家一种感觉：你有需要去争取的东西。虽然他们很少注意观察这些物品，但是视线范围内无处不在。

2）若无其事地展示

在战斗开始之前，玩家至少有2分钟的时间“观摩”队友的个性化物品——角色选择+团队概览+开局倒计时。我的看法是这种展示方式可以刺激玩家对这些装饰的欲望。

3）第一步

玩家可以从战利品宝箱中获得随机的装饰品，引导他们至军火库界面。玩家能够在这里接触到所有的需求满足机制。

4）观战模式

如果玩家在对战中死亡，战败界面后玩家可以选择观战模式。在此模式中，玩家使用的的是队友的第一人称视角。

如果全军覆没，玩家可以使用击杀者的第一人称视角。如果击杀者所在小队也全军覆没，那么玩家就使用击杀者的击杀者的第一人称视角，按照这个规则一直到整场战斗结束。

5）进阶指标

-徽章和战绩是重要的认知指标。它们的主要功能就是给玩家看一个醒目的数字，给玩家“看看！我的击杀数达到了10000，真正的专业杀手”或者“我的复活数达到了500，真正的好队友”这样的感觉。

-玩家账户升级后会得到软货币奖励和战利品宝箱，所有的个性化物品都是这样逐级解锁的。

6）我知道他们正在看

在某些情况下，玩家知道其他人(他们随机的队友或比赛中的其他玩家)正在观战。于是他们就想让自己看起来更酷炫一些（有适合的个性化装扮）。冠军小队一览、角色选择、终结者技能就属于这种情况。终结者是游戏中的特殊动作，用于了结已倒地的敌人。这个机制的重点在于玩家可以各所不同的终结技动作，而且所有玩家都无法跳过这个动画。

7）大厅

回到大厅，玩家的角色以游戏预设定的姿势呈现在画面中央。如果大厅中还有队友，那么他们会被安排在玩家的侧边。

8）角色选择

每个玩家轮流选择下一局的英雄角色。小队中的所有人都能看到成员的角色，包括他们的个性化装扮。在选择完成之后，角色还会展示一段特定的动画/语音，称为妙语。

9）玩家小队一览

玩家可以看到所有团队成员的旗帜、动画/妙语、战绩和徽章。

动作——角色在旗帜边框中的姿势或者是短动画。这些是需要解锁的。

战绩——展示了三个特定的数据，有些是角色专属的数据，有些是通用数据。需要解锁对应的角色。击杀数是唯一固定的数据。

徽章——达到某些特定条件后可获得的奖励，有些是跟角色挂钩的。有些徽章会随着进阶而生成不同版本。

边框——需要解锁。

10）冠军小队一览

玩家又能看到这些高手的战绩、动画/妙语、边框和徽章。每场战斗只有一个胜者，这是根据玩家在之前对局中的表现所决定的。

11）战败界面

有两种情况会出现战败界面：1.玩家角色死亡 2.全军覆没。如果是前者，只要玩家所在小队有人活着那就可以选择让玩家复活。如果是全军覆没，玩家可以选择继续观战。

12）全军覆没界面

玩家看到小队所有成员的旗帜以及比赛的数据：击杀数、累计伤害、生存时间、重生队友、急救队友、排名和小队击杀数。玩家可以选择返回大厅或者观战。

13）胜利界面。

玩家看见获胜小队摆出胜利姿势，并标注上用户昵称。系统会广播冠军小队的诞生。之后的唯一选项就是返回大厅。

14）比赛总结

玩家可以了解到比赛中的一些分数结果、账户进阶、升级奖励、小队排名和角色旗帜。

15）剧情旗帜

Apex将整个战斗框定为一场有观众的竞技比赛。这就是为什么比赛时能看到一些剧情旗帜，上面或者是冠军小队或者是击杀王。

击杀王展现的是角色的静态姿势、玩家昵称，如果是冠军小队则会展示徽章。还有一种情况是一个玩家占三个旗帜，分别展现他/她的ID、旗帜和战绩。除此之外，游戏还为角色设定了口头禅，为比赛过程配上了解说。

你在游戏的很多地方都可以看到这些旗帜。

16）满足需求

一旦玩家产生了想要某个物品的念头，游戏就必须要能够满足他们。在Apex中，满足方式其实就那么几种，所以开发者的运用方式非常重要。

17）商店

在玩家决定购买之前，他们可以看到商品的样子，可以旋转模型看清物品的全貌，并且通过交互进一步了解细节信息。我认为这能够让玩家觉得交易非常透明、公开公正。

Apex商店中的物品是流动性的，玩家只能在限定的时间内购买，而且系统也标上了显眼的倒计时。商品数量也不多。这样可以避免玩家产生过多纠结，同时也能提升商品的稀有度。

Apex的策略非常明确，玩家可以用软货币LC购买某些物品，但前提是你必须用硬货币AC购买对应的原模型。目前来看，我的想法是这样做可能会让玩家产生买一送一的感觉，毕竟LC在玩家眼中是弱势货币。

跟Apex组合包类似，商店是否能满足玩家的特定需求也存在着不确定性，因此玩家们的即时需求会产生改变，但同时还存在其它潜在需求。

18）制造

选择大厅的军火库标签，玩家可以使用制造金属合成个性化物品。物品所需的花费各有不同。因此，非氪金玩家必须多玩游戏才能有足够的资源合成物品。相比上文留存层的机制，这里所需的时间翻了一倍。玩家或者选择一直肝游戏，或者选择用硬货币购买Apex组合包（包含CM）。

19）Apex组合包（战利品宝箱）

游戏中的战利品宝箱称为Apex组合包，其中包含三件随机物品——可以是个性化物品或制造金属。玩家必须使用硬货币购买，进阶时偶尔也会得到组合包，还有就是使用战斗通行证的时候。如果玩家在组合包中开到了重复的物品，系统会将物品折价成制造金属。

外观组合包之前分析过很多次了，玩家有一定的概率会得到高价值物品（远超所花费的100AC的价值），尽管可能性非常小。游戏还使用了其它的技巧，比如标出不同稀有等级物品的开出概率。实际上这算是一种取悦玩家的小把戏——保证物品的稀有等级，但并不一定会抽到属于玩家常用角色的物品，或者是玩家心仪的物品。

20）战斗通行证

战斗通行证让玩家提前接触到奖励。这跟需求满足策略不太一样，因为它明确告诉玩家要按照这个这些固定步骤来完成任务。另外，物品的稀有程度再次起到了关键作用。

总结

Apex Legends的盈利是通过角色个性化定制实现的。它之所以能够成功是因为游戏本身的特性以及叙事。玩家被设定成竞技场中的角斗士。个性化与游戏的基础层紧密相连，因此基础层是创造需求的重点。

Apex设计的过人之处在于认知层面和情感层面的无缝配合，在潜移默化中激发玩家的需求。我认为这对2D资源（姿势、旗帜边框、徽章）的销售能起到非常大的助推作用，但是对角色的整套皮肤销售可能发挥有限。从制作角度考虑，创造3D资源并非易事，尤其是当游戏出现了限时赛季通行证这样机械式流程。

从他们的营销活动来看（游戏在项目公开的隔天就发行了），可以肯定的是这款游戏在制作方面并没有得到足够的支持，至少跟艺术方面无法持平。Apex的艺术水准跟开发团队的前作《泰坦陨落2》一致。

相比《堡垒之夜》，Apex的观战模式对创造需求起不到特别大的作用。我认为有三个原因：1.第一人称视角 2.默认行动 3.加载界面。在《堡垒之夜》中，玩家用第三人称视角观战，所以他们能很清楚地看到击杀者的个性化装备。另外，击杀者知道战败者这可能在旁观，他们能够通过emote或者是舞蹈来表达自己。在角色死亡后，游戏直接进入加载、默认使用战败界面，而不是跳转观战模式，这样一来观战模式的潜作用就受到了限制。

空手开局的设定对任何盈利方式来说都是挑战，因为玩家可能在几场战斗之后都无法得到武器皮肤，而战利品掉落也是基于运气的。虽说军火库的物品展示或许会起到一点补救作用，但总的来说游戏没有确切的对应办法。另外，因为这是第一人称射击游戏，所以画面的很大比例都被武器所占据，如果迟迟得不到皮肤，玩家的游戏兴致可能会受到影响。

Apex Legends创造需求的最终目的是要满足某些特定的需求。在我看来，这里的主要需求是社会证明或心理学中自我决定理论的能力需要（即人们在从事各种活动中，需要体验到一种胜任感）。游戏基础层的进阶机制就是玩家游戏时的主要需求。他们可以选择通过分享战绩或者个性化物品来获得满足。类似Apex组合包和流动物品商店这样带有随机性质的设计意味着玩家满足需求的唯一方式就是玩游戏，等待好运的降临。总而言之，玩家的欲望是无法在短时间内得到满足的，除非你愿意花很多钱。

Apex的需求满足在很大程度上是依靠延误满足手段，同时在此过程中不断给玩家提供零食性质的替代方案，让他们得到当下的一时满足，但是正餐还要等久。流动物品商店、Apex组合包，还有制造方面的所需的重复游戏流程都可以反映这一点。我认为唯一的例外就是购买角色，非常直接、明确的一次性交易。不愿意付钱的玩家同样也可以通过肝游戏解锁角色。另外值得一提的是，除战斗通行证外，Apex所有的商品都是永久性的。跟其它battle royale游戏一样，Apex也遇到了内容单一化的问题。

我认为Apex对非移动平台的F2P盈利进行了革新。随着近期几大非移动新游戏尝试着转型成服务模式，我预计行业将会出现更多有趣的盈利、留存新方式。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Introduction

Use of monetization mechanics in Apex Legends (only Apex from now on), more specifically, its work with customization and desire creation, was the design that recently caught my attention. Apex is free to play, therefore it heavily depends on its ability to acquire players, to keep them and in the final stage to monetize them. This fact convinced me that there must have been a substantial portion of design work invested to monetization aspects.

My aim in this analysis is to look deeper into what Apex’s design solutions offer, how we can look at it from the perspective of desire creation/fulfillment and what we can learn from it. First, I will provide the basic information about the game including the game flow, and then I will present the desire framework and show how the creators handled it. In the end, I will suggest some ideas and comparisons.

One quick note before we start: The opinions in this analysis are mine and may or may not reflect the opinions of my current employer.

Analysis

Apex is a team-based Battle royale F2P, title developed by Respawn Entertainment and released in february 2019. Battle Royale is a competitive last man standing mode with zero start and death zone. For a base analysis I will use the framework proposed by Nicholas Lovell dividing the game into a base layer, retention layer and monetization layer. I will use it to provide you with all the necessary knowledge in order to acknowledge the interconnectedness and complexity of monetization in the whole game. Description of the base and the retention layer is not detailed but adequate for understanding their connections to monetization.

Base layer

The game’s base layer is based on episodic matches which take up to 30 minutes. A player can choose from several characters (Mirage, Lifeline, Gibraltar….) for each match. Each character has specific abilities (one passive, one active and one ultimate). No team can have more than one character in the game.

Flow of the match

A player starts matchmaking with or without friends in the lobby. If there are missing players in the group, they are supplied, so they form a team of three players (the bold part is described by the picture below)

Loading of the map and the player – The player can see miniature icons with a name tag and a picture of player’s previous character. A message waiting for the other players is displayed.

Players are taken to character selection, where each player picks a character for the match.

Player’s squad overview

Champion squad overview

Zero start – Players are on a flying vehicle, which continue on a straight line across the playing area. The player can then choose when they jump and where to drop from there. Therefore, they can radically influence their starting location and they can also take into account the starting location of other players. Players start each match with an empty inventory and have to collect loot (weapons, armor, weapon attachments, consumables) during the match. Zero start is the only point in combat when a player uses 3rd person camera and is able to see his teammates’ skins as well as his own.

Combat phase

Death zone – during the match there are specific circle areas, anyone beyond limits of this circle is damaged. This area is shrinking down in phases, and therefore it drives all the players closer together.

death screen -> If the player dies, the spectator mode possible

Victory screen -> if the player’s squad is the last one in the game

Match summary and then back to lobby.

Retention layer

Apex is using player’s account progression as a core for their retention. Each player’s account has a level indicator which increases with each match (similar to e.g. Overwatch). Players get XP for participating in a base layer. The player is rewarded by soft currency (Legend tokens) and with occasional loot box (Apex packs). The player’s account also unlocks characters and further customizations for the characters at certain levels.

In addition, Battle pass was implemented recently. This is yet another form of retention mechanic as it allows the player to obtain the Battle pass with additional rewards. It has two tiers: premium, which has to be purchased with Apex coins, and free, which is automatic for all players. Battle pass is seasonal; it is active only for a limited time and once it is over, the next season with a new progression and rewards is implemented. Progression is not carried over to the next Battle pass (this is my assumption based on industry standard approach to season passes. At the time of writing this article, only the first season is active).

Currency

Crafting materials (CM) – Crafting material are received from Apex packs and are used to craft customizations. Price points: 1200, 400, 60, 30. Players can receive up to 60 from one Apex pack.

Legend Tokens (LT) – Legend tokens are received for leveling up and are used for unlocking characters and in other cases customizations in shop. Price points: 10500 and 12000. Player receive up to 600 for leveling up.

Apex coins (AC) – Hard currency of Apex. Apex coins are acquired for real world money. Used for in-game purchases. Conversion rate moves between 100 AC to 115 AC for $/€. (price in USD and Euro is the same, even though they have different value; I believe this is because of usage of “magic pricing”)

Monetization layer

In case of Apex, monetization layer is not as complex as it might seem. Players have to turn real world money into the hard currency (AC). With AC, players can purchase Battle pass, customizations in the shop, characters or Apex packs. I believe, that the most valuable class of items in the game are customizations, therefore my presumption is that bringing out the desire for these customizations in the players was the main goal of monetization design in Apex. All customizations are unlocked per a character or weapon. By customization I mean content of character banner (described below) and character/weapon skins.

Battle pass can be purchased for AC in-game in two variants: Battle pass and Battle pass bundle. Basic Battle pass gives players access to the premium Battle pass and costs 950 AC. Battle pass bundle additionally unlocks first 25 levels of Battle pass and costs 2800 AC.

In-game shop offers purchase of items with a single price of 1800 AC and purchase of Apex packs with a price of 100 AC per pack. Finally, the price of characters is set to 750 AC per character.

Desire Framework

As some dismal examples show, it is possible to have a game with a big and loyal user base but very low income if their willingness to pay is not harnessed. Apex Legends is a F2P game and as such it is reliant on purchases in-game. Therefore the objective of the development team is not only to make it entertaining, but also to push players towards the purchase. In other words, they have to build a desire in players. Once this is done by a required tactic, Apex Legends also has to offer ways to fulfill this desire in the intended way – in this case by spending. Desire framework is again knowledge I have received from Nicolas Lovell (but I am not sure of it’s origins)

The desire creation and fulfillment can be also seen as a law of supply and demand in the specific case of the game Monopoly Market; the only seller of in-game items is a game developer and therefore Respawn Entertainment is monopoly in Apex. Their problem is not the fight over resources or their competition, but building the need for their product in the game.

Desire creating

A desire in a player can be created by two different ways: cognitive and emotional. While the cognitive one is more focused on killers or archivers in Bartle’s typology and mastery, the emotional one is more focused on the basic needs such as self-expression, social proof or relatedness. In the ideal case, desire creation will hit the target by both ways. In case of Apex, I regard badges, player’s account level and trackers to be cognitive while other parts as emotional.

I will continue by listing strategies that are used in Apex to create desire in players.

Positive context

Champion squad overview – a screen when the players are connected to achievements in form of trackers and badges.

Death screen – a player sees their killer and can unconsciously connect their skill (“they killed me”) to their customization. Due to the nature of the game (battle royale), it is possible that you are not going to see the player ever again and this way it secures an opportunity to see their customization. The killer is also aware of the fact that you have seen their banner.

Diegetic banners – They are all over the game area and similar mechanism to commercial ads is applied as well. There is a feeling that they is something to strive for. The player is seldom fully focused on them but their content is always present.

Always in plain sight

A player is exposed to the customization of his team mates for at least 2 minutes before the combat phase of a match – character selection + player squad overview + zero start. My hypothesis is that the exposure in this case increases the desire for the exposed items.

First step

A player is rewarded by random customization from loot boxes. The game drives them to the armory menu. He or she will get in touch with all the desire fulfillment mechanics there (as described below).

Spectator mode

If a player dies during a match, the death screen is shown after loading. After that, the player can follow to the spectator mode. In the spectator mode, the player uses the first person camera of his teammates.

If the whole squad is dead, the player can observe the match through the camera of their killers again in first person. If that squad is killed too, the player can continue watching through the camera of their killers and so on until they watch the winners.

Customization as a progress indicator

Badges and trackers – heavy cognitive indicator. The primary function here is to show a big number and say: “look at me! I have 10000 kills I am such a good killer” or “I have 500 revives, I am such a good teammate.”

All customization is unlocked with progress via loot boxes and soft currency rewarded for leveling up the player’s account.

I know they are watching

A player knows, on several occasions, that other players (their random team mates or other players in match) are watching them. This fact therefore pushes the player to want to look good (have the right customization). This is the case of the champion squad overview, character selection and finishers. Finishers are specific actions in the game, which kill a downed player. What is important about them is that a player can unlock a few different finishers and this animation is not possible to skip by any player.

Lobby

Player is shown in the middle of the screen in one of the predetermined poses. If a player plays with his or her friends, they are by the player’s sides.

Character selection

Players take turns to pick a hero for next match. Everybody in the team sees characters of other players including their customization. After the selection of a character, there is also a specific animation and/or catchphrase of the character called quip.

Player’s Squad overview

A player can see the character banner of his own as well his teammates’, consisting of quip, trackers, frame and badges.

Pose – a picture or a short animation of the character in the frame. They have to be unlocked.

Tracker – trackers show three selected stats. Some are character-specific some are common. They have to be unlocked for each character. Kill is the only default stat.

Badge – awarded for specific feats in the game. They have to be unlocked and some are character-specific. Some have more versions changed by leveling.

Frames – have to be unlocked.

Champion squad overview

This overview shows a champion of the match. Again you can see the trackers, quips, frames and badges. There is one champion per match. It is based on performance of players in the previous match. The better the performance, the higher the chance of being chosen as a champion in the next match.

Death screen

The death screen appears on two possible events: the player’s death and the squad elimination. In the case of the player’s death when at least somebody from the squad is still alive, there is an option to return the player back to the game. If the whole squad is eliminated, the player can choose to watch their killer.

Squad death screen

The player see quips of their team plus specific stats of the match: kills, damage, time in match, respawns and revives, place in match and combined squad kills. There is also an option to return to lobby or spectate.

Victory screen

Player sees the winning team characters in victory pose and their nicknames. There is an announcement that this is the victorious team. After this, the only option is to continue back to the lobby.

Match summary

Match summary provides the player with information about score acquired for the match, level progression, rewards for a new level, final squad place in the match, and character banner.

Diegetic Banners

The narrative of Apex frames the whole match as a fight in Arena which is being watched by an audience. This is why there are several diegetic banners in-game. Banners show either the champion team or kill leader.

Banner displays stationary quip, name tag and first badge in case of a champion team. In the other case, whole character banner is spread over all three banners. The game narrative is also supported with catchphrases of the characters and the match narrator.

Banners are dynamic and omnipresent over the whole game area.

Desire fulfillment

Once players desire to have a specific item, the game has to be able to fulfill this need. There are only a few specific ways how to do that in Apex and therefore it is important that the developers do it correctly.

Shop

The player can see an item in the predetermined slots and also interact with the slot to get a detailed look before they continue with purchase. Players are able to fully see and rotate models so they can fully appreciate the item they are going to purchase. I believe that this bring strong sense of transparency and “clean” transaction to players.

Apex is using a seasonal shop. There is only a limited time to purchase items in it and it is made obvious for each item with a timer. Only a limited amount of items is offered. This can eliminate decision paralysis and also increase the sense of scarcity.

Apex uses a very specific tactic. Players are able to purchase some items in shop for Legend tokens but only if they also purchase prerequisite items for AC. So far, my hypothesis for this tactic is that it could possible create an impression of two items for the price of one (provided that players perceive LT as weaker currency in case of shop).

Shop is, similarly to Apex packs, random in its ability to offer specific desire fulfilment, therefore players will get fix for their immediate need but still will leave some space for other things to be desired.

Crafting

Players can use crafting materials to craft any customization in game. Players can craft in Armory tab in the lobby. Prices of customizations are adjusted accordingly. Therefore, crafting anything with material takes long hours of playing the game and this way takes twice the time than the retention mechanic. Players either have to grind a lot or have to purchase Apex packs (containing CM) for hard currency.

Apex Packs (loot boxes)

Players can open loot boxes (called Apex Packs in game). These contain three random items – these items may be anything from customizations or crafting materials. Players can get loot boxes for hard currency, occasionally for player’s account progression or for using Battle pass. It also seems that Apex solution of duplicates in boxes is that player will receive a partial value of the duplicate in crafting materials. It is also certain that different items have different chances to be part of the content.

Apex packs create skinner box which was analysed many times. It is the way how to find desired items but randomly. There is a potential chance that the player will receive item that has great value (way greater than 100 AC) but that probability is really small. Apex uses some additional tricks like approximately disclosing chances. This plays with the probability in player’s favor (but guarantees rarity of the item, not that it will be for the player’s character or type of item of choice).

Battle pass

Battle pass allows players to get preset rewards. This is bit a different strategy for desire fulfilment because it shows very specific and rigid way how to get things done. On the other hand, scarcity again plays great role in it.

Conclusion

Monetization in Apex Legends is created through user’s character customizations. This are valid because of the nature and narrative of the mentioned game. After all, players are gladiators in the arena. Customizations are strongly connected to the base layer of the game and thus base layer is the focal point for desire creation.

What is really well-handled in Apex is the desire creation through seamless and natural exposure on both fronts; cognitive and emotional. I believe that this design is extremely effective in selling 2D assets – poses, frames, badges and stats but not so effective in selling full character customizations. Creation of 3D assets is very difficult considering production, especially once game enters into content treadmill such are time limited season passes.

Based on their marketing campaign (Apex was announced one day before the release) it is safe to presume that the game did not have enough production support as it might required in the art department. There is quite artistic similarity overlapping with the studio’s previous title Titanfall II.

On other hand, Apex’s spectator mode is not very effective for creating desire, compared to Fortnite. I believe there are three main reasons for that – 1st person camera, default action and loading screen. In Fortnite, the players use third person camera so they see customizations of the killer. Also, killers know that their victim will probably see them so they can fully express themselves with an emote (or a dance). Additionally loading and default use of death screen instead of spectator mode blocks full potential of spectator mode.

Zero start offers very specific challenge to any monetization because it is possible that players will not see their weapon skin for several matches; loot drops are luck based. This is remedied only a bit with showcase of the weapon in armory but game in general does not offer any specific solution for this. On the other hand, because the game is first person shooter, considerable portion of the screen is taken up by a weapon.

Desire created in Apex Legends are strategies to fulfill certain needs. My hypothesis is that the main need in this case is a social proof or competence in the self-determination theory framework. By nature, the game base layer showing progress in combat is the main desire for players in game. They can do it either by sharing statistics or via sharing their customizations. Quasi-random approach to desire fulfillment in a way of a apex packs or seasonal shop means that the only way to fulfilling this desire is to play and be lucky. This way, the design of the game does not allow players to burn their desire too quickly (or without spending loads of money).

Desire fulfillment in game is heavily leaning on delayed gratification and offering quick fixes for players to keep them satisfied but not full. This can be seen in randomization of the seasonal shop/Apex packs or long grind for direct purchases in case of crafting. The only exception, in my opinion, is the direct purchase of a character which is not repeatable and can be substituted by grind. Also, it is worth mentioning that all the purchases except Battle pass are durable. Similarly to other popular BR, Apex stepped on content treadmill.

I believe that Apex moved boundaries of what can be done in F2P monetization in an non-mobile environment. With the trend of several big new titles recently trying to introduce game as a service to non-mobile market, I expect a lot of new and interesting approaches to monetization and retentions.

（source:gamasutra.com）