What the—?!
Hold up!
Zoey Parker's grin froze solid.
She whipped around to the projector screen!
Ethan "Piggie" Vance's Twitch chat was losing it!
'Good game deserves some cash!'
"Free game? I'm feeling guilty just playing it."
"For real, I gotta drop some bucks on something."
'You care about the players, and the players hold you high!'
"Gus's move is pure class. Rare to see a dev this human."
"Hmph! Gus, you sly dog, don't blame me for throwing money at you!"
'Why you gotta say it so nice? (lol)'
"Time to whale! Gus, you genius, gimme the priciest thing in the game!"
'Piggie's about to drop a mortgage payment…'
"Hahaha, for real!"
'…'
Fans were ready to back APEX with their wallets.
The spending frenzy sent shivers down Zoey's spine.
This ain't right!
Things were veering way off track!
Something's sus, like, twelve kinds of sus!
Why's the vibe getting all weird?
Chill, people!
Gus just wanted to surprise a loyal WindyPeak fan!
It's heartfelt, sure—even Zoey was touched!
But throwing cash at it like this? That's a bit much, no?
Can't you cool it?
Wait for our next game! I'll make bank then, promise. You can go ham later!
Pretty please, just chill!
But!
Streamers, fans, players—they couldn't hear Zoey's silent screams.
They had one mission: show WindyPeak their love, loud and clear!
This move was fire!
They were hyped! Moved!
So!
They'd pay up!
"Let's see what's in the shop," Piggie said, exiting to the main menu.
"Heard APEX's monetization is super clean. Let's check how clean."
He clicked into the store.
The UI, designed by Jake Rivers, kept it sleek, sticking to what gamers know.
Three tabs: Pass, Skins, Recharge.
The last two? Standard stuff. Piggie barely glanced at them.
But Pass? That was new.
"What's a pass?" Piggie clicked, curious. "Let's peek."
Snap!
A sound like a Titan cockpit opening, and the pass page loaded.
Front and center: name, level, description.
Season 1: Glory Restart
Level: lv2
Embark on a journey to become a top hunter, explore Kings Canyon, complete quests, and earn XP to level up your pass. At the pinnacle, forgotten glory reignites…
Below, a reward roadmap for pass levels.
Piggie scrolled, nodding: "Oh, got it. That's the deal."
"This pass is free for everyone. I played one match, and I'm already level 2."
"Two reward tracks here."
"Top one's Normal Pass Rewards. Free, claim every 10 levels or so."
"Bottom's Premium Pass Rewards. Costs 380 tokens—$38—but you get rewards every level."
"And it goes up to… holy crap! A hundred levels!"
"Do the math…"
Piggie's jaw dropped: "$38 for 110 rewards?!"
The number hit like a grenade. Chat exploded:
"No way! One buy, a hundred goodies?"
"That's an insane deal! What kinda mega-bundle is this?"
"Who drops over a hundred rewards in one pass?"
"And it's just $38! Yo, a Hero-tier gun could buy, like, 23 half-passes!"
"That price is nuts low."
"No way WindyPeak's making bank. This game cost millions, right? They're just selling passes?"
"Hold up—WindyPeak doing charity?"
"But level 100? Sounds like a grind."
"It's a three-month pass. Piggie hit level 2 in one match. There's quests too. Maybe 100 matches max to cap it. Tough?"
"For real, play casual daily, you're maxed in a week. Grind hard? Three days."
'Well…'
$38 for a pass.
In Gus's old world, APEX passes ran $60–$70. Here, he slashed it.
Why? The "no stat boosts" cosmetic model was new to this world, and the somatosensory cabin market was still growing.
Low price, big reach—get everyone hooked.
Taste the game, love it, come back for more. Hate it? $38 won't make you rage, right?
Build the paying player base, grow acceptance. That'd pave the way for future hits like COD or R6.
But!
Gus nixed token-purchased passes. Real cash only.
$38 was already a steal—unlimited refills? Too far.
Gus had some business smarts.
And it worked!
Fans were stunned!
Used to $888 skins, this was unreal!
$38 for over a hundred items?
This wasn't just fair—it was too fair!
Rounded up, it's practically free!
Players couldn't believe it!
Used to overpriced junk, this deal blew their minds.
"No way a dev's this generous!"
"Pfft…" Piggie laughed.
"$38 for a hundred rewards? I feel like I'm stealing."
He scrolled through the rewards, each previewable. Like a kid in a candy store, Piggie gasped:
"This exploding spider… a loot box! Free raffle boxes? Wild!"
"This border's dope! Shows up at match start, so slick…"
"Haha, this taunt's savage!"
"Whoa—this gun skin's legendary. In other games, it'd be $888, no cap!"
"Wait! Wraith's execution move—yeeting someone through a portal, like the trailer!"
"This is… tokens?! Tokens buy anything but passes? This pass pays you back?"
"Oh man!"
"Dude!"
"Yo!"
The hype built to level 90.
Piggie froze, then shouted: "No way! Look at this!"
Level 90: a Pilot combat top with a triangular shawl.
Yellow-green, with ember-like particle effects on the scarf's edges.
Chat knew it instantly:
"That's a Pilot's suit!"
"It's Lastimosa's! That khaki checkered scarf—his signature!"
'THANKS, WINDYPEAK!!!'
"No way! Giving out stuff like this, WindyPeak? That's unfair!"
"Oh, I get it! 'Glory Restart'—the big rewards are all Pilot gear!"
'Wallet out.jpg'
'Take my money, now!!!'
"Piggie, keep scrolling! What's next?"
"Yeah, any more Lastimosa drip?"
Urged on, Piggie scrolled.
Level 95: Pilot combat pants with a jump device.
They shift skydiving effects—leaving the plane triggers a Titan-launch shockwave.
Level 99: a Wingman revolver skin.
Silver, engraved with the Top Hunter Mercenary Group logo. Kills add a red blood-mist effect to the cylinder.
It's Sam's—APEX's mastermind—official sidearm.
Insane! Wild! Unreal!
As rewards got flashier, chat's hype for the level 100 prize hit fever pitch!
Phew!
Piggie took a deep breath: "Alright, y'all, moment of truth. Level 100 grand prize—"
"Here it is!"
Swipe!
The pass scrolled, revealing a Pilot helmet, glowing gold, yellow-green with a dragon logo on the temples, a water-blue X flashing on the visor!
Lastimosa's—Kubo's—helmet!
A relic passed through two generations of legendary Pilots!
The item players know and love most!
BOOM!
Chat detonated!
"Gus, you madlad! This as the top prize? You human?"
"Take my cash! Take it!"
"It's just money! Yoink!"
"I fought with BT, damn it! You're selling me a legacy helmet for $38? Who you disrespecting? Up the price!"
'$138! No, $888!'
"No, please, stop hiking it! (crying)"
"Rich bro, let us broke folks live! (bow)"
"I've played FPS for a decade. Dropped $888 on ten Hero-tier games, lost my house, my family. Now a pass I can afford, and y'all say it's cheap? I just want a cool skin! (sobbing)"
'Drop your Venmo! I said drop it!'
"Big spender's too good for us. Mods, ban this poor dude! (lol)"
"Haha, this is nuts…"
Players were electric!
Piggie checked the level 100 Pilot helmet reward.
Chat went feral!
Why?
It swaps the game's UI to Titanfall style!
And!
Most system voice prompts switch to BT's voice!
Best part?
Equip the helmet, and every match starts with:
"Let's fight our way out!"
"YO—!!!" Piggie roared.
"Who can resist this?!"
"WindyPeak… how do you make skins this good?"
"This ain't monetization—it's robbery!"
A chat quip floated by: Robbery needs hands. Gus just takes our hearts. Thank him.
Piggie cracked up!
Beep! Payment confirmed!
$38? Too cheap!
Piggie doesn't mess around—dropped $700 to buy levels, rocketing to 100 for the helmet.
Sure, it's a bad deal. Casual play hits max in a week. Nobody buys levels.
But Piggie? He laughs at $1,800.
Whale mode: on!
Max it out!
Even then, it's cheaper than a Hero-tier gun!
Rewards claimed!
Chat flooded with "Boss move!" "Only $700?" "Dev's too nice!" "I'm spending too!" "Support WindyPeak!"
Piggie grinned, used pass tokens to unlock Speed King, equipped the Pilot suit, and jumped into the training ground to test it!
The stream was lit, fans hyped to the moon!
But Zoey, sprawled on the couch, felt like she'd fallen into a freezer!
She stared at the hyped-up chat.
Then at the culprit munching sunflower seeds.
Zoey's face flushed red!
Gus Harper—!!!
You sneaky bastard—!!!
She'd planned it all, but this guy stabbed her with a feels dagger!
She knew how deep Titanfall love ran.
Gus weaponized it, slipping the Pilot helmet into the game, complete with BT's voice!
APEX? A Titanfall spin-off, free for its fans!
Gus's move?
Deadly precise!
Straight to the players' hearts!
Forget them—Zoey, who'd binged Titanfall via cloud, would've dropped cash for that helmet, profits be damned!
Bad! Bad! Bad!
She cursed three times in her head.
But!
It got worse.
Before she could process, Piggie's confused voice echoed:
"Huh? Heirloom trial… what's that mean?"