Have Battle Passes Been Good For Multiplayer Gaming?

It's pretty clear at this point that Battle Passes are here to stay, but how much good are they actually doing for multiplayer gaming?

[MetroidFREAK21]

Rather have the battle pass system as opposed to random boxes personally

[lucian229]

the guy who disagreed with you apparently loved spending thousands for one skin, rather than 10$ that lasts over the course of 3-4 months. Lmao

[annoyedgamer]

Look how they pushed the envelope, from DLC, to MTX, to battlepasses, to lootboxes. They will keep pushing and chumps will keep on consoooming. The few that react will get a hitpieces written labeling them as "threatening the developers".

[Yang_kai]

Yes you can have paid dlc maps bundled with weapons while giving everyone skins for free as they don’t take much time to do if anyone wants those maps they can buy the dlc or choose not to and the game wouldn’t change. I remember Warhawk had dlc maps that you could purchase with weapons and vehicles exclusive to those maps. Starhawk had dlc to a lesser extent and you could built suits for your friends if you chooses to do it when they asked

[toxic-inferno]

Agreed. Battlepasses allowed me to enjoy Fortnite for a brief period of time, and not regret the money I'd spent, as I felt I'd got value for money.

I expect the same with Multiversus, but we'll see!

[--Onilink--]

And they also contributed to the death of paid map packs which always fragmented the player base and made matchmaking horrible in the end.

So yeah, while not perfect, they have helped eliminate what I would say were arguably worse practices

[Yang_kai]

Choosing the lesser of two evils is choosing evil.
If we keep supporting stuff like this it’s just going to get worse and worse.

[lucian229]

I mean then what are the options? Pay for dlc packs that alienate the player base?

Regardless you're paying, difference is battle pass stuff is all cosmetic and optional. You could play for years and get the same experience as people who spent more money.

[Mobis-New-Nest]

No, I think Diablo Immortal set the bar and got it perfect with its Pay To Win. This is why every online game should follow in Diablo Immortal footsteps.

[isarai]

I'd rather just pay for the game and get a complete package

[MetroidFREAK21]

Right, but that's never happening again

[lucian229]

Then it will be one game and it will never change. Games like fortnite have changed a lot to the point it would be considered a sequel. So basically you rather yearly releases like call of duty? You're still spending the money.... You lack understand of battle passes

[Terry_B]

battle /season passes for fighting games are terrible.

[PapaBop]

For long term fans not necessarily, look at how much SFV evolved over the years since it's release, funded largely with the season passes.

[sourOG]

Why’s that? You don’t want the roster to grow?

[roadkillers]

It’s good in some areas…

Good:
Fortnite that added another mode that did not ruin the original game. The battle loads offered a lot for a little.

Bad:
Fall Guys where people purchased for $20, but they changed the model and made everything pay to get.

[outsider1624]

I dont know how battlepass work in other games but in Apex Legends i remember buying a battlepass in season 2 and never bought since. All i had to do wad complete the battlepass each season and you get 1000 coins for that. Then you just used those coins to buy the next battlepass.

[KillBill]

Fortnite does the same. Halo Infinite does it too now but all-in-all I have only seen Fortnite battlepass as the system to mirror by others. They also had a founders buy in of 'Save the World' that gives weekly v-buck earning simply by logging in and also v-buck earning by playing some STW missions each day. It really offers the best value/options for earning virtual coins in game to use. As well Fortnite is one of the few that offers FREE v-bucks for battlepass leveling even without purchase of battlepass. I think after about 3 seasons you can earn enough free battlepass v-bucks to buy your first full battlepass experience. And then on you earn above the required v-bucks needed for seasons with left over for store offerings.

[FlavorLav01]

Outside of a PROPER DLC, anyone paying additional money to add anything to a game that can’t be reasonably earned only support games being further and further parted out, charged for, and encourage more and more dev teams to drip feed us as opposed to delivering truly great games with high quality assurance. Season passes, free-to-play, and MT’s can all eat my shorts.

[Muigi]

If you play the game enough most times you really only have to buy it once.

[akurtz]

Battles passes shouldn’t be justified on games that released with very little content. Especially for live service games that release with 3 skins and then a month later they have 20 new skins hidden behind a paid battle pass.
That crap makes me yearn for the return of DLC packs that are $20 for 4 new maps, characters, weapons etc etc i instead of this drip fed content that ends up costing more in the long run.

[thorstein]

They are bad when they are Pay to Win or paywall maps. I don't really care if the game has one. Some have free stuff and I don't mind getting it. CoD has the gimmick where you can retain CoD points and buy the season pass if you want with it. You have to complete the season though. If there is something there I want I might buy it. But I hoard those free points for something I really want.

I haven't ever paid for a season pass.

[GoodGuy09]

Kinda. Most devs have been implementing this and separate buyable cosmetics instead of doing paid game affecting dlcs, releasing them free which is good. However some still do paid game changing dlcs and/or lock them behind the battlepass.

But its been generally good and the preferred compared to lootboxes.

[ocelot07]

I can't really complain about the battlepass system. Like Fortnite and Warzone. I have only ever had to buy the battle pass on each game once. As I earn enough coin/bucks throughout the season to buy the next battlepass with.

[Crows90]

Nope. Multiplayer was fine before additional methods of monetization.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Better then lootboxes that's for sure.

[LucidIllusion]

They ruined gaming.

[porkChop]

They've been good. Loot boxes are far less common now, and new maps are usually released for free.

[Tedakin]

I enjoy Fortnite's battlepass and some other games'. If the game is free and fun I have no issue giving them 7-10 bucks every 3 months to get a bunch of good stuff. Plus they usually give you enough money back to buy the next pass.

[Murdability]

I just want paid dlc. Like two expansions then work on something new. Im tired of a franchise getting milked when the cow is already dry

[sourOG]

Sounds like a solid standard to me.

[Murdability]

Totally. But they can’t shamelessly milk us with that sort business tactic

[Bathyj]

I don't even think online has been good for gaming.

Understand I mean just as in the focus of gaming and where I want it to be, not the business side. On the business side game companies are loving it.

But that's just me, I'm an old man. Multiplayer peaked with Mario kart 64.

[Profchaos]

I've found them more annoying than evil. Loot boxes and evil but battle passes are normally self funded play them and you get enough credit to play the next pass and so on they feel more like they are trying to tie you to playing that game and that take only.

However I personally don't like them and I can say ive never felt the need to buy one ever. But all in all they seem less predatory than lootboxes

[DFresh]

Battle Passes aren't bad but what I'm more upset about is that the devs don't take that money and put it into making better servers.
If you are making billions in cosmetics (outfits) and battle passes there's no excuses as to why your game is running on P2P Servers as oppose to running on Dedicated Servers.

[anast]

No, they purposely turn gaming into hollowed out experiences so gamers can continuously pay mamma bird to bring worms to the nest.

[isarai]

Gaming? Hell no
CEO pockets? Yup

[BlackDoomAx]

The best battle pass i've seen is in Deep Rock Galactic: free, adds value to the game, and you still can get the items after the battle pass is finished.