Battle Pass me bro.

Now a days, Battle Passes are like freaking collectible trading cards. Every game wants to add one, and each implementation is getting worse and worse.

Welcome the newest players!

How did we get here?

I couldn’t even tell you, but I hope this doesn’t go on much longer.

I think Fortnite was one of the first, if not the first, to implement the Battle Pass feature in a game. For those of you who don’t know, a Battle Pass is a method of unlocking items in a game. You progress through numbered tiers by playing the game or completing challenges and unlock content in a game with the better content usually at the end.

Here’s where the Battle Pass gets you. Some games have two (technically three) different types of BP’s: free or premium. The free one is available for everyone, but contains less content. On the other hand, players can shell out money and receive the premium pass that provides you with more content. The third option is to purchase the premium pass with tier boosts included such as a jump to level 25 in the pass. Also, you can spend money to level up your pass if you don’t want to grind it out.

Money, money, freaking money.

Listen, I love adding content to games. I also understand that adding content costs money  which developers need to make, but this system is kind of getting out of hand.

My problem with these systems is what developers are wiling/what publishers force to include for content. Fortnite has been the “lesser” of the evils by keeping the BP to cosmetics only. Other games not so much.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a tricky scenario because you don’t have to pay for the tier system they have, but they have weapons in them and you can pay for tier progression. Not cool.

Anyways, I wanted to talk about this.

Rainbow Six Siege and Destiny 2 have revealed that they intend to include Battle Passes in their games. Given by the feedback Siege received upon this announcement, I’m interested to see if they axe it. Fan feedback seems to be directed at the fact that even though Siege is regularly supported, it is heavily monetized, with so many forms of currency your head will spin. This is where I agree with fans.

I don’t like this Battle Pass system. Bungie seems to be going in the direction where you’ll receive armor, and you’re guaranteed an exotic hand cannon. I’m surprised that fan’s for this inclusion has been positive since Destiny is pretty heavily monetized just like Siege. Am I missing something?

I think we need to axe this system or make it free. I get developers need to make money, and maybe this is simple minded of me, but if you make a good game, you don’t need this extra nonsense. The Witcher 3 anybody? I get you need to engage fans, but there’s other ways to do it.

If you’re going to include a Battle Pass, don’t include weapons or items that will increase a player’s advantage. Keep it cosmetic only please.This feels like when Middle Earth: Shadow of War included micro transactions and loot boxes to a single player game and tried to start a trend. Needless to say people were not happy, and I loved that game, but that soiled my experience.

I don’t think I’m going to drag this article on much longer because I’m losing track of what I’m saying which is why it’s under the “rant” category. Moving forward, we need to end this trend of over monetization.

If I’m simple minded or you just want to share your thoughts, leave them in the comments below.

Spoiler alert: Expect to see my impressions on Borderlands 3 and the Modern Warfare Beta coming up in the new two weeks.