Summary
AfterStar Wars Battlefront 2erupted in a negative loot box discourse, the gaming industry was looking for a new form of microtransaction. Studios wanted to give players a way to earn unique cosmetics for a price, but it needed to be different from the last iteration. That was whereFortnite’s battle pass system came into play. It not only gave players so many cosmetics to play with but also seemed to beextremely successful for Epic Games. So, of course, all the other studios wanted to take it for a spin.
Now, almost every video game these days needs a battle pass, with evengames likeDeep Rock Galacticincluding its own version. While it is nice to get all these cosmetics, there just seem to be too many battle passes these days. Players have become increasingly burnt out by the concept as it seems to thrive on FOMO, which forces players to focus a ton of time on unlocking everything they offer. There does not seem to be enough time in the day for all of these passes, and that has made it lose its appeal immensely.
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Not Everything Needs a Battle Pass
The first known battle pass came in the form ofDota 2’s Compendium during The International 2013. It gave players an assortment of in-game goodies for them to use while 25% of the revenue was put into the prize pool. After the success of that pass, Valve would go on to offer similar packs for other Internationals, add campaign passes toTeam Fortress 2in 2015, and offera larger battle pass forDota 2in 2016. While all these operated like the modern-day battle pass, the feature would not gain traction within the greater industry until 2017.
In 2017, Epic Games would end up introducing the battle pass toFortnite. This version of the pass seemed to instantly gain traction with players as it offered a whole new way for them to earn cosmetics. Each season would come with new items for them to earn, which would result in massive sales numbers. It was a fantastic new way to earn items as all it asked players to do was play the game. Those who did not want to purchase it would get a few items, while those who spent the money could get 100 tiers of items to add to their collection.
The introduction of the battle pass came at the perfect time becauseStar Wars Battlefront 2had recently embroiled the loot box system in massive controversy. The game came under immense scrutiny for the way it handled the concept as the entire progression system was tied to these randomized boxes. This would not only get the attention of mainstream press like CNN but would even cause the Belgian Gaming Commission to investigate it for possible gambling practices. While EA may have removed the microtransactions, the damage had already been done.
The studios were looking for a new form of microtransaction, and they seemed to have found it in the battle pass. Now, almost every game seems to include a version of the concept.Rocket Leaguechallenges playersto complete over 300 tiers,Overwatch 2threw out the loot box system in favor of a new battle pass, countless mobile games includingCall of Duty MobileandPUBG Mobilehave adopted the concept, and even Microsoft has gotten in on the trend withHalo Infinite. Everyone wants their own version, and that has made the system far less appealing.
Fortnite’s version was special because it was new. Now, there are just way too many of them with too little time to complete them all. On top of that, not every game seems to handle the concept well as some offer rewards that are arguably not worth the price of admission. Because of this, players are slowly becoming disinterested in the model and some even avoid games that include them altogether. While it will likely be a while before studios find something new to replace battle passes, some players have already written the concept off entirely.
Fortniteis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and mobile devices.
