This week I played my very first round of Overwatch. I was immediately impressed by the synergistic class-based elements of the game and how a team’s well-oiled machine can quickly dismantle the opponent. I also loved the colors and art direction and the clearly thought out card design. It didn’t take long for me to believe the hype – even if this highly anticipated sequel may be too close to the original in certain respects. Still, to new eyes like mine, Overwatch 2 has been a revelation, but it has also given a different take on something that has already taken up too much of my free time: the battle pass.
Moving to a free-to-play model, this is Overwatch’s first foray into the battle pass world, trading the series’ unsavory use of loot boxes for the now-standard system where cosmetics like skins are unlocked via a battle pass. But instead of reserving your goods and paying in installments, like layaway, with a battle pass, you pay upfront and earn it all with essentially minutes played. Daily and weekly challenges, seasonal events and more are here to take you through the game’s 80 levels and unlock everything you’ve already paid for.
While others may disagree, I don’t actually find this system predatory. At least it’s better than the alternatives we’ve seen. Given the huge budgets of huge projects like Overwatch 2, I think the battle pass is a reasonable middle ground that manages to dodge the use of both loot boxes and pay-to-win tactics while also creating an in-game economy that supports games. that are meant to last for years to come. What this system saddens me, however, is how it prompts me to spend my time because when so many live service games use this system, I have to spend my limited free time experiencing some of my favorite best share games, or watch these games go on without me.
The allure of the Battle Pass is clear: pay a little now to earn a lot for what you intend to do anyway. But the most enticing battle passes also have a way of making the game feel incomplete without them. The confirmation rate for Fortnite players purchasing the battle pass is likely to be quite high, as the game’s progress loop basically doesn’t exist without it. All the challenges and XP constantly thrown into the game eventually lead to next to nothing, making it feel like Fortnite, a free-to-play game, realistically costs at least $9 every three months.
There’s also the fact that time spent and in-game spend actually go hand in hand – when one increases, so does the other for many players – which explains why studios are using the battle pass system so much at the moment. . The more often we stop by for our daily and weekly challenges, the more likely we are to spend a little extra on top of the initial battle pass purchase, including even purchasing battle pass levels themselves, which is an added and somewhat added value in most games . problematic option.
That’s still a reasonable price I’m willing to pay – Fortnite has some great characters and crossovers – but to use Fortnite as a further example, earn all eight skins with every battle pass plus stylish new digital items like gliders, back bling, lobby music and more, it not only takes my battle pass purchase, but also a significant amount of time. Lately, I’ve put in about 80 hours into each season of Fortnite, which is an average of about an hour a day in a typical season. That doesn’t sound like much, but the system also demands that I come back every day, otherwise I’ll be behind the pace I need to earn everything. Even then, it’s doable for one game, but considering how widespread this system has become, the overall time limit comes to something untenable.
It’s not just Fortnite that I play to complete its battle pass. It’s also Sea of Thieves, Knockout City, and Madden. In each of these games it’s the combination of cool stuff available now–but more importantly not forever— that’s what makes taking time away from them so challenging. It’s the Pavlovian appeal of coming in, looking up my newspapers, watching a few numbers rise here or there, and stepping out. Apart from a single game, this system is quite enjoyable. All in all, this means my favorite games are starting to eat up too much of my day. I can give a game an hour or so every day, but it’s much harder to find three or four hours besides playing other games for work, trying out new single-player games, and of course not gaming at all when I feel like it to have. But for fans of certain games, the alternative can feel just as bad.
Until not unlock cool skins like Spider-Gwen in Fortnite, or don’t earn my Madden Ultimate Team that incredible 89 OVR Stephon Gillmore card feels like quitting, like I have to be all in or all out with the games I like the most because she and their communities progress with or without me. And so I stay all in. A few weeks ago, I was chasing four battle passes a day, like a conveyor belt of small challenges to complete and boxes to check. It turned my favorite games into the same kind of busy work that I and others so often regret that sandbox games have become.
I haven’t played a game more than Fortnite for the past three years, but if you ask me what my favorite games are, Fortnite is sometimes an afterthought that I can hardly explain. While I really enjoy playing it and would eventually claim it’s a favorite when I’m clear in my head, sometimes it can feel like my relationship with the game is more like brushing my teeth: it’s just something I do every day. do. That’s an odd place to be as a player, but I expect this is exactly where I should end up according to Epic Games.
The Battle Pass grind is full of fun rewards, but the feeling that they become mandatory for the experience of a game leaves me with mixed feelings. While it keeps me playing some games because of it, I gave up on others that I liked but couldn’t keep up with the daily routine. I wouldn’t want to buy a battle pass if I couldn’t finish it, and so if a game’s battle pass seems mandatory – as they increasingly do – I’m quicker to just drop a game altogether. At least in Halo Infinite you can keep working on old battle passes even after new ones are released, which is a nice touch – although it still doesn’t help the feeling of being left behind. The drive to complete a battle pass in time is still there for me, even in Halo, to the extent that it became one of these games to be dropped from my schedule.
And yet, now that I’m done with the current Sea of Thieves and Knockout City battle passes, I’ve also bought myself into Overwatch 2’s inaugural battle pass, with the same commitment I so often regret. Games are getting better at making them attractive, with XP boosts on offer, cool skins for your favorite characters and often even a way to recoup your money spent to carry it to next season – good luck getting it to reserve it and not spend it on another irresistible store item. It’s ultimately a privilege to even get that much playing time so in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal, but looking ahead to where the industry could be in 5-10 years I wonder how best to invest not only my money, but also my time. The live service era is a race for our attention, and only so many can make it to the podium.
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