Topic: Discussion - Season Passes: how much is too much?

Ok, so I know the price of DLC etc has been covered a few times on posts, particularly on the subject of online focussed games like Destiny and Evolve, but I wanted to see what people's thoughts were on the cost of single player DLC / season passes.

I ask because I've just looked at the EU store update and seen that the Arkham Knight season pass is a staggering £32.99. To my mind, that's pretty much what a full game would (or perhaps should) cost! Now, I've not taken an in depth look at what's contained there, but unless it adds content equal to at least 50% or more of the main game, then I can't see it being worth the money (and presumably things would be even worse if you bought it all seperately).

Maybe it's just an old fashioned way of thinking, but really I don't think you should be able to charge that much money for any DLC unless it's a full blown expansion pack, a la Heavensward, that almost doubles the length of the game.

But that's just my thoughts. Personally the most I'd want to pay for a season pass is £15, and only then if I could be certain of the quality of the content. Do you think season passes are getting out of hand? What is the most that you would consider paying for a full price season pass? And has anybody here actually opted to pay full whack for the AK season pass (as in, seperately from the game, not Premium edition etc)?

For me it all depends how much stuff I get with the season pass vs the price. The only game's that I bought season passes for really was a couple WWE games, and Borderlands 2 but they were on sale. Usually on games like Arkham I just wait for a GotY edition to come out and get the game then.

Personally I won't be getting one with a game ever again. Nearly always a waste of money. Besides, anything that is ready on launch day (as nearly all season pass content usually is and all this 'xbox exclusive' or 'ps exclusive; garbage content) should be on the disc but the publishers are greedy. The only season pass I've really enjoyed was Borderlands 2 as you got a ridiculous amount plus knew it was being made after the game. Even the bonus character that game with the special edition of the game wasn't ready and you got her a month or two later.

The stuff in Arkham Knight just doesn't interest me. I couldn't care less about driving old Batmobiles that should be on the disc in courses that should be on the disc or extra combat stages that should be on the disc. The Batgirl story I may get separately when it comes out but it's a lot of money to spend on a lot of content that I just don't want... and that should be on the disc.

COD is the stupidest of all though. Have you seen what genuinely tiny content you get over the last few editions? I got the season pass with MW3 as I loved Survival and Spec Ops but it was nothing special, bar the odd map. For games that apparently take three years (now) to make, you'd think once their game is out they'd move on to the next one, as the teams always confirm they are doing. So why is the season pass content trinkled out over the course of the year rather than being on the disc (may sense a pattern here) like it should be? Greed.

I suppose the Mario Kart deal was technically a season pass and that was done the right way. For £11 you got six new characters (including non Mario ones) , new colours for Yoshi and Shy Guy, and four new cups which is sixteen courses including remakes of classic favourites and ones set in non Mario titles. For around the quarter of the price of the full game you got practically half a games worth of content. That is how it should be done.

When you look at the DLC for Arkham City - which consisted of Harley Quinns Revenge, the Robin and Nightwing challenge packs, some additional skins and the Batcave Challenge map - as well as the Catwoman pack (for those that didn't buy new and seems similar to the Harley Quinn Story pack of Arkham Knight) the combined cost was more than the £33 they are asking for the season pass of this. I bet the Batgirl pack on its own will be £12 - same price as Harley Quinns Revenge. I believe the Robin and Nightwing packs were around £7-8 each and I don't know how much the Batcave and skins pack cost - the Catwoman pack cost £7-8 too - so a little more than the cost of this season pass... For those that want to buy ALL the DLC then Season Passes are designed for them and overall save money. I would rather have a Season Pass than buy all DLC individually. There is no reason to buy a Season Pass at launch if you don't want and can wait until all content is announced or released before making your decision. If you don't want to buy all DLC or none, then you don't have to. As Arkham Knight is likely to have only 1 DLC pack of interest to me, then the Season Pass doesn't make economic sense - I would be better off just buying the Batgirl pack individually.

In the case of CoD for example, A season pass is usually around £40 for 16 maps and 4 co-op maps - like Zombies/Extinction etc and recently weapons too. The base game has 14 maps and 1 co-op map usually. To buy the DLC separately it costs £48 so a season pass saves £8 as well as offers some in game bonuses - like early access to parts of it, extra emblems/badges too. BF has a similar system with its 'Premium' feature but again saves those fans of the game money.

The Witcher 3 is offering 2 expansions - 1 larger than the other and if you want both, you can buy a season pass to save £5 over the cost of buying both.

In every case, a season pass is the best option financially for people who want all the DLC. I would rather be offered a season pass than have to pay for multiple DLC packs individually.

Obviously Season Passes are better for people interested in buying ALL the DLC but for those that may only buy a few or less, then you are better off paying the premium price for those individual packs or in the case of Batman - maybe waiting for the inevitable Game of the Year version. I can't say that I expect a Season Pass to be no more than a set figure as it really depends on the content. Map packs in the biggest shooters (CoD, BF etc) tend to cost £12 each and a season is usually 4 packs so paying £15 for a Season Pass is unrealistic to expect. I do expect the Season Pass to cost less than the combined cost of the individual packs separately. I still have a choice to buy it at any time - even after ALL the DLC has released so I know exactly what I will get or individual packs or even none of the DLC too...

Yeah, the DLC for this is ridiculous. $40 is too much for a season pass. I don't see a 50% (it even costs more than %50 of the game, but it costs a lot less for them) as the previous DLC hasn't been that great. Harley's revenge wasn't worth $10. It was way too short. The extra characters felt like watered down Batman clones that didn't even work for the character at times (like Deadpool.) The lack of any story for then also made it not worth it. Just using a character for only challange maps is stupid. At least let someone roam the world with the character like Catwoman. I also don't like any of the skins offered in the DLC before. Best DLC was the free joker DLC in Asylum really.

I bought the MK X Limited Edition which had the season pass for $30 but that's where I'll draw the line. At least until all of the Batman: Arkham Knight DLC is out and I see what it entails. To be fair because I don't actually know, it's entirely possible Rocksteady could have great stuff in store. But when they're announcing a season pass for $40 and a lot of it involved the Batmobile, which people seem to hate, it's a bad look when at the same time CD Projekt Red says it's releasing two huge expansions to a huge RPG for a mere $25.

The Batmobile is awesome. Are most of these people ones who haven't played Arkham Knight yet?

Just going off what I've seen in some reviews and what some of my friends have told me. I don't have an opinion of my own yet. I've been caught up playing Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition and haven't started Arkham Knight but I am looking forward to it. Hopefully the Batmobile is cool.

Personally I have played (or more accurately - currently playing) it and really don't think the Batmobile is 'great'. Its good fun zooming around the city but combat is a but hit and miss, some of the Riddler puzzles are annoying and the navigation round tight courses, leaping on to roof tops etc is not great. The charge 'mechanic' where you rev the engine is far too sensitive and more frustrating - have to tap R2 to get anywhere a the slightest touch sends the counter too far. I guess if being the Batman wasn't so good, then the Batmobile would seem a lot better.

It depends on what you are getting. I never buy a season pass with vanilla games, and usually buy dlc in drips and drabs. Have recently pumped a £10 for the tales from the borderlands season pass - but that's a bit different as I know what I'm getting.

How much is too much? As much as I see value in it at that moment. Funnily enough it has a direct correlation with how much disposable income I have at that moment. How many beers I've had is also a factor.

At the end of the day if I'm going to get bent out of shape over the occasional £10-£20 purchase I probably need to look at my life and work a bit harder

£15 is enough, more because I know other countries generally get less ripped off

I'm a lifelong Batman fan but even I wouldn't buy the season pass at that price. It doesn't help when we don't really know the content that's included, yes there's a Batgirl story but it needs to be much longer then the Harley Quinn and Red Hood DLC packs because those took me half an hour to complete TOGETHER. Any season passes I buy tend to be for things like Telltale's games, even then I wait for a discount. For me Driveclub have done the season pass right because not only was the content worth the price but they outlined there whole DLC schedule before release, even the free stuff too. If publishers have season passes then they should tell consumers in detail what the pass comes with so we can decide whether it's worth the price.

@kyleforrester87 its not so much the dlc as I think we have all accepted its here to stay, its the season passes.

It makes good business sense, keeps the tills rolling at release, get the money before you develop, make the consumer pay £80-£100 a game.

But for the consumer - its just stupid. With the telltale example I have paid £14 for the "season pass" so it made sense - its not really a season pass - its £14 for a full game just released episodically. The Batman example is different - pay £45 for the game then £35 for a season pass?? Really?? £80 for a game. The business excuse is ridiculous, before dlc and season passes, ea, Activision, Ubisoft and Warner Bros were doing fine. I'm not even sure it costs more to make games these days due to the digital capacity of companies and third party software tools.

As you say DLC is certainly (it seems) here to stay. Personally I don't have an issue with DLC myself. As a fan of CoD (the older games anyway), I don't feel that the increase in DLC is in anyway detrimental to the on-disc content. CoD4 has less on-disc content than more recent CoD's. It had a campaign and MP with around 14 maps. It also had 1 DLC pack offering just 4 maps. By the time Black Ops came out, CoD's on disc content had grown to include the co-op experience (in this case - Zombies) but still kept a similar length campaign and a MP - more options etc but same number of Maps of 14. DLC also grew from 1 pack to 4 with an extra co-op Map. The price hasn't changed either. I know the last Map Pack was essentially all Zombies (1 new and 4 from W@W) but each pack cost £12 - no Season Pass back then either. It was a reaction to the combined price of buying a full 'season' of DLC that Season Passes were brought in. By the time BO2 came out a year later (after the season of BO1's DLC), the Season Pass (as it still does today) cost £40 saving £8 off the cost of DLC if bought separately. It also gives a few unique in game cosmetic items such as calling cards, emblems etc and recently CoD Season Pass holders often get early access to Weapons (which have also been added in to DLC packs). This £40 cost more than doubles the Map count - adding in 16 maps, as well as 4 extra co-op maps and a few weapons too. As I said you often get a few 'extra' bonuses too.

Whatever you think about CoD or Activision, The on-disc content has grown. The DLC packs have grown in both number and content and yet the price of the game, the individual packs and Season Pass have remained pretty constant. Season Passes represent the best value for fans to buy ALL the DLC. If you are not a fan and unlikely to buy all the DLC, then a Season Pass is not for you. Season Passes are purely for 'fans' and people likely to buy ALL DLC. In EVERY case, A season pass is cheaper than the total individual cost. Battlefield offered 'Premium' which was its equivalent of a Season Pass and also gave fans 'extra' in game cosmetics as well as in game bonuses and earlier access to DLC.

The last time Rocksteady released a Batman game, Season Passes were not around - not common place anyway. The DLC if added up actually cost more than the £32 of the Arkham Knights Season Pass and I bet the 6months of content will cost more if bought separately. Whether you see that content as 'worth it' or not remains to be seen. Even as a fan of the previous games, the only content I was interested in was the Harley Quinn's Revenge. Story DLC is, I think, a difficult thing. It requires a LOT more time, cost and development - script writers, voice actors, animators etc may also have to build new environments too and often offer very little replayability compared to a bunch of MP maps.

No one says you need to buy DLC to enjoy the game, in the majority of cases, DLC adds 'more' to the base game. Like DLC though, season passes are optional. You don't have to buy at all. You can wait until you know exactly what all that content is before you buy. They are offered up front so that people can buy before purchasing the first DLC. You would be more annoyed if after buying the first pack, a Season Pass was announced and you could have saved money... IF you want every piece of DLC though, it is the best and cheapest option. I for one would rather have the option to buy a Season Pass than have to buy all the DLC separately.

You cannot have a problem with Season Passes without having a problem with DLC itself, as the Season Pass is actually saving you a few pounds on DLC. People are buying DLC that's why companies make more to help towards development costs, wether that's true is another matter especially if the main game has sold well. Or wether it should have stayed on the disc in the first case, in some cases. Take Destiny's DLC for £19.99 which really doesn't add much especially towards some other DLC, yet people must be happy with it or else it wouldn't sell well. The Taken King will cost the same price as a PS3 game at full RRP & for £10 more a PS4 game, but I some how doubt you'll be getting almost a full game as an expansion. Or if you don't already own Destiny you can get Destiny with all the DLC including The Taken King for a few pounds more, yet the DLC is still full price that's already out. Depends how well this DLC sells dictates wether you'll be seeing this same thing in the future, from what I can tell the £19 DLC must of sold well so why not charge more for a little bit more DLC if people are buying it, that's what thay must think and you cannot blame them if the things are selling in the first place.

Can i buy a season pass without owning the actual game?

@cloudrunner64: Yes - I do with my Diablo 3, trials and destiny dlc as I don't own the base games anymore.

Glad this thread is back up after Star Wars Battlefront is available. Anyone pay the £120 asking price for everything out of the box?

I bought just the base version of the game as I have concerns over its longevity. I don't know if it will last the distance in terms of community support - after all if very few are playing it, the lobbies will be very difficult to get games in - some impossible and potentially the game-play itself will suffer with Lag issues too. In terms of the price of the Season Pass though, I think its 'reasonable' based on the current market. It will offer more than double the quantity of on disc maps, more game modes etc. Season Passes and their price are difficult to assess until all the content is out and how it impacts on the game and its players. Its cost though and amount of content appears to be very similar to Battlefields 'Premium' and I don't recall there being as much fuss about that.

CoD generally offers 16 maps, 4 co-op maps and since BO2 an increasing number of weapons. Because this game is popular throughout the year, buying a Season Pass at £35-40 is good value for its players as they get many hours from it. Destiny's Season Pass (both the Dark Below and House of Wolves) although seemed 'light' on content, generated many more hours of game time for me than pretty much most other AAA games and their DLC.

If SW:BF grows and remains popular, the Season Pass will be a good investment for its players - adding a lt more content and variety. Despite a fairly positive first impression though, I cannot at the moment see it maintaining my interest over the duration of the 'Season' and therefore that pass is looking like a poor investment for me.

I do not tend to buy season passes for games just because I like to pick and choose the content. Saying that I would buy a season pass for Mass Effect 4 because I know it will be good content. But they might not do a season pass for it.

The other issue I have is the fact the season pass only covers you for one year and so depending on the release scehdule for content it might not prove to be good value. Depending on the game and content I think £20 is reasonable any higher than that and it would need a lot of good content .