Rumour: Much of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's Season One Battle Pass Must Be Paid For

A battle pass for a paid game? Lol I understand for the free to play games like fortnite and apex legends etc but for a £40 game they want more money for a battle pass is a joke

@playstation_king That's just how it is nowadays.

@LiamCroft I suppose so yeah but didn't think paid games would do battle passes aswell though, is this the only paid game that offers a battle pass so far?

@playstation_king Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Destiny 2 have Battle Passes too. If it's a Game as a Service, it more than likely has one.

@playstation_king It basically replaces the Season Pass...this time the map DLC etc is free to avoid splitting the player base, the other stuff not.

It's the Activision/Blizzard staple...no game was ever going out the door without some sort of post release monetisation. If anything this is probably the least aggressive form it's taken in a fair few releases.

It is, however, a sorry reflection of games media as a whole (Then again, the budgets are absolutely immense these days). It just seems to be the way it is these days and that's rather sad, I'll admit. It also seems to be the continuation of the worrying trend into these types of sales tactics.

The cost compared to the potential reawards makes it good value if you like the game.

if it's a bunch of cosmetic tat, i couldn't care less.. i generally don't even bother with the customisations you can unlock for free. as long as the gun works the same whether it's a default skin or pimped out gold bling ultra camo, no big deal.

Terrible state of affairs that everyone just says “that’s how it is now” and says good value.

It shouldn’t be.

I highly doubt I pay for this. I’m not really bothered by cosmetic rewards.

@LemonHaze But it's not a car. It's a computer game.

I understand there's nothing I can do about battle passes unfortunately, capitalism is everywhere these days. Even going the park you have to rent footy pitches. Car finance deals are veering towards rentals in all but name and 35 year mortgages are way more popular than ever. That's life now.

Battle passes are the least worst option for monetisation post release in a digital game, at this moment in time. They can also be fun and an incentive to play often.

That doesn't mean it should be praised. Far from it. In another 3-4 years time they will be a frankenstein version of the Fortnite battle passes we see today. They are mini subscriptions. Pay a tenner this month, ten the next.

Play for 5 months and you have spent £100 on one game. This will get worse going forward, as unlike buying a car which you pay up front for what you get day one. Activision has full capability to change the terms of the deal when they see fit.