Season pass (video games)
A season pass is a form of
Approach
Season passes may be available to purchase alongside the game prior to its release, or may be available after the game's release. Once purchased, the player gains all content that has been released to date under that season pass and eligible for future, unannounced content. Many season passes state the type of content that players will get even though the exact content may be unknown at the time.
Season passes may cover all planned expansion content for a game and represents a one-time purchase. In other cases, season passes cover the content of a game for a limited period of time, on the order of months to years, which allow the developer to continue to add more content in lieu of developing a wholly new title as to continue to draw in revenue. For example, Ubisoft's
History
One of the first season passes in video games was used by
Controversy
Season passes have been criticized for being anti-consumer, as they psychologically pressure customers to spend more money.[8] It is also impossible to know if they are worth buying since they cannot be reviewed until they are released, and the discounts they offer are sometimes offset by poor-quality content that the player would otherwise not have bought.[8] Additionally, if a game performs poorly in the market, the prices of the DLC for it can fall faster than any discount people would have received by immediately buying its season pass.[8]
Andrew Reiner of Game Informer called some season passes "scams coming from money-hungry corporations" because so little information is divulged that consumers can be subject to bait-and-switch tactics, like using a lower-quality studio to develop the content, or delaying the content's release significantly.[10]
GamesRadar+ criticized multiplayer season passes as splitting the community of online games, praising games that had instituted a different model that was more dependent on cosmetic DLC rather than downloadable maps, such as For Honor and Titanfall 2.[11] Shacknews criticized a number of games for having disappointing season passes, such as Evolve and Aliens: Colonial Marines.[12]
References
- VG 247. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (5 June 2018). "Destiny 2 gets an Annual Pass, here's what's included". Polygon. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- ^ Rivera, Joshua (29 August 2019). "Destiny 2's Seasons Will Work Much Differently This Year". Kotaku. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "Take-Two Interactive Software - Investor Relations - Take-Two News Release". ir.take2games.com. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
- ^ "L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass". PlayStation™Store. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
- ^ Orland, Kyle (17 June 2011). "Warner Bros. To Offer 'season pass' DLC Bundle For Xbox 360 Mortal Kombat". Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ^ Arts, Electronic (1 August 2011). "EA SPORTS Season Ticket Announces Today". Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Dear everyone: it's time to stop buying season passes at launch". PCGamesN. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ a b "With the apparent death of season passes and $15 DLC, did we actually end up with a worse deal? - VG247". VG247. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "Season Passes Are Starting To Sound Like Scams". Game Informer. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "The multiplayer season pass is almost dead, this is how For Honor and Titanfall 2 are killing it". gamesradar. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "The Most (and Almost) Disappointing Season Passes of All Time". Shacknews. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2018.