Are Season Passes becoming ridiculous?

[kidson2004]

I was thinking of this last night after seeing the Year 2 Season Pass for Tekken 7. Then seeing the Year 2 pass for Ghost Recon Wildlands, Rainbow Six Seige, and others that have a Year 2 pass. Plus, those same games are releasing “Ultimate” editions of those same games. And don't forget the hundreds of season passes for Dead or Alive!! I can understand wanting to put out more content, but why create content outside of the season pass for any game? I think this is slowly becoming a disturbing trend moving forward. What do you think? 

Edited September 18, 2018 by kidson2004
DOA season passes

[Gamer-Girl-Noire]

this going to become more common as games are now being sold as a service not a product. this mostly happened as the consumers have just let company's do shady tactics like this for years 

[locoporkko]

and you forgot the thousand season pass of dead or alive in ps4 a real steal

[metamec]

Season passes have been a constant source of cynical marketing exercises since shortly after their inception.

Edited September 18, 2018 by fauxtronic

[PSNP is crap i left]

They were always ridiculous.

[Wavergray]

Hey, something has to pay for the new content. If I'm really enjoying a game a whole year after it was released, I would rather have a second season pass over a bunch of absolutely disgusting loot box shenanigans.

[kidson2004]

4 minutes ago, locoporkko said:

and you forgot the thousand season pass of dead or alive in ps4 a real steal

I'm surprised I did forget it. Those are hands down THE most ridiculous ones ever!! 

[panikooooos]

We have gotten to a point where you need to spend one third of the console's value if you want to properly enjoy everything a game has to offer. Seriously I can't believe the state of console gaming atm. Just take a look at the ps store, the front page has Fifa 19 Ultimate Edition for 100 euros, who the fuck pays 100 euros for a DIGITAL version of a videogame? Remember when videogames cost half the price of that and you got a lot of physical goodies too? Yep, that is gone now. Why is this only an issue for consoles? Pc gaming is so cheap, and superior in almost every way, without the console exclusives I'd probably drop out of this shitty industry altogether

[Happy]

I can only really form an opinion on a case by case basis here. Generally speaking i’m not opposed to the idea of a season-based DLC model. It would be unreasonable to assume that you can fund unlimited amounts of content with the money made from just a single pass so when devs do decide to support the game for longer than they originally planned i think it’s okay to ask for money even from people who bought a previous pass. This should be the case especially with games with long lifespans such as fighting games.

Obviously they should be as transparent as possible about what exactly is covered by the pass and what isn’t when selling it to avoid misconceptions. Then there’s shady stuff beyond that like how legacy characters in Tekken 7 were previously announced to be free only for that statement to be revoked when season 2 rolled around. That’s an entirely different discussion though imo.

[eigen-space]

7 minutes ago, soultaker655 said:

Hey, something has to pay for the new content. If I'm really enjoying a game a whole year after it was released, I would rather have a second season pass over a bunch of absolutely disgusting loot box shenanigans.

 

Market research and ROI estimates are what have traditionally "paid for" new content. Saying this is likening big-name devs to startups that need to resort to pre-acquired funds through things like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, Patreon, etc.

I agree that if a game is still enjoyable later, then the developer certainly should take that into consideration to release new content via DLC or a season pass.... I personally have no issues with companies capitalizing on popular products if they're doing it because the fans want more after all their planned content was released (I'd -rather- see a sequel than additional content, but sometimes that's just not feasible). However, if additional content is already planned and announced during the development stages of a game, it seems like the devs are just trying to put out a game they know is somewhat incomplete for a cash grab at a later date.

[Conor]

Season Passes have always been BS but they still exist because people still buy them* and aren't gonna go away for as long as that is the case. At least in the past when they actually included ALL dlc they were bearable but now there's all kinds of fuckery so hopefully more people will wise up.

 

*I mean, I buy them too but only on sale!

[PSXtreme_]

i don't buy them....won't buy them...don't see a need to buy them...

 

I don't even buy games new anymore...the industry has lost my financial support with their repeated greed and shafting of its customer base

[Xillia]

29 minutes ago, panikooooos said:

Just take a look at the ps store, the front page has Fifa 19 Ultimate Edition for 100 euros, who the fuck pays 100 euros for a DIGITAL version of a videogame?

It's even not just Fifa. A lot of the newer AAA releases have had some sort of deluxe version that goes for €100 or more.

[PooPooBlast]

Tekken is one my favourite franchises but I was royally pissed about seeing a second season pass ESPECIALLY that the first one provided little to no content. Not to mention Lei and Anna were on the main roster on previous Tekkens. WTF

 

Oh and speaking of Royally screwing up FFXV decided to release a royal edition on-top of the complete edition AND they're releasing a second season pass soon for the new story episodes coming out . Sigh...

Edited September 18, 2018 by PooPooBlast

[metamec]

Train Simulator on Steam is my favourite example of cynical DLC deployment.  If you want all the different trains and routes as well as the game, the total outlay is close to £5,000.  The usual reply from staunch defenders of this practice is that you don't NEED to own all that stuff, but inevitably, a lot of people DO want to own everything from their favourite games and simulators.  Owners of the base game reluctantly paying £3-£20 for a new train or route every now and then are what keeps this situation alive.

 

What bothers me most is that Train Simulator's graphics are outdated and the engine is poorly optimised, but there's no sucker like a train enthusiast apparently.

[MidnightDragon]

Yea, think it's gotten a bit out of hand...but obviously it makes them money or they wouldn't do it.

[Honor_Hand]

When I see these threads, I always think of these images...

 

 

 

 

They perfectly describe what I think about DLC and season passes in general

[GoldenShaka]

Well, the one you can blame about the seasonal Season pass and where the trend started is:

 

 B O R D E R L A N D S     2

 

 

They even released an Add on disc.

 

Visionaries!!!!!!

[itachi-destroyer]

I don't think season pass are all becoming ridiculous but this is certainly becoming more common lately. I don't mind them much when they add something to a game after the game is released and polished (The Witcher 3 season pass is the perfect example of a really good season pass) but when they are already talking about the season pass content long before the game is even released it just makes me want to not buy the game at launch or at all in some cases. 

 

One game that comes to my mind right now is Soul Calibur VI, the game isn't even gold and the roster isn't even fully known but the developpers are already talking about DLC characters, pre-order costumes, season pass pre-order bonus character and sh*ts like that that don't even make sense since the base game seems to have a rather small roster and making former characters of the franchise becoming DLC is a huge no as far as I'm concerned. (Hi Street Fighter, Dead Or Alive, Tekken and Mortal Kombat... Well, it seems like every "important" fighting games is doing this unfortunately ) Between the bad marketing around the game, the lackluster roster, the never ending DLC nonsense and the period they choose to release this game, they are just setting themselves for a huge flop and having Geralt as a guest will not save them.

 

Another thing that is becoming kind of ridiculous with the season passes is the price some developpers are asking for. Call of Duty games are known for having ridiculously overpriced season pass (50€) but they were kind of a unique case a few years ago, now you have other AAA games like Shadow Of War asking for 40€ for just two little stories or games like Destiny 2 with ridiculous price for their DLCs... Not long ago I would have added Ubisoft to this list but it seems like they made a step in the good direction recently with Far Cry 5 and Assassin's Creed Odyssey season passes (both are offering HD remakes of older games). 

 

So yeah, most games are having ridiculous DLCs/Season Pass these days (With Koei Tecmo being the champions in that category unfortunately) but they better be careful because more gamers seems to realise the greediness of some developpers lately and most will not hesitate to boycott a game because of this while others will wait for a game of the year edition to release which is just going to hurt the sales of the base game.

 

Edit : I completely forgot to talk about some games having multiple season passes but I'll keep it short. Most of the time it's because developpers knows that their fan base is going to accept it and pay anyway so they just don't care but in some cases I can understand the need to have more than one season pass. For example, I don't mind Dissidia having more than one season pass because the base game already had a really good roster at launch and Team Ninja are actually really working hard on the character they release, they feel really unique and are for the most part important characters/fan favourites that didn't made the cut in the base game so I don't really care if the game ends up having 5 season passes in the end since the franchise is so big that they could make a game with 50 characters that it still would not be enough to satisfy every FF fan. 

Edited September 18, 2018 by itachi-destroyer

[RadiantFlamberge]

I'm feeling the same. It's ridiculous having to pay extra for a character who was in past Tekkens, such as another $6 for Lei or Anna.  I'd like paid character DLCs to be ones NOT seen before in a Tekken game, such as Geese or Akuma. Maybe even a brand new original Tekken character.  While SNK did the same with KOF XIV, at least they did introduce the new character Najd.  I can excuse SNK because KOF XIV's roster was already quite generous.  Namco?  I gotta blame them.   T7's roster did leave a bit to be desired.  Can't say I'm thrilled at all with SC6's plans for DLC.

 

Witcher 3 did the season pass right.  Deus Ex Mankind Divided offered a decent bit of extra content, but they should've found a way to merge its expansions into the main game, like DXHR Director's Cut did.  Nope, you'll need to play them stand-alone.

 

 

[TJ_Solo]

The more DLC content a game has the more likely a season pass should exist. A season pass for FO3 and Oblivion would have been great. I also would have jumped at a season pass for any Persona game including the dancing spin-offs instead of having to buy each item individually. A bulk discount isn't a bad thing either.

[RevengeancePrime]

I think there are cases where season passes are fine. Siege has an optional season pass that's mainly for unlocking operators early, but they make it more than manageable for someone to earn these operators by dedicating some time to the game. The same can be said for SFV, although I feel like it's become much harder to earn fight money this season.

 

Dead or Alive is pretty much for costumes. I see it as a means to support the game similar to Warframe's offerings with prime packs. Season passes are ridiculous when you have games like the Surge that release a complete edition then follow it up with more DLC and release another edition. A lot of season passes also seem to just be underwhelming compared to the base game and seem more like a means to take more money from consumers. Overall, I think the majority of companies are going overboard, but you've also got a few companies that are doing it in a way that I believe is acceptable.

[Property_Damage]

1 hour ago, Honor_Hand said:

When I see these threads, I always think of these images...

 

 

 

 

They perfectly describe what I think about DLC and season passes in general

That burger one gets me every time lol

But i do agree with OP, these year 2 passes and beyond are bullshit

i bought tekken 7 ultimate or whatever they called it at launch when the game was bundled with the season pass thinking great, now ill have the full game, then i too saw the recently added year 2 bullshit in the ps store and I was a little pissed off

these companies just nickle and dime you left and right any chance they can get

[Gr4de_04]

By extension, you are basically asking 'Are DLCs becoming ridiculous? And my answer would be abso-fucking-lutely. DLCs nowadays can sot like 40 bucks. Which is more than id pay for most full games. And even DLCs which are like 15-25 bucks sometimes only have 1 hour of actual content. And it's only becoming worse and worse. I won't be surprised if games in 10 years have a minimum of 4 Overpriced DLCs (or a season pass for 80-100 bucks). Especially online games suffer from this toxic crap. 

[AJ_Radio]

I always laugh at those Destiny jackasses who get pissed off when DLC comes out, or an update changes the way you get a certain trophy. 

 

Destiny 2’s DLC took an entire year to come out after the initial game was released, and people were pissed before the DLC because one of the trophies was made more annoying to get, due to the online nature of the game. 

 

Look who published Destiny 1 and 2. Now look at the Battlefields and Call of Dutys. Guess who is publishing those. EA and Activision. 

 

So obviously there is going to be DLC and most likely microtransactions, but you guys still buy them despite bitching that there’s too much DLC or the Season Pass is too expensive. Get a fucking clue. Do some research on these games beforehand. Read up on what these publishers have done.

 

You’re just helping these companies release even more DLC and microtransactions. I mean my god, it’s like nobody was going to notice EA putting some content behind a paywall for Star Wars Battlefront 2. Then when everyone realizes it they go bitching on YouTube and Reddit over it. People scramble to try to return the game back to wherever they bought it from. 

 

Stop supporting them. Stop giving them attention. Season Passes are common now because they know a lot of people will shell out more money, usually $90 - 100 for the entire package. 

 

There’s a reason why I’ve gone to playing indie games and older games. Usually cheaper and more bang for your buck. 

 

It’s a pretty bad feeling when you bought a Season Pass for a game, only to realize there wasn’t as much content for it as you thought there would be. Then a year later nobody gives a shit about that content anymore and they move on to the next DLC and paywall infested AAA game that employs the same tactic. 

 

Bunch of bandwagoners jumping from one pile of shit to the next.