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[Games of Today]

This thought never hit me until a few days ago, but if you think about it these new games have such poor player retention that they literally pay you REAL MONEY for completing their battle passes.

Let's use Modern Warfare 2019 and Battlefield 2042 for example. (Both shooters that I've had the most experience with Battle Pass wise.)

In both games, if you complete all 100 levels of the battle pass you'll end up with enough "real money points" in your in-game wallet to purchase the next season's battle pass. These games have become so un-fun to play that they literally have to pay the players in order to keep them around. The more and more I think about it the more pathetic it gets. Not to mention it takes fucking forever to actually rank the battle passes up. I don't think I've actually completed any of them in full.

 

[NickFire]

Um, no.

Allowing you to earn enough in game currency to buy following season pass is a feature that rewards biggest fans. It’s awesome.

But in reality, most people just get extra skins and spend again anyway.

 

[Tsaki]

Well it's not real money. They are "XP" where if you collect enough you can unlock the possibility of unlocking new stuff in the future. But most people don't reach the max level of the BP, so they pay up. I used to play Warzone 1 and after a few seasons I got enough free "coins" to unlock the next season. And I did just that. But a week after that I grew tired of them putting the shitty 4-team playlist in Rebirth and I stopped the game entirely lol.

 

[Guilty_AI]

They're not paying to keep players around, they're not ripping them off in exchange for obscene amounts of their playtime.

 

[diffusionx]

Pretty much. These entire structures are designed by psychologists to maximize retention, turn you into an addict, and steer you towards the cash shop. Long gone are the days when devs kept people engaged by making the game really good and fun to play.

 

[Puscifer]

Pretty much. These entire structures are designed by psychologists to maximize retention, turn you into an addict, and steer you towards the cash shop. Long gone are the days when devs kept people engaged by making the game really good and fun to play.

Which is crazy, because some of the games with battle
passes are legitimately FUN to play and are ruined by battle pass being infested everywhere in the UI and becoming a turn off. Diablo 4 is cool, but it's really annoying having "ship" be a clear option in the damn inventory

 

[Calling 911 Melts Beams]

i prefer battle asses imo

 

[Three]

engagement numbers are often a key driver at a lot of these publishers. Now imagine you were paying a sub on it too. Now you have this "goal" to constantly be a MAU.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I don’t really agree, or at least it doesn’t apply to most people who buy these things. In my experience the people who buy them are hardcore players who are going to be playing the game regardless of whether there’s a battle pass or not. It’s more to reward the hardcore players with cool things that keep things fresh while playing.

It also introduces everyone to the in game stores or skins market where they can buy shit, and it also allows them virtually free advertising by having these hardcore players out and about killing casual players while wearing cool skins, which makes them then want to go buy those skins.

Personally if I’m not feeling a game and they aren’t to retain me as a player, a long list of unlocks and challenges is the last time I’m going to give a shit about.

 

[SomeGit]

The whole point of battle passes are to keep you playing, if you "fall off the wheel", you need to pay again. It's also why BP rewards are usually a tier below "real" MTX items that are usually on the store, the items on the BP just need to be good enough to keep you on the wheel why not being good enough to stop you from paying for store skins.

 

[Wildebeest]

The players are the content in a lot of these games. Fewer players, worse queues in terms of time waiting and quality of games. If game queues feel bad, then the game feels bad.

 

[Games of Today]

Well it's not real money. They are "XP" where if you collect enough you can unlock the possibility of unlocking new stuff in the future. But most people don't reach the max level of the BP, so they pay up. I used to play Warzone 1 and after a few seasons I got enough free "coins" to unlock the next season. And I did just that. But a week after that I grew tired of them putting the shitty 4-team playlist in Rebirth and I stopped the game entirely lol.

I think you're mistaken. I can't remember about MW 2019 but in Battlefield 2042 at least the in game coins are separate from the Battlefield points or what ever that you get from spending real money. Some cosmetic items can only be bought with those. The battle pass give you the equivalent of like $3.99 every 20 levels or so. Enough to save it up and buy next seasons pass.

 

[calistan]

This thought never hit me until a few days ago, but if you think about it these new games have such poor player retention that they literally pay you REAL MONEY for completing their battle passes.

Literally? If they were literally paying you real money you’d be able to cash in those points for actual real money.

But you can’t. You play enough, you get enough points to carry on into the next season. If you don’t, you either pay for the next season’s battle pass or you just don’t bother with it. It’s an optional thing for people who feel they want more than the game’s built-in progression system.

 

[TheDreadBaron]

When I was young, maybe first grade, a stranger came into our class and did some kind of experiment. He said, “Look under your chairs, one lucky student has a dollar taped under their chair.” The girl that found it was super excited. He said, “Ok, now I’m gonna give you a choice, you can keep the dollar or exchange it for this $1 McDonald’s coupon.” The kids generally screamed at her to go with the McDonalds buck. I was given the opportunity to argue for keeping the cash, but she got swept up in the excitement over McDonalds and made the exchange, and believed she now had something more valuable.

Let’s get it straight, virtual bucks aren’t money. Getting “paid” virtual currency is not getting paid money. It’s all psychological tricks, don’t fall for it.

 

[calistan]

When I was young, maybe first grade, a stranger came into our class and did some kind of experiment. He said, “Look under your chairs, one lucky student has a dollar taped under their chair.” The girl that found it was super excited. He said, “Ok, now I’m gonna give you a choice, you can keep the dollar or exchange it for this $1 McDonald’s coupon.” The kids generally screamed at her to go with the McDonalds buck. I was given the opportunity to argue for keeping the cash, but she got swept up in the excitement over McDonalds and made the exchange, and believed she now had something more valuable.

Let’s get it straight, virtual bucks aren’t money. Getting “paid” virtual currency is not getting paid money. It’s all psychological tricks, don’t fall for it.

Sort of unrelated, but my daughter’s school has just announced this fundraising thing whereby the kids take home an envelope and the parents put some cash inside, minimum 50p (UK) but no maximum specified.

The envelopes then get mixed up, and the kids pay 50p per turn, which goes to the school, to pick one at random. So the bare minimum you get is 50p, but it could be from some whale who put in £10 or whatever.

So I’m thinking why not just give her £20 to spend on playing this game? The least she’ll come away with is £20, and it will most likely be a lot more. That’s literal real money, and I guess the reason why schoolteachers aren’t rich.

 

[Loomy]

No, they're giving you a way to stay in the game so you spend more money on other shit.

Also, unless something is literally depositing cash into your bank account, it's not "paying you real money".

 

[Lasha]

Battle passes force you to pay for the privilege of doing chores to unlock items you paid for.

 

[BlitzerRadic]

Pretty much. These entire structures are designed by psychologists to maximize retention, turn you into an addict, and steer you towards the cash shop. Long gone are the days when devs kept people engaged by making the game really good and fun to play.

Lol people always bring up how video game companies using psychologists to get people to spend money like it's some sneaky nefarious shit when everyone does that. Like how you think advertisements work lol? Costco entire business model is built around psychological manipulation. You think that $5 chicken at the back of the store just happen to be there out of coincidence

 

[radewagon]

Battle passes force you to pay for the privilege of doing chores to unlock items you paid for.

Yeah. I'm having my first experience with the concept playing Lego 2K Drive. People online are saying it's poorly implemented, but the basic concept, to me, is bonkers. I've grown accustomed to DLC over the past few years, and I'm mostly okay with it. The basic scenario for in-game rewards for me is as follows:

• Free Content: Requires you to play the game and "earn" the rewards.
• Paid Content: Available right away because you pay money for the rewards.

But this Battle Pass thing (Drive Pass for Lego 2K) is such a double-dip it's insane to me that people have been falling for it in other titles. You are paying money but still expected to earn the content. Seriously. This is a thing people are okay with? You are paying money. That's how you earned it. You gave them money. You shouldn't have to grind it out as well.

What do I know though... I'm just some old person yelling at a cloud.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Um, what?

That's how Fortnite which was the world's largest game and one of the creators of the concept of battle passes always did it.

They almost certainly have data suggesting that they still make gobs of money form it..

Source: the gobs of money Fortnite has made.

And no they are not literally paying you REAL MONEY. Like WTF is this thread? lol

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Such a waste of time, if you ask me.

 

[Drizzlehell]

The only thing that needs to be realized about battle passes is that they're terrible and need to fuck off forever.

 

[SmokedMeat]

.

These games have become so un-fun to play that they literally have to pay the players in order to keep them around. The more and more I think about it the more pathetic it gets. Not to mention it takes fucking forever to actually rank the battle passes up. I don't think I've actually completed any of them in full.

I think it’s also a realistic to say that a game can be fun - but if modern gamers aren’t getting their cosmetic reward dopamine hits for playing - they’ll move on.

 

[Mossybrew]

The "Battle Pass" is a known thing, called a Battle Pass, you don't have to put quotes around it OP.

 

[Games of Today]

Such a waste of time, if you ask me.

I agree. We used to have it so good with $15.99 DLC packs. It's just a shame that no one ever really tried a hybrid model of lowering the prices of them/making them permanently free after 3 or 4 years. DICE did it with BF1 but they only went free for like 2 weeks then back to full price.

 

[Games of Today]

Um, what?

That's how Fortnite which was the world's largest game and one of the creators of the concept of battle passes always did it.

They almost certainly have data suggesting that they still make gobs of money form it..

Source: the gobs of money Fortnite has made.

And no they are not literally paying you REAL MONEY. Like WTF is this thread? lol

They are essentially handing you 3 or 4 dollars every so often to spend it on their store. These companies are literally taking a loss in revenue at the cost of player retention. That's pathetic to me.

 

[nikos]

Why would anybody complete a 100 tier battle pass if they're not having fun? Certainly not to buy another pass and do it over again.

In games where I complete a battle pass, I'd be buying it whether I got the equivalent in in-game currency back or not.

 

[IntentionalPun]

They are essentially handing you 3 or 4 dollars every so often to spend it on their store. These companies are literally taking a loss in revenue at the cost of player retention. That's pathetic to me.

That is not REAL MONEY. There is no material cost for a skin, they make millions on each skin they pay some contractor a few hundred bucks for quite often.

The entire goal is to keep you coming back, to make you feel rewarded.. and the psychology ENCOURAGES spending. Many people buy the battlepass because they know they can "earn it back" and never do.. then they buy the next battle pass.

What is pathetic about making literally billions of dollars a year on games that often have 1-2 maps or modes?

It's not desperation, it's them using human psychology against us for profit.

 

[Warablo]

Just let me buy expansions instead

 

[FUBARx89]

Um, no.

Allowing you to earn enough in game currency to buy following season pass is a feature that rewards biggest fans. It’s awesome.

But in reality, most people just get extra skins and spend again anyway.

Unless it's Bungo. Why they don't have their premium currency in it is beyond me.