Hey, you know what’s fun? Buying a £60 game to play on your £400 console, then paying over £20 so you can get the season pass, and possibly paying over £20 again to get the DLC if it’s not included in the season pass.
Actually, you know what? That stuff isn’t fun, but complaining about modern gaming is the best thing to do when you’re a grizzled video game journalist.
So, that’s what we’re going to do today, mainly because it’s cathartic and because this stuff has been going on for a bit too long. Oh, and don’t worry, there will be a mix of good and bad season passes because it’s not all bad. Right? At least, we think so…
What is a Season Pass?
Firstly, it may be a good idea to explain what a season pass actually is. Essentially, it’s a purchase that may include DLC (downloadable content), add-ons, and perks that would otherwise be purchased individually (if possible). Sometimes, these are made available on day one of a game’s release, but this usually doesn’t sit well with fans and usually makes the publisher look very greedy.
What are the Season Passes Like in Ubisoft Games?
Take Ubisoft, for example; they are well-known for advertising their extra content around the same time as a game’s release, which most of the time makes them seem like they are trying to grab our attention way too early and before we’ve seen any footage of the title. Assassin’s Creed is the poster child for exorbitantly pricing its downloadable content.
At the time of writing, the new entry, Shadows, has been revealed this week, and people are already eating up their pre-orders before any gameplay has been shown at all. To make matters worse, the company is advertising the pre-order bonuses with a standard, gold, and two editions, one of which you can get on day one with Ubisoft’s subscription service.
Sega is Doing It, Too
That’s more of a Ubisoft problem, but Sega is doing it too, most recently with their Sonic Origins collection, which locked insignificant perks behind a paywall, such as camera control on the menu. Like, what!? All these different tiers barely differ from each other, and they only serve to take advantage of consumers who are informed about the games industry and want the one with the most content.
It’s just gross, and these two content corporations aren’t the only ones doing it, either.
Is Nintendo doing it as well?
Yes, even though Nintendo seems like the golden child when it comes to this kind of stuff, they, too, have dabbled in the shady world of season passes. In 2017, when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched to critical acclaim, the company also made its expansion pass available on day one, which left many people perplexed.
Think about it: the Nintendo Switch was already fairly expensive for what you were getting with it, Zelda wasn’t cheap either, and the DLC was almost £20. Does that not seem egregious to you? Seriously, it really makes you think that maybe we should go back to the old days when all this stuff was included on the cart, and we didn’t have to worry about being slapped in the face with all these annoying updates…
How Did Grand Theft Auto Address This Problem?
But it’s not all bad, because remember the story expansion for Grand Theft Auto IV, which was basically an entire plot in and of itself that included a 20-hour experience that added not only new weapons, vehicles, missions, music, etc., but also included a great story that some fans said was better than the base game?
The Witcher 3 Had a Good DLC
Or do you recall The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone, which featured an expanded map, a new storyline, and content built almost exclusively from the books? That was pretty cool.
Nintendo Redeemed Themselves With Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
You could even include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass with this stuff because of the 48 tracks, new characters, and improvements it brought to the core experience. But especially because of its price and the fact it was included in the Nintendo Online + Expansion Pack subscription service at no extra cost. Maybe DLC really isn’t even that bad at all.
And You Don’t HAVE To Buy It…
Maybe DLC really isn’t even that bad at all. However, we still shouldn’t forget about how these companies try again and again to take advantage of us and if you don’t like it… vote with your wallet! No rule requires you to buy every expansion pass that comes out until the end of time — and it might be even better if you don’t because these mega-corporations will keep grasping at our wallets while putting out flop after flop until the industry is flooded with a slurry of generic multiplayer shooters with realistic graphics.
Never mind that, though, because for now, your job is to enjoy the games you love, and if you feel like paying a little extra for something neat, that’s cool, too. But if you feel you’ve been ripped off and want to complain, there’s always Twitter.
