Ah, the battle pass. Once a feature seemingly reserved for the battle royale, itâs now as ubiquitous in the gaming industry as everyoneâs favorite dripless MC. In the past year or so, franchises like Halo and Overwatch embraced the battle pass for the first time, likely in the face of proof that the live-service format leads to increased revenue (last year EA reported that just a third of its profits came from the initial sale of full games). They joined an extensive list of live-service titles with extensive (and expensive) battle passes, from Valorant to Rainbow Six Siege to Rocket League. Itâs no wonder why 2022 feels like the year of the battle pass.
Battle passes are often billed as a way for players to get more content out of their games, but we all know that theyâre really a method for developers to keep the money rolling in. And yet despite the transparent cash grab, there is value in these battle passesâsome more than others.
So what makes a good battle pass? Again, value is keyâso many games with battle passes introduce a new one every few months, and often have buyable cosmetics available outside of those passes that may entice players to shell out even more cash. As such, it can be easy to spend more on a live-service title than youâd spend on the tag price for a full game, so itâs crucial that these high-cost schemes are actually worth their weight in V-Bucks.
The best battle passes offer a mix of quality cosmetics and incentive to progress along that battle pass, whether itâs because completing it will offer you an especially shiny cosmetic or because youâll earn enough to get the next pass without dipping into your wallet (or, even better, both). But different gamesâ passes have different kinds of value, whether that value lies in resources, cool cosmetics, or a chance to progress along at your own speed. So, Iâm going to give them superlatives like this is senior prom. Iâve already spiked the punch.
Best Bang For Your Buck: Fortnite
Cost: $8
Say what you will about the Epic Games Store, but Fortnite has a pretty solid battle pass. For 950 V-bucks (a 1000 V-buck bundle costs $8), you can get some great cosmetics and earn more than enough to secure the next seasonâs battle pass without spending a dime. And this may be Fortnite cleverly appealing to its younger audience, but itâs easy to progress along the battle pass without being an expert shooter playerâyou can earn XP through various quests and goals that donât necessarily require you to get 50 headshots or win 10 matches.
Plus, the cosmetics offered are quite high quality: skins, backpacks, weaponsâall things that are super visible when playing and have that special Fortnite flash that makes them feel especially worth it. As the cheapest battle pass on this list, Fortnite is definitely the best value.
Most Improved: Apex Legends
Cost: $10
Like its meta, the Apex Legends battle pass has had some ups and downs since its inception way back in the Before Times of February 2019. Issues with progression plagued the battle royale in its first year, with Respawn frequently tweaking things to add value to playersâ time. At first, a halfway decent Apex player could easily feel disenfranchised by the grind, which favored wins over anything else, but now that there are other modes outside of the battle royale offering a chance to progress along the battle pass, even the worst of us can earn some cool shit and feel good for doing so.
A good Apex Legends seasonal battle pass can net you a nice collection of goodies without you needing to spend more than the cost of two oat milk lattes. However, the cosmetics can beâŠrough. Every season has a theme, and sometimes those themes translate poorly to cosmetics. But when the seasons hit, they hit hardâlike the latest, which is all spooky witch stuff and stars and spiders and some of the best seasonal skins Iâve seen in a while (this Ashe one is especially good). And since you can earn enough coins through the paid battle pass tiers to ensure you wonât have to pay for the next one, you could ostensibly buy one Apex Legends battle pass, grind it out, and never have to buy one again. Thatâs a good pass.
Most Understanding: Genshin Impact
Cost: $10
Genshin Impactâs battle pass is generous, it is kind. If you donât want to shell out the extra cash for the paid tier in any given month, you donât have to, as the weapons waiting behind those tiers never change. No matter when you buy the pass, or whatever version of it is up for offer, youâll still unlock the same weapons as players who bought the battle pass months ago. Itâs a nice way to ensure that players donât feel pressured to consistently put their time and money into a game.
The Genshin Impact battle pass is also a solid method to obtain resources, grow your characters faster, and get extra goodies for whatever it is youâd like to do in the game. But whatâs great about it is itâs completely optionalâyou wonât feel like youâre missing out if you donât max it, and thatâs super important.
Most Likely To Make You Uninstall: Overwatch 2
Cost: $10
Players were shocked when the Overwatch series ditched its single-purchase experience with loot boxes in favor of a free-to-play sequel with battle passes, and irate after Overwatch 2 launched and more details were revealed (some even called for the return of the loot box). Not only did Blizzard reveal that it would be locking new heroes behind the battle pass (and all other future heroes), but it soon became clear that progressing along the paid pass wouldnât earn you enough Overwatch coins to buy the next one.
And if you do shell out the cash to get the battle pass, youâre getting a very mid collection of cosmetics. In the Season 1 pass, there are only nine skins available across 100 levels, many of which are thoroughly uninspiredâlike two military skins for Winston and Sojourn and a Pharah skin that doesnât stand out from her existing ones in any demonstrable way. Much of the battle pass is dedicated to new cosmetics like weapon charms (which you have to look past in order to actually play as they dangle from your guns or, weirdly, your hands) and souvenirs (which are just big items you can procure out of thin air as a new type of emote) as well as your bog-standard emotes, player icons, victory poses, and voice lines.
But the biggest grievance I have is the aforementioned inability to earn enough through progression to get the next battle pass for free. Thatâs a low blow, Blizzard. Changes are coming, but not this year, so I guess Iâll sit here and bitch about it until then.
Most Potential: Halo Infinite
Cost: Latest Free, Previous $10
Halo Infinite lets you choose which of its battle passes to progress along, and they never expire. This is a lovely sentiment, one that allows players to pay for a pass and work towards completing it at their own paceâfor those of us who canât grind through levels with reckless abandon, itâs an act of good faith from 343 Industries.
But the fact that I can progress along any of the battle passes Iâve purchased at any given time doesnât meant that that I want toâbecause most of what they offer are fuck ugly.
Maybe my bias is showing, as I believe the Hayabusa armor from Halo 3 to be the pinnacle of Halo cosmetics, but the Halo Infinite battle pass customization options just feel like the middest of the mid. The unlocks are basically just a collection of desaturated parallelograms you can snap onto your Spartan bit-by-bitâyou can only earn pieces of armor per battle pass level, so a left shoulder here, a right wrist there, until youâve Hasbro-d together a boring little soldier. The shaders, meant to offer a Destiny 2-esque selection of color schemes for your armor, are so lackluster and samey that I genuinely canât tell the difference between most of them.
Iâm not a huge fan of the contents of the latest battle pass (it offers Halo: Reach inspired cosmetics and 343âs take on Master Chiefâs iconic helmet, but yawn), but it is a welcome change. The current battle pass only has 30 tiers, and itâs completely free, because the team wanted to test match XP as a new progression system, and give frustrated fans some freebies. Thereâs good vibes coming from 343 Industries, and Iâm excited to see some sexy content coming down the pipe.
Most Unique: Call of Duty Warzone 2.0/Modern Warfare II
Cost: $10
After hewing to tradition with its previous battle passes, the latest iteration of Call of Duty swings for the fences. âUniqueâ in this sense doesnât necessarily mean goodâafter all, itâs what every guy who broke up with me in college would refer to me asâbut Activisionâs attempt at re-jigging the battle pass is commendable.Â
With the ushering in of Warzone 2.0 came a battle pass thatâs more tac map than timeline, with a collection of items laid out across a nondescript desert mountain range. The name of the game here is choice, as you can decide which sections of the tac map you want to use your tokens towards. Hell bent on making it to the southeastern section of the map so I could nab a new Stiletto skin, I used every token I had unlocking the sections leading up to herâbut ignored the top half of the map, which offered skins for operators I donât use.
Itâs a smart way to give players some agency regarding how they spend their time and money, even if itâs a bit confusing to get the hang of at first (and most of the cosmetics are currently big yawn boring). Itâs unclear if this new tac map battle pass will stick around, but itâs a cool take on what has quickly become a pretty boring formula.
