Sometimes I regret ever accepting the battle pass as a concept. It's not like there was much of a choice about it—before I'd ever engaged with one myself they were already everywhere. It all happened so fast: After gaming's last big dust-up with loot boxes in 2017, it was like the entire industry collectively switched from one business model to another overnight. I never loved the idea of a cosmetics catalog fueled by FOMO and perpetual grind, but it did sound like the better alternative to following the loot box to its eventual casino-shaped conclusion.
With hindsight, it's clear the battle pass got…well, a pass, but that's starting to change. Two of 2024's biggest multiplayer hits have one thing in common: Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals sell battle passes that never expire.
Taking after Halo Infinite, the first big-budget live service game to try this approach, Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals let you take your time and tackle battle passes whenever you want. That's it—that's the whole innovation, and it's effective. Last week I booted up Helldivers 2 to help fight the Illuminates and unlocked stuff from a pass I bought way back in March. Last month I played a lot of Halo Infinite's new throwback mode while grinding a pass that came out in 2022.
Wow! Paid content that doesn't vanish in a puff of smoke once an arbitrary clock strikes zero—it makes so much sense that it's frankly embarrassing we haven't been demanding this the entire time.
It's interesting to compare and contrast how these early adopters are handling battle pass continuity. Some are more lenient than others:
Helldivers 2
- Sells $10 "Warbonds" that include both cosmetics and gameplay-relevant items like guns, stratagems, and squad boosters
- Players can "juggle" multiple warbonds at once, spending unlock points on any pass at any time
- Warbonds do not expire
Halo Infinite
- For seasons 1-5, battle passes are always available to level on a free track or $10 premium track
- Post-season 5, battle passes are now free during their introductory season, but cost $5 to unlock afterward
- Only one battle pass can be "equipped" at a time, and all XP earned is applied to it
- Battle passes do not expire
Marvel Rivals
- Battle passes have a free track and a $10 "Luxury" track
- Battle passes will not expire if you bought the $10 Luxury pass during the season
Helldivers 2 is probably the most flexible for the way you can juggle passes and focus on unlocking what you want most, but Halo's setup is also decent for its shorter, cheaper passes. I don't love that Marvel Rivals plans to effectively delete its battle passes unless you bought them at the time—good news if you buy one but don't complete it, but that won't help folks that come back after months away from the game.
FOMO-less battle passes are player-friendly, but that can't be the only reason they're becoming a trend. Live service games love timers because they pressure battle pass owners to play more (or pay extra to skip tiers) in the final days it's available. The Halo/Helldivers/Marvel approach has its own obvious advantage: battle passes can keep making money indefinitely.
I don't think PlayStation, Microsoft, or NetEase are leaving all that extra FOMO money on the table just to win hearts and minds. Why scrub guns, cosmetics, and emotes that cost millions to produce from your game when they could become permanent, value-adding fixtures? Back in my day, we called that DLC.
The longer I'm exposed to FOMO-free battle passes, the more I'm convinced that juggernauts like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Overwatch 2, and Apex Legends are the ones behind the times. I'm less motivated than ever to finish a battle pass if there's a time limit. My favorite extraction shooter, Hunt: Showdown, is in the middle of its best season ever—Post Malone's Murder Circus—and I can already feel my will fading halfway through the pass. There's this beautiful green and gold Krag rifle I've had my eye on for a week, but it's still so far away and I'm sick of getting hurried along.
I don't expect these massive ships to turn on a dime, but I do believe we'll see more games embrace this chiller approach to live service in 2025.
