Marvel Rivals is out tomorrow, and it’s set to introduce a cultural shift in the hero shooter space, challenging the dominant position held by Overwatch 2 and snatching the attention away from Deadlock. Recently, the team at NetEase have been discussing how the game will work, revealing more characters and mechanics, further stoking the hype train.
One tidbit of information about how the game’s battle pass is going to work turned heads more than anything else, though.
No More FOMO
Typically, live-service games have seasonal battle passes that expire at the end of a given window, and thereafter, you’re prevented from unlocking any content you’ve missed and you’ll need to move on to the next season.
Marvel Rivals is going to challenge that typical behaviour with a new mechanic: timeless battle passes.
When you purchase the ‘Luxury Battle Pass’, which is the paid version of the free battle pass, you’ll unlock the ability to redeem awards in said pass event after the season has ended. If you don’t dedicate enough time to the game to unlock the rewards in one season, they’ll roll over into the next, but you’ll be free to also move on to the next season if you desire.
That means that you won’t miss out on unlocking something far into the Luxury Battle Pass in Marvel Rivals just because you might not have the time to grind for it.
Not only that, but NetEase has recognised that the first season (or pre-season) of Marvel Rivals is going to be a shorter one, so they’ve reduced the price of the Luxury Battle Pass by 50% at launch.
Other developers have had their ways of addressing this ‘missing out’ issue. For instance, Bethesda Game Studios often offers ‘catch-up’ bundles in the Fallout 76 store, giving users the ability to catch up on missed rewards, but that comes with a hefty cost.
Do you think this is a good tactic that other developers should mirror? Let us know on the GPlayr forum.
For more GPlayr coverage, check out the news that Indiana Jones gameplay has leaked online