Season 3 of Infinite has been great. The opening cinematic really got me hyped for the ongoing story and the new maps and modes are super fun. Just a shame that the bandit didn't live up to the hype.

At this point I feel like D2 should be viewed as an annual subscription game. Certainly the majority of regular players purchase the Annual Expansion Deluxe edition. Plus the amount of content that comes with each season really puts other games to shame.

Here's my reasoning for thinking they're a good idea for some games:

Overwatch. The first game was a paid boxed product and only had loot boxes for the recurrent monetization, but they could be earned for free by playing the game. The end result was that no-one bought the loot boxes so the game stopped generating income, which meant they couldn't justify making new content for the game.

When the game switched over to Overwatch 2 it also went free-to-play, removed the lootboxes and implemented a premium battlepass and direct-purchase store for cosmetics. This meant the game was now generating regular income that has allowed the devs to devote more resources to making new content and doing regular balance patches - which were the problems that caused Overwatch 1 to die off.

The unfortunate truth for live service games where new content is expected is that they need to generate recurrent income, can't expect the devs to work for free. I agree that for a paid boxed product paid battlepasses are rarely a good idea but for free-to-play games I think they're probably the best form of monetization when paired alongside a direct-purchase store.

The Halo Infinite battlepass is probably the best one tbh. Only cosmetics, never expires after you buy it and gives you enough credits to buy the next one once you complete it. Also not a colossal time-sync. 10 ish matches per week will have you finishing it with plenty of time to spare.

Both Destiny and Overwatch put exotics/heroes behind their battlepasses (instantly unlocked for premium, free track has them fairly deep in) but these can be unlocked fairly easily after the season is over. Not ideal but if it means we get content regularly then I don't think it's a big deal.

Well said.

I think r/gaming can be split into two solid groups:

1. Those who genuinely think the consensus of r/gaming is representative of the thoughts of the majority of gamers.
2. Those who seem to take some sort of contrarian pride in the fact that their opinions are not representative of the majority.

Can't speak for other games as I don't pay attention to their BP but Overwatch, Destiny, Halo and PTCGL Battlepasses are all pretty good value imo.

Overwatch and Halo give good skins in their passes and Halo specifically rewards you with enough currency to get the next BP for free.

Destiny gives great rewards like new weapons, skins and resources. Most Destiny players buy the Deluxe Expansion yearly which includes the expansion and all 4 season passes for the year. Destiny also delivers a TON of content in its seasons - they put other games seasons to shame if you ask me.

PTCGL essentially doesn't have a paid BP. They flat out just give you the currency to buy the "premium" battlepass and there's no way to actually pay money for the in-game currency. Pretty fair.

I'm with you there man, battlepasses really don't offend me so long as they respect my time.

8 is a LOT though - I thought I was bad with 4! I only really get the BP if I'm sure I'll finish it; Halo, Overwatch and PTCGL only really ask that you play like 2 games per day to finish the battlepass with weeks to spare and I usually finish the Destiny pass in about 3 weeks.

Lol why down-vote?

Personally for my sins I've got 4 active battlepasses: Destiny 2, Overwatch 2, Halo Infinite and Pokemon TCG Live. Overwatch and Destiny are the only paid ones, HI and PTCGL both give you enough currency from the pass to pay for the next one.