No Battlefield 5 Premium Season Pass - Has EA Learned From Past DLC Mistakes?
By TJ Denzer ·
One of the many features announced in the Battlefield 5 reveal was that the game would not feature a Premium Pass model for DLC and future content in the game. Have past issues shifted EA's direction on microtransactions and extra paid content?
It would appear EA and DICE are changing their gameplans for the roll-out of multiplayer content and additional DLC with the newly announced Battlefield 5. As of the reveal, it has been confirmed that there will be no Premium Season Pass for the game. All post-launch maps will be rolled out for free, which begs the question, has EA finally learned from past mistakes with DLC and microtransactions?
The launch trailer for Battlefield 5 dropped today in a livestream on YouTube and Twitch across their official channels. In the reveal, we learned that the series is headed back to World War II, and though some level of multiplayer and story content was revealed, certain questions, like that of a battle royale situation in the upcoming game went unanswered. You can see the reveal trailer for the game below.
One question that was answered had to do with additional DLC for the game. At one point during the reveal, a question directly addressed whether or not Battlefield V would require players to shell out more money for additional maps and content. To that, producer Ryan McArthur announced that Battlefield V would not feature a Premium Pass. This method used by EA in the past required players to purchase additionally in order to gain access to new content and other bonus features in their games.
Instead, post-launch maps will be released for free. Battlefield V will feature some level of monetization, but so far, it would appear that this purchaseable content will be purely cosmetic, like skins and colors in Overwatch. EA seemed more than dedicated to constant monetization of post-launch content through the releases of Star Wars: Battlefront II and Battlefield 1, which found them at odds with many players that cried foul at the percieved purchase of an entire new game of content and "pay-to-win" mechanics in the games through microtransactions.
The issue of debate with microtransactions has come to such a head that even as of this writing that countries and regional governments are taking a hard look at the idea of certain microtransactions as gambling. With this in mind, EA may have finally read the writing on the wall when it comes to their fans and the current climate of post-launch content. And if such is the case, Battlefield V may already be fast on its way to becoming a palpable EA shooter in a vast collection of good games that are already taking up the competitive arena.
Of course it remains to be seen just what EA will do with its currently promised cosmetic DLC, but at the vary least, it seems we can happily say we won't be paying for a whole game after we've paid for a whole game and that's something worth noting and maybe even celebrating, EA's spotty paid-DLC history.
Battlefield V is slated to release on Xbox One, PS4, and PC through Origin on October 19, 2018. You can see the full livestream below which begins at about 55:13 for more details and information revealed about the game.