EA wants to revolutionize the Battle Passes of its products

We are in the 2000, has just passed the fear of Millennium Bug that should have started Skynet and every game purchased arrives home on physical media that contains everything you need to play. There are no cosmetic notes, alternative skins or textures in 4K UHD. And we are all happy.

Let's move on to 2021, the Game as a Service (GaAs) depopulate with loot boxes, in-app purchases, monthly charges and last but not least: i Battle Pass.

The Battle Pass, today

The system seasonal progression of Battle Passes is now synonymous with games Live Services. Important titles such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, league of legends and many use Battle Passes not only for monetization, but also to entice players into continuous play via a system of ricompense progressive.

The Battle Pass concept as we know it today was born in 2013 with the first true Season Pass in Dota 2, which presented itself as an alternative to the classic loot boxes that took off around 2010.

As everything evolves, even the Battle Passes have been iterated several times while maintaining that linear structure which has always distinguished them: a gamer spends time in-game and is rewarded with experience that increases his Battle Pass level. Each new level corresponds to a reward, unlockable sequentially in an order pre-established by the developer.

The Battle Pass of tomorrow according to EA

Evolution we said. Well EA seems to want to iterate once again the Battle Pass system, with a knot structure freely unlockable by the user.

The patent application "Seasonal Reward Distribution System”By Electronic Arts was released on May 13 and describes a non-linear map for the Pass, which leaves the player the choice of what to unlock and when to do so. This map consists of multiple paths flanked by Nodi - which players can choose to their liking - which grant a reward, and the unlocking of a node is granted as players level up their respective accounts.

Free Pass e Gold Pass

Another aspect of the Pass, which is explored further in the patent, is the difference in Animal, or status if you prefer: most players who are familiar with it already know the difference between free levels and those premium of any Battle Pass. That system remains in use in EA's new design as well. There are nodes that require a "Gold passport"To be unlocked, as well as nodes indicated as"Free". And, of course, there is the possibility of making an in-app purchase to unlock the premium status that gives free access to all rewards.

The non-linear alternative

The attractiveness of the new Electronic Arts patented Battle Pass is obvious. In current systems players have no choice on unlocking of the content that the developer has chosen for them: if they want something specific they have to play for a sufficient amount of time that they can improve their level of the Pass until the desired reward is unlocked. A pass developed on nodes, on the other hand, would allow players to give priority to content they want, allowing even those who have not purchased the Premium Pass to be the first to unlock the free content of their choice.

However, there would also be a downside to this whole thing. The linearity of the current in-game progression system requires players to spend more time in front of the screen to obtain the highest level rewards, while a progression using nodes would give the possibility to redeem in a relatively short time the extras of their interest.

That this system can then lead to a early server abandonment? Surely EA will have thought of suitable countermeasures.