Despite my coworkers raving about how much they enjoy single-player experiences, I feel different. I am and have been a hardcore live-service fan. As such, I have always appreciated Battle Passes in games. Be it my first Dota 2 compendium or the Fortnite Battle Pass, somehow gamifying your quests makes it much more fun.
Lately, though, I have been feeling like things in Fortnite have gotten too much. With the Star Wars update now out, the game has four battle passes simultaneously! Yes, even I think that’s too much. Why is that a problem? Well, let’s talk about that.
Battle Pass in Fortnite: A Summary
Fortnite Battle Royale, Fortnite’s most popular game mode, got its first Seasonal Battle Pass in Season 2. The concept was clear: Two variants of the Battle Pass were given, one for players who do not want to spend and get less attractive rewards and one for players who got the premium pass for V-bucks.
However, things in Fortnite Battle Passes work a bit differently. Buying levels in Battle Pass is a common concept, but you can buy a Quest Pack for Fortnite. This ridiculous system will make you buy a seasonal EPIC Level Up Quest Pack from the Item Shop for 1,850 V-Bucks.
You can individually buy levels, but these passes encourage you to play more to earn more rewards instead of giving you the rewards right away, even after paying extra.
If that wasn’t enough, Fortnite also has a collaboration with Event Passes. Earlier, Fortnite would launch the Event Pass to grind free rewards or purchase premium skins from the shop. Now, you must also grind the Event Pass for the collaboration event rewards. This means I must grind two Battle Pass simultaneously in one game to get rewards. Weird right? Well, it’s not over.
There are two more battle passes in the game now, one for the Fortnite Festival and one for LEGO Fortnite. So, if you want to flaunt your colorful Lady Gaga collaboration or Billie Eilish collaboration skins, you must also buy the Fortnite Festival bundle.
On the other hand, if you play LEGO Fortnite, buying and grinding LEGO Pass will get you lots of in-game rewards. But even for exclusive rewards like the Star Wars collaboration with LEGO Fortnite, you must get the LEGO Pass, and guess what? You must grind for that, too!
Okay, So What’s the Problem Here?
To be fair, a game can always sell as many micro-transaction items as they want. However, the issue arises when you grind each battle pass separately in the game to get the rewards of your liking. Here’s where you ask yourself an important question. Is it worth getting all the battle passes simultaneously, knowing you might not be able to finish all of them?
And the answer is, well, it depends. Ultimately, this boils down to how excited you are about every game mode in Fortnite. Sadly, not all quests are common in Fortnite, so to complete certain levels, you’ll have to play the respective game mode of the battle pass.
This makes me question if Epic couldn’t have combined the Battle Passes or made the other passes less grindable. See, if I spend my dime on a premium Event Pass, I would not want to spend my whole day behind grinding it for my rewards. Why not buy my favorite skins from the shop?
Well, that is only possible if Epic gives you that opportunity. If Epic keeps forcing players to buy different battle Passes within the same game, it might backfire on the other game modes and anger players. We have already seen how LEGO Fortnite and Rocket Racing player base declined. Let’s hope the downtrend doesn’t spread to the rest of the game, too!
There was a time when I sat down and spam emotes without any fear. But with Fortnite having so many battle passes in so little time, it now seems that there is no time to emote, just grind!
What are your thoughts on Fortnite having four battle passes? Do you think Epic can merge them for good? Let us know in the comments below.
