Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals convinced me: Battle passes should never expire

GamesThird Person ShooterHelldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals convinced me: Battle passes should never expireWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 Discord header image - four Helldivers celebrating side by side on a large rock

With hindsight, it’s clear the battle pass got…well, a pass, but that’s starting to change. Two of 2024’s biggest multiplayer hits have one thing in common: Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals sell battle passes that never expire.

Taking after Halo Infinite, the first big-budget live service game to try this approach, Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals let you take your time and tackle battle passes whenever you want. That’s it—that’s the whole innovation, and it’s effective. Last week I booted up Helldivers 2 to help fight the Illuminates and unlocked stuff from a pass I bought way back in March. Last month I played a lot of Halo Infinite’s new throwback mode while grinding a pass that came out in 2022.

Wow! Paid content that doesn’t vanish in a puff of smoke once an arbitrary clock strikes zero—it makes so much sense that it’s frankly embarrassing we haven’t been demanding this the entire time.

It’s interesting to compare and contrast how these early adopters are handling battle pass continuity. Some are more lenient than others:

Helldivers 2

Halo Infinite

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Marvel Rivals

(Image credit: NetEase)

Marvel Rivals progression

Helldivers 2 is probably the most flexible for the way you can juggle passes and focus on unlocking what you want most, but Halo’s setup is also decent for its shorter, cheaper passes. I don’t love that Marvel Rivals plans to effectively delete its battle passes unless you bought them at the time—good news if you buy one but don’t complete it, but that won’t help folks that come back after months away from the game.

FOMO-less battle passes are player-friendly, but that can’t be the only reason they’re becoming a trend. Live service games love timers because they pressure battle pass owners to play more (or pay extra to skip tiers) in the final days it’s available. The Halo/Helldivers/Marvel approach has its own obvious advantage: battle passes can keep making money indefinitely.

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 review

I don’t think PlayStation, Microsoft, or NetEase are leaving all that extra FOMO money on the table just to win hearts and minds. Why scrub guns, cosmetics, and emotes that cost millions to produce from your game when they could become permanent, value-adding fixtures? Back in my day, we called that DLC.

The longer I’m exposed to FOMO-free battle passes, the more I’m convinced that juggernauts like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Overwatch 2, and Apex Legends are the ones behind the times. I’m less motivated than ever to finish a battle pass if there’s a time limit. My favorite extraction shooter, Hunt: Showdown, is in the middle of its best season ever—Post Malone’s Murder Circus—and I can already feel my will fading halfway through the pass. There’s this beautiful green and gold Krag rifle I’ve had my eye on for a week, but it’s still so far away and I’m sick of getting hurried along.

I don’t expect these massive ships to turn on a dime, but I do believe we’ll see more games embrace this chiller approach to live service in 2025.

PRODUCTSHelldivers 2Marvel RivalsHalo InfiniteHunt: Showdown

PRODUCTS

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