In a sinister twist for in-game microtransactions, especially Battle Pass purchases, Disney is making its Speedstorm Season pass only available for direct purchase and removing the more traditional choice of saving up in-game earned currency to get it.
Ever since the advent of seasonal battle passes games have generally had in-game currency as unlocks and, roughly speaking, if you completed a Battle Pass you would generally have had enough to buy the next one for free – sort of a reward for your loyalty.
Step forward Gameloft’s money men and the big brains who have now decided that is lost income and decided the Season Pass will no longer be purchasable by spending the game’s currency, Tokens, which are collected during play.
The season (Golden) pass will still have free and premium tiers as normal but the Premium Tier will now only be available with a $9.99/€9.99 purchase.
Perhaps the amazing thing is that nobody has done this already, and the worrying thing is that now the stable door has bolted the rest will follow suit. This is at a time when the Helldivers 2 Warbond battle pass is being praised for being so generous with its in-game currency allowing players easy access to its premium tiers for free.
VGC is reporting many unhappy Disney Speedstorm users, with one saying, “As a Founder who bought the game in Early Access, I am dumbfounded… what exactly have I paid for? We were told at the beginning of the game that Tokens can be used to purchase Golden Passes. Why have they revoked that?
I think it is pretty clear why.
Seasons will be split into two parts with each having a premium Golden Pass (of course it will) costing the above, or a Golden Pass bundle that includes 15 tier skips for $19.99/€19.99.
Changes need to be made, we as a community need to go against this (Boycott Gold Pass)
byu/Sclaxin inDisneySpeedstormGame
The Disney Speedstorm community is trying to rally a boycott of the Season Pass and is determined to show Gameloft that this decision will not be tolerated by the players.
This is unlikely to be the end of this story and we will update as it rumbles on.