Timegating and frankly mediocre rewards crush a second pass.
Halo: Infinite‘s multiplayer beta is out and while the consensus around the game has been pretty positive, one aspect most people can agree on is that the game is lacking in its battle pass department. Progression is slow and tied to completing challenges rather than simply playing the game, with many of those challenges reliant on the player getting lucky enough to match into a specific game mode. The saving grace of the pass, at least until Microsoft fixes progression pace, is that it never expires.
So what is Microsoft’s answer? Launch a second battle pass. Only this one is time limited. The Tenrai battle pass contains 30 levels and runs for six weeks, only those six weeks are spread out between now and the end of April. Granted unlike the standard battle pass this one doesn’t cost anything. But you don’t get much for it either.
16 of the 30 pass levels are experience boosts or challenge swaps with only six actual armor pieces, three coating colors, and 5 nameplate items. And don’t think you can power level your way through the pass either, as it is dependent on specific challenges and time gated. You can only complete seven levels maximum per week, meaning even the most hardcore gamer is going to need four and a half of the six weeks to get everything.
On the other hand Fiesta mode is pretty fun. It’s a chaotic game mode where you get randomized weapons every spawn. Unfortunately the matches tend to get bogged down with that all-too familiar post-game view of the battle pass slivering along assuming it moves at all.
The real content of the update of course is in the shop, where players can buy expensive cosmetics, and better cosmetics than what is in the pass. And sure, the battle pass is free. But it’s also a way to generate prolonged engagement from the audience, and you’re not going to do that with such low effort endeavors.
MMO Fallout 