The headline says it all, Gears 5 will not be selling players the usual season pass. In the day of expensive DLC and loot boxes, it is like music to my ears. Over at the official Gears 5 website, they have announced a whole host of different ways players will earn things in the game for the new Gears of War installment. On a side note, I still hate calling it Gears.
First off, as mentioned, the season pass is gone. There will still be new maps made available, it’s just this time they will be free to everyone and will be playable in both matchmaking and private matches. Also, the gear packs that were such a huge part of Gears of War 4 are gone completely with the content being earned in the new Tour of Duty system.
Tour of Duty will see players taking on daily and seasonal challenges to rank up and earn (earn, not pay) customizable content including character skins. These challenges will run on a seasonal basis with new challenges and content appearing every season. Additionally, rewards will be earned in other ways such as leaderboard placement in escape and versus mode.
The gear packs may be gone, but the cards are very much still a part of Gears 5, only this time they won’t cost any real-world money. Not a penny. For every minute that is played across the online multiplayer, players will be granted a supply drop. These cards will form a pool of content they are calling supply. Any duplicate cards are turned into scrap, much like you could do in Gears 4. This is done automatically and the scrap is then used to craft what is needed for other items. The official site stipulates, in bold, that real money cannot be used on these supply drops.
That’s the brilliant news out of the way, but there is a bit of the norm at the end of the announcement as there will still be some things purchasable with your hard earned real life money. Gears 5 will have an in-game currency called Iron which will need to be paid for. Iron will unlock exclusive customization content, but they do go on to state that the items bought will be sold as seen. There will be no random loot boxes, you’ll know exactly what you are getting. The items bought will only be cosmetic as there will be no pay to win.
There will, however, be pay to level up as the last thing mentioned that is purchasable is an XP boost. Boost will give players double experience for a period of real-world time, like 7 days. Obviously, it’s not a necessity, but it will help players with less time, and plenty of spare cash, to increase their level much quicker than others. Half the time in fact.
The last two items aside, it really feels like Gears 5 is pushing things in the right direction. Like most gamers, I’m sick and tired of expensive DLC, loot boxes and being picked on by the RNG gods. For players that don’t care about customization, it is absolutely outstanding news that additional maps are free. It is somewhat annoying that there are still things to be paid for in Gears 5 but it is at least a nice surprise that people will know exactly what they are buying and won’t have to rely on luck.
Overall, it was a rather positive post from The Coalition and I sincerely hope that other developers take note. Such a simple move has increased my enthusiasm for the game immensely. What about you, has it helped increase your excitement or were they already at fever pitch? Let us know in the comments.
