Marvel Rivals says no to time-gated battle passes and pay-to win elements

The time has come for Marvel Rivals to fling open its doors and let superhero fans battle it out with its impressive roster of characters. The free-to-play hero shooter has been on a rampant announcement-spree in the build up to launch, and it’s just pulled one final ace from its sleeve. Monetization is often a topic that’s hard to talk about without irking players one way or another, but from what I’m seeing in Marvel Rivals’ new post on skins, currencies, and battle passes, it might just have the perfect monetization formula.

For free PC games, striking the right balance when it comes to in-game purchases is vital. The developer and publisher of the game needs to make money, but overdoing it with microtransactions or putting eye-watering prices on cosmetics can sour the relationship with players. Given it has the Marvel buff and so many desirable characters, I kinda expected Marvel Rivals to go a bit overboard with monetization. However, it’s definitely kicking things off in the right way.

The big takeaway for me is how Marvel Rivals will let you complete premium battle passes in your own time. Nothing infuriates me more than buying a seasonal battle pass and feeling pressured to grind to unlock every single reward before the season ends. It’s great to see that Marvel Rivals is jumping on the slowly-growing trend of removing time gates on seasonal battle passes to let you complete them even after a season concludes.

As for Marvel Rivals’ premium battle passes, which will be known as Luxury Passes, they’re fairly priced too for the amount of rewards you’re now guaranteed to get, thanks to the removal of a time gate. For the imminent Season 0, it’ll only be half the size of and half the price of a standard pass due the season being shorter. It will set you back 490 Lattice (the premium currency in Marvel Rivals) which equates to just under five bucks. For that you’ll get five character costume bundles alongside various other smaller rewards.

Scale that up to a full-length season, and you’re talking ten bucks for ten costume bundles, which really isn’t bad at all. The free track of the Season 0 battle pass also contains one costume, so again, double that and you should be getting two for a full season.

Speaking of free rewards, it sounds like there will be plenty of scope to earn cosmetics without having to spend either premium Lattices or the equivalent, earnable currency called Units. “Achievements and events will provide free costumes and other cosmetic items,” developer NetEase says. “Free Units will also be distributed, allowing you to purchase paid cosmetics without spending money while still enjoying cosmetic items. Your hard work will speak for itself as you look good on the battlefield!”

In terms of premium skins and cosmetics in the store, bundles will be the way to go. While you can buy character skins individually, bundles of related items will be better value. I’d have liked to have seen prices be a bit lower on these, but they’re by no means horrifically-priced when you look at Marvel Rivals’ competitors. As a rough guideline, NetEase says an Epic Bundle will cost 1,600 Units, an Epic MCU Bundle will cost 1,800 Units, and a Legendary Bundle will cost 2,400 Units. If you were to outright purchase Lattices and convert them into Units (they are a 1:1 exchange), then that means those bundles will cost roughly $16, $18, and $24 respectively.

While NetEase has already mentioned this in the past, it has taken this opportunity to once again assure that there will be absolutely no pay-to-win elements in Marvel Rivals. All “heroes, maps, and other gameplay elements are completely free” and any cosmetics you buy will not affect the gameplay in any way.

I’m really happy to hear all this news, and while I still don’t entirely trust NetEase not to introduce more and more expensive premium skins as time goes on, here’s hoping that the offerings and prices on the Luxury Pass stay consistent.

Ahead of the game’s launch, make sure you give our guide on all the Marvel Rivals characters a read and keep our Marvel Rivals tier list handy too so that you don’t start maining a dud.

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