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The so-called Season Pass has become the latest way for publishers to extract even more money from cash strapped gamers. What started life as L.A. Noire’s largely innocuous Rockstar Pass – a pre-purchase for several additional cases in the sandbox detective game – has, much like the Online Pass that preceded it, evolved into an industry-wide trend, spanning the biggest blockbusters all the way down to the teensiest indie games. But while these post-release pre-orders are everywhere these days, do you ever actually buy them?

Ubisoft announced this week that Far Cry 4 fans will be able to stump up an eye watering £23.99/$29.99 for the open world adventure’s Season Pass. In addition to a handful of extra missions starring explosives expert Hurk, this will also include an encounter named Valley of the Yetis, which will see you shooting at incensed sasquatches in a secluded, snowy section of the fictional Himalayan region of Kyrat. It all sounds thoroughly entertaining – well, until you consider that the optional extra will cost you half the price of the game itself.

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Season Fea 2

Now, we haven’t played the final version of the first-person shooter, so we can’t say for sure how long it is – but if it sticks as closely to the Ubisoft blueprint as we suspect, then you’re easily looking at about 30 hours of gameplay at least. While we’re not overly keen on connecting running time to value, it’s perhaps safe to assume that the title’s Season Pass won’t keep you occupied for anywhere close to half that length of time, so why is it being sold at such a premium? And if you’ve played the game for that long anyway, will you really want more of the same?

Of course, that’s not the only flaw in the popular format, as the actual contents of the content subscription are often vague, too. In the above instance, Ubisoft provided a description of each item that you’ll receive as part of your pre-purchase – but you won’t know until the day that the DLC deploys whether it’s actually any good, and by then it’ll be too late. Other firms are less forthcoming, merely promising a set quota of maps or missions, without ever explicitly explaining why these add-ons are worthwhile.

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Yet, the model’s ever-presence – even in titles like Resogun – suggests that people are podding out for these ambiguous expansions, so maybe the publishers aren’t to blame. In fact, in a world where it takes teams of up to 1,000 people to crank out the next annual Assassin’s Creed game, it’s hardly surprising that firms need to find other ways to profit from their multi-million dollar blockbuster games. But with so much competition on the market as it is, do consumers even have enough time and money to support all of these post-release initiatives?

And that’s a question that’s best answered by you. Have you ever purchased a Season Pass, and why? Do you think that these optional extras typically represent good value for money, or do you feel like you’ve been ripped off in the past? Are you comfortable investing cash into content that doesn’t have a release date, or any real information? Companies will continue to support this initiative as long as it’s making them money – but given the issues outlined above, we’re not entirely sure that we understand why this is a profitable endeavour in the first place. Set us straight.

Do you regularly purchase Season Passes, or do you only buy them when they’re for a game that you like? What’s been your favourite to date, and which has really let you down? Spend a little extra in the comments section below.

Do you like Season Passes? (70 votes)

  1. Yes, I love getting extras for a game that I’m enjoying9%
  2. Hmm, it depends46%
  3. No, I actually think that the model is heavily flawed46%

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