Opinion: If you’re going to have a Season Pass, don’t reveal it like this

You just can’t help yourselves, can you video game publishers?

Earlier today, Ubisoft unveiled the latest entry into the Assassin’s Creed franchise, titled Syndicate. An hour or two later, we learned of a Season Pass for the game — one that will include an expansion. A few weeks ago the Batman Arkham Knight Season Pass was announced for $39.99, which includes six months worth of content and pre-order incentives. It was met with a less-than-enthusiastic response from the internet. Heck, IGN’s Dan Stapleton said it was absurd and listed all the gripes he had with the implementation of the Season Pass.

It’s obvious by now that every time a big AAA game is announced, a Season Pass announcement will follow soon after, which will then be greeted by the same response from the gaming community we’ve seen time and time again. And it’s not that gamers are upset they’re getting more content in a game; at least, that’s not how I see it. It’s that the way the entire package is presented, makes it feel like we are paying $60 for a core game and then an extra $40 to round it out with content that looks like it should’ve been in there in the beginning. Since DLC first became a thing, publishers have yet to figure out how to present DLC and Season Passes without coming off as money-hungry succubi. And sure as hell don’t be showing Pre-Alpha footage and talking Season Passes.

Here’s an idea… don’t freaking announce any DLC. Don’t come to the table with a plan to milk more money from a game before the next version comes out. Let people play the game, love it, and then out of no where a month or two later announce “Hey, here’s more content as DLC that we’ve been working on. It has all of these new features, and it’s available today for this price.” I’m guessing the general response (to a decent game) would be “Dang, that’s pretty cool that it’s available right away.”

Even if you have all the DLC already finished, DON’T TELL US ABOUT IT! Because then we feel like we’re not getting the whole game we just paid $60 for. Don’t. Tell. Us. And don’t be stupid and have the files on-disc.

There’s nothing I hate more than being asked to shell out an extra $30 to $40 at launch for a DLC that I A) have very little information on, or B) is not worth the money I spent. And don’t even get me started on pre-order exclusives a.k.a. here’s content that’s done and we’re only going to give it to you if you buy the game before reviews are out.

Season Passes are terrible, and publishers are stupid for trotting them out there game after game, and then watching Twitter light up with negativity.