Players are pleading with the developer not to make it such a time sink in the future
Completing The Finals Battle Pass requires a significant amount of time and energy, and players are feeling the strain.
The Finals had a hugely successful launch, with player numbers reaching 10 million in just 15 days, but as enjoyable as the free-to-play shooter is for some, the grind of progressing through the battle pass is too much for others.
The Season 1 pass, which is available until March 12, has 96 levels and grants players various cosmetic rewards as well as currency to spend in-game. However, as players have discovered, it can take an hour or more to advance a single level, so at around 100 hours total, it’s a significant time drain.
Players have been venting their rage on the The Finals subreddit. “I don’t see how this is sustainable for the game,” CBTNotTheGameKind says. “Battle passes do not take this long in any of the big games anymore.” To add insult to injury, the player claims that the game’s weekly challenges do not carry over, making it “impossible to finish” unless you have a lot of time on your hands. “I really hope the devs fix this in the next season because I can’t see myself buying the pass again if it stays how it is,” they add.
kmach1ne is also not a fan, calling battle passes that take 100 or more hours “unrealistic” and saying they “can’t become the norm.” Instead, they and others believe that The Finals should follow in the footsteps of Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Halo, which offer more manageable passes.
This is something that developers should definitely look into. As life becomes busier, fewer and fewer people have the time to complete a battle pass for one game, let alone multiple.
“As a community, we should really push for a Halo Infinite-type pass,” says JMC_Drewolf. “You buy it, you get to work towards it at any time. If you have multiple battle passes that aren’t completed, you can pick which one to go through.”
I can firmly get behind this idea, it will give you time to get to things at a much more relaxed pace, especially if your current personal life or workload is at an all-time high.
However, not everyone is opposed to the current situation because more playtime equals better value for money. This is totally fine, if you have the extra time or means to log more hours, you have the content to make use of.
“I’m happy with how it works,” comments NatanKatreniok. “I wouldn’t want to be done with the battle pass in the first month.” BeastLordJ also mentions that they “like how it works” and reminds those who aren’t fans that it’s an optional component of the experience.
The grind isn’t just for Battle Pass owners; recently, one top-ranked player fell asleep during a live stream while attempting to maintain the top spot on The Finals leaderboard.
As for Season 2, it’s anyone’s guess so far, as the FPS isn’t getting a content roadmap because developer Embark Studios, rather nobly, only wants to “make promises it can keep.”