On PC and PS4, anyway
Season passes and pre-orders are two of the more objectionable trends in the current video game landscape. But, Polish developer CI Games has a marketing strategy that implements both while sort of also mitigating the effects of both. Savvy.
Today, CI Games announced that pre-orders ofSniper: Ghost Warrior 3will come with a season pass for (presumably) all additional content. This offer is extended to PC and PS4 users, but seemingly not Xbox One. The planned DLC as of now includes two single-player expansions (The Escape of LydiaandThe Sabotage), two multiplayer maps, a vehicle, and two weapons. Of all of that, CI Games pegsThe Sabotageas the most substantial of the DLC.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3sells for $60, and that’s a fair chunk of change for a game that we don’t know will be good. But, those who are willing to gamble have a bigger payoff if they guess right. On the flip side, ifSniper: Ghost Warrior 3is bad, well, having even more of a bad thing isn’t necessarily a net positive.
According to CI Games, the season pass includes $30 worth of content. There’s value there — there’s just no way of knowing if it’s value you actually want. Still, it’s decidedly better than the normal pre-order and season pass song and dance. Or, at least the upside is greater than it usually is. That feels like an improvement.
