Today, the new season of free-to-play card battler Marvel Snap launched across all platforms, and with it, a brand new battle pass. Many fans online and folks I know IRL were caught off guard by this, even though the game includes both a timer and warnings. Some feel the seasons are too short and too pricey, and it doesn’t help that the new battle pass seems to contain no tokens or free card variants, further upsetting players.
Explaining Marvel Snap at this point does feel a bit redundant as it has quickly become one of the most popular games out there. But for those who don’t know, it’s a recently released digital card game featuring Marvel heroes and villains. Matches only take a few minutes and decks only contain 12 cards. And thanks to randomly selected zones, which all have their own traits, each match of Snap is both fast and different from the last. It’s a very good game. However, the new battle pass and season are pushing some away from all this fun.
While players have various issues with the new Cosmic-themed battle pass, the biggest complaint is the lack of free variants this time around. In the last pass, free players could earn a free card variant by levelling up within the season. And that new card could then be upgraded to help complete challenges and to increase your collection level, granting you access to more cards and resources. This time, there are no free card variants, instead you can earn a free player title and card back. That’s nice, but not nearly as useful as the free variant.
On top of the lack of a new card to upgrade for free, the new battle pass is once again 10 dollars. And while the game has been in beta for some time now, a lot of players today just hopped in recently and for many, this one-month season feels too short for the price. Add in the fact that this new season pass doesn’t even contain any collector tokens and can’t be bought with gold — the premium currency that many longtime players have hoarded — and it’s not surprising many folks are upset and frustrated.
Personally, unlike the last two battle passes, I’ve held off buying this one as I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to invest in Snap during the holidays. However, I also have to admit that $US10 ($AU14.95) is a lot when compared to other games I play, like Fortnite and Destiny, where a season lasts months and a single battle pass can provide weeks and weeks of content and currency to earn. Hell, in Fortnite, you can easily earn enough V-Bucks each season to pay for the next battle pass. Something like that could help Marvel Snap. Or a lower price for future battle passes, like $US5 ($AU7.47) instead of $US10.
There is a possibility of a price drop or something nice happening in the future to appease angry players as Snap’s devs have been good about making changes and fixing things that the community complains about. For now, we will have to wait and see how big this backlash is and if the devs address the complaints. One thing is for sure: the honeymoon phase is over.
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