I wouldn’t say there’s anything “typical” about HD2’s warbonds. They’re not time-gated like normal battle passes, and they can also be purchased with currency you can find in-game.
Spending more than $40 on everything Helldivers 2 has to offer is completely optional. Even if you do spend money on warbonds, you still don’t get immediate access to the new gear, as gameplay is still required to unlock the individual pieces of the warbond. The content is grindwalled, moreso than it is paywalled.
You do have a point about it not being timegated, although because they are constantly releasing new warbonds, you constantly have to choose which content sounds enticing or not. It’s not reasonable to expect to get everything in this game, especially without paying more money, and that’s a form of FOMO tactics.
As for earning the “premium” currency in-game, most freemium games do this. Examples:
They are using typical battlepass mechanics including locking gameplay affecting content behind a battlepass.
It’s a fun and successful indie game, but it’s not some paragon of monetization models.
I wouldn’t say there’s anything “typical” about HD2’s warbonds. They’re not time-gated like normal battle passes, and they can also be purchased with currency you can find in-game.
Spending more than $40 on everything Helldivers 2 has to offer is completely optional. Even if you do spend money on warbonds, you still don’t get immediate access to the new gear, as gameplay is still required to unlock the individual pieces of the warbond. The content is grindwalled, moreso than it is paywalled.
You do have a point about it not being timegated, although because they are constantly releasing new warbonds, you constantly have to choose which content sounds enticing or not. It’s not reasonable to expect to get everything in this game, especially without paying more money, and that’s a form of FOMO tactics.
As for earning the “premium” currency in-game, most freemium games do this. Examples: