As much as gamer culture seems to hate battle passes (and they do have their downsides, especially if implemented in slimy ways) — I have learned to enjoy having that constant sense of progression. Having a drive to earn more items in games keeps me playing some games more than I would otherwise. And the opposite is true, I stop playing games when that sense of striving for something dries up.

As an example, now that I’ve finished the real unlockables in the season (hardcore titles aside), I find myself logging in and playing less if not at all. I turn to other games and see overwatch as being on hiatus until next season drops.

Meanwhile there are five or six seasons of content that have slipped away into the void. Other than maintaining a sense of “fear of missing out” to boost initial sales of seasons, what benefit is there in having them unavailable after their release?

I have quit playing games for good when not being able to finish a battle pass I started. That’s an awful feeling. And not all live service BP games do this timed content. Look at Deep Rock Galactic. Every BP released is still available, it’s just you can only work on one at a time I believe.

I think if Overwatch made it possible to buy and work on past battle passes, it would give new players more content to get into and maintain better player engagement overall.